Howard Babcock


	This biography appears on page 1172 in "History of South 
	Dakota" by Doane Robinson, Vol. II (1904) and was scanned, 
	OCRed and edited by Maurice Krueger, mkrueger@iw.net.

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	HOWARD BABCOCK, attorney-at-law, and for a number of years a 
leading member of the Sisseton bar, and the present mayor of Sisseton, 
was born in Waterloo, Wisconsin, December 21, 1867, being the son of 
Seth C. and Sarah C. (Cole) Babcock, both natives of New York. Seth C. 
Babcock, a farmer by occupation, was descended from old colonial stock, 
his family having been among the earliest settlers of York state, and 
not a few of the name participating in the struggle for independence. He 
was a veteran of the late Civil war, serving in Company H, Twenty-ninth 
Wisconsin Infantry, and made an honorable record as a brave and gallant 
soldier. The Coles also belong to an old family, the ear]y history of 
which dates from a remote period in the time of the colonies, and the 
name is still familiar in New York, where they originally located. Seth 
and Sarah Babcock were the parents of four children who grew to 
maturity, three sons and one daughter, all living. 

	Howard Babcock remained in his native town until about eight years 
of age and in 1875 removed with his parents to Racine, Mower county, 
Minnesota, where he worked on a farm and attended the public schools and 
the Spring Valley high school until his eighteenth year. After teaching 
two terms of school, he spent the ensuing three years in the Cedar 
Valley Seminary at Osage, Iowa, and at the expiration of that time began 
the study of law with Judge C. C. Willson, of Rochester, Minnesota, 
under whose instruction he continued until his admission to the bar in 
1892. Mr. Babcock began the practice of his profession at Wilmot, South 
Dakota, in 1892, and two years later was elected state's attorney, which 
position he held the constitutional term of four years, proving an able, 
faithful and untiring official Retiring from office, he resumed the 
general practice and when the county seat was moved to Sisseton he 
changed his residence to that place, and has built up a large and 
lucrative practice in the courts of Roberts and neighboring counties. 
Mr. Babcock is one of the leading lawyers of the Sisseton bar, stands 
high in the esteem of his professional associates and the public, and 
has earned an enviable reputation in his chosen calling. His success has 
been as pronounced financially as professionally and he is today one of 
the well-to-do men of his city and county, owning valuable real estate, 
besides his interests in the First National Bank and Reservation State 
Bank, of Sisseton, the First State Bank of Summit and the Citizens' Bank 
at White Rock. He helped to organize these institutions and has been a 
member of the directorate of each bank ever since, and at this time he 
is president of the First State Bank of Summit. He also organized the 
Sisseton Loan and Title Company and is heavily interested in the Roberts 
County Land and Loan Company, being president of both institutions. Mr. 
Babcock owns one of the finest residence properties in Sisseton and a 
half section in Roberts county, which is under a high state of 
cultivation and well improved in the way of buildings, fences, etc. He 
is essentially a self-made man, his professional success and financial 
prosperity being the result of his own untiring efforts and industry, 
and it is eminently fitting to claim for him a prominent place among the 
representative citizens of his adopted state. Mr. Babcock is a member of 
the Masonic fraternity and at the present time holds the office of 
junior warden in Sisseton Lodge, No. 31; he is also identified with the 
Pythian brotherhood, belonging to Reservation Lodge, No. 66. 

	Mr. Babcock, on January 22, 1895, contracted a matrimonial 
alliance with Miss Ella Jones, of Mitchell, Iowa, and their union has 
been blessed by three children, Dana B., Gordon C. and Carroll H., who 
are sturdy examples of the boys they raise in South Dakota.