John Baldridge Biography


	This biography appears on pages 1597-1598 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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	JOHN BALDRIDGE.—The distinction accorded the subject of this 
review of being one of the progressive business men and representative 
citizens of South Dakota has been honorably earned and is cheerfully 
conceded by all who know him or have come within the range of his 
influence. Coming west during the formation period of this state and 
experiencing in full measure the difficulties and hardships incident to 
pioneer life, he perseveringly pursued his course until in due time he 
surmounted unfavorable environment and rose from obscurity to the 
commanding position he now occupies in business circles and the world of 
affairs. John Baldridge, president of the Farmers and Merchants' Bank of 
Iroquois, is descended from two old families, one of which originated in 
Ireland, the other in England. Hervey Baldridge, the subject s father, 
was a native of Scneca county. New York, and in his veins flowed the 
blood of a long line of sturdy ancestors. Eliza Wilkinson, the mother, 
was born and grew to womanhood in Seneca county, Ohio, and traced her 
lineage in this country to the original " Mayflower" pilgrims, thence to 
a much remoter period in England where her family name has been known 
for generations beyond the memory of man. Hervey was reared in Seneca 
county, New York, where from the age of twenty-one to twenty-seven he 
was engaged in teaching, in connection with which calling he also 
devoted considerable attention to agricultural pursuits, giving 
particular attention to horticulture. He purchased land in the above 
county and his farm was for years considered one of the finest grain and 
fruit farms in western New York. At the age of thirty-five he was united 
in marriage with Eliza Wilkinson, from which event until his death, in 
1897, he lived the life of a prosperous and contented tiller of the 
soil, his wife departing this life in 1886. They reared a large family 
of ten children in all, of whom the following survive; John, whose name 
introduces this sketch; Mrs. Suessa Blaine, of Washington, D. C.; Belle, 
now Mrs. C. G. Birdsell, also a resident of that city; Raymond W., who 
lives in Geneva, New York, and Harrison A., whose home is also in the 
Empire state. 

	John Baldridge was born November 24, 1862, in Seneca county, New 
York, spent his childhood and youth on the family homestead, and after 
attending the district schools until the age of sixteen, entered the 
Geneva Classical and Union School, an educational institution of high 
grade, where he pursued his studies for two years, standing at the head 
of his classes in mathematics and other branches. Later, at the age of 
nineteen, he successfully passed the state regents' examination and was 
granted a diploma from the University of the State of New York. In the 
spring of 1883, at the age of twenty, with his elder brother Willis, he 
came to Kingsbury county, South Dakota, where the two took up claims, 
Willis filing on his land at once and John later on when he reached his 
majority. Willis died November 24, 1884, the result of an accidental 
fall from a mule which he was riding a few days previous. By a strange 
coincidence his death occurred on John's birthday and also on the day on 
which he was to make final proof on his claim. Subsequently his father 
completed the final proof on the land and afterwards deeded it to John, 
in accordance with the wish expressed by Willis before his death and the 
mutual agreement between the two brothers that in case of the death of 
either the survivor was to receive the other's claim. 

	The subject experienced, during the first three or four years on 
his claim, many of the hardships and privations of pioneer life, but in 
due season he reduced his land to cultivation, made a number of 
substantial improvements, and on leaving it, in 1891, was in comfortable 
financial circumstances. Renting his farm that year and changing his 
abode to Iroquois, he accepted the position of cashier in the Farmers 
and Merchants' Bank, and continued in that capacity until January 1, 
1903, when he largely increased his interests in the institution and 
became its president. He is still serving in this responsible position, 
and to his correct business methods and superior executive ability the 
bank is indebted for a large measure of the success and prosperity which 
has characterized its career since he assumed the management and 
previously. What Mr. Baldridge has achieved in the business world has 
been entirely through his own efforts, as he came west with but limited 
capital, but with a first-class credit which enabled him to embark in 
enterprises which in the course of time yielded him large returns on his 
investments and made him not only one of the well-to-do men of his 
community but also one of the wide-awake, representative business men of 
Kingsbury county. In addition to city property and his banking 
interests, he now owns over eight hundred acres of valuable land in 
South Dakota and is also quite extensively engaged in stock raising. 

	On the 11th day of March, 1886, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. 
Baldridge and Miss Flora Adelaide Purintun, daughter of Orin S. and Mary 
A. Purintun, who were among the early pioneers of Kingsbury county, the 
mother still living in the city of DeSmet. The three children born of 
this union are Clarence L., aged seventeen, Grace, sixteen years old, 
and Blanche, whose birth occurred eleven years ago. Mr. Baldridge is a 
member of the Ancient Order of United Woodmen, also of the Degree of 
Honor, and has represented the former in the grand lodge, besides taking 
an active interest in all the local work of the orders. Mrs. Baldridge 
is also identified with the Degree of Honor, and has been the 
representative of the Iroquois lodge in the grand lodge of the state. 
Religiously both are members of the Congregational church and have been 
for a number of years, Mr. Baldridge being deacon and treasurer of the 
Iroquois Congregational church at the present time. 

	In politics the subject has always been steadfast in his 
allegiance to the Republican party and never swerved from his principles 
when so many of his friends and associates were carried away by the 
great Populist movement, which a few years ago threatened to disrupt the 
two great parties throughout the west. He served as township clerk and 
treasurer before moving to Iroquois and since taking up his residence in 
the town has repeatedly been elected to the office of school treasurer, 
in addition to which office he has also rendered valuable service as a 
member of the school board, besides being identified with the State and 
National Bankers' Associations. 

	Mr. Baldridge possesses talent as a musician, and has cultivated 
the same under the direction of some of the most accomplished artists in 
the country, among whom was the distinguished pianist, Madam Towler, a 
pupil of Moscheles, for a number of years musical instructor of Queen 
Victoria. Amid the pressing claims of his various business interests he 
finds time to devote to this his favorite pastime. For the last eleven 
years he has been organist of the First Congregational church of 
Iroquois, and in many ways has taken an active interest in musical 
affairs throughout the state. 

	Mr. Baldridge is an admirer of the German language and literature 
and has formed the habit of doing a portion of his regular reading in 
that tongue.