Julius D. Bartow Biography


	This biography appears on pages 1519-1520 in "History of South 
	Dakota" by Doane Robinson, Vol. II (1904) and was scanned, 
	OCRed and edited by Maurice Krueger, mkrueger@iw.net.

	This file may be freely copied by individuals and non-profit 
	organizations for their private use. 

	Any other use, including publication, storage in a retrieval 
	system, or transmission by electronic, mechanical, or other 
	means requires the written approval of the file's author.


	JULIUS D. BARTOW, one of the prominent and highly esteemed 
merchants of Plankinton, Aurora county, was born in Republic, Seneca 
county, Ohio, on Christmas day of the year 1851, being a son of Joel C. 
and Mary A. (Hosford) Bartow, the maternal ancestry tracing back to 
English origin. The name is of French derivation and was originally 
spelled Barteaux. Joel C. Bartow was born at Bartow's Ridge, in Erie 
county, Ohio, the name having been given to the locality by four 
brothers of his mother, they having been pioneers of that section, 
whither they emigrated from the state of New York in an early day. After 
his marriage the father of our subject removed to Seneca county, Ohio, 
where he was identified with farming and also with merchandising and the 
hotel business in the town of Republic where he died October 19, 1901, 
at the age of seventy-four years, having been one of the honored and 
influential citizens of that locality. He was a Democrat and a member of 
the Odd Fellows fraternity. His devoted wife, who died on the 9th of 
March, 1891, at the age of sixty-seven years was born in Dartmouth, 
England, whence she came to America with her parents when a child of six 
years. The subject of this sketch attended the common schools of his 
native place and then completed a four-years course in the academy at 
Republic. He then entered the employ of the firm of Hemmingway & 
Hensinger, dealers in groceries and drugs at Republic, where he remained 
one year. He was married in 1873 and for the following eight years had 
charge of his father-in-law's farm, in Seneca county, Ohio. On the 19th 
of February, 1883, he and his family arrived in Plankinton, South 
Dakota, having been out on a tour of inspection through the west during 
the preceding year. Shortly after locating in Plankinton Mr. Bartow 
purchased the general store of Conway Thompson, and from this modest 
nucleus has been built up the magnificent business now controlled by 
him, twenty-one thousand two hundred feet of floor space being demanded 
for the accommodation of the various departments of the enterprise, 
which is one of the most extensive of the sort in the county. In 
September. 1900, the business was incorporated and is now conducted 
under the title of the Aurora Lumber Company, while the mercantile house 
has well-equipped departments, including those devoted to dry goods, 
groceries, boots and shoes, harness and saddlery goods, agricultural 
implements, etc. Mr. Bartow is also the owner of valuable farming land 
in the county. He is now a staunch Republican in politics, but was 
formerly arrayed with the Democracy, as the candidate of which he was 
elected to the state legislature in 1890, serving one term. He was for 
several years a member of the board of education of Plankinton, which is 
celebrated for having one of the best schools in the state. He is 
identified in a prominent way with the Masonic fraternity, being 
affiliated with the lodge in Plankinton, the chapter and commandery in 
Mitchell, the consistory of the Scottish Rite in Yankton and the temple 
of the Mystic Shrine in Sioux Falls, while he is also a member of the 
lodge of Elks in Sioux Falls and of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows 
in his native town in Ohio. He and his family are members of the 
Congregational church. 

	On the 7th of May, 1873, Mr. Bartow was united in marriage to Miss 
Clara A. Stearns, of Republic, Ohio, where she was reared and educated, 
being a daughter of John B. and Adaline H. Stearns. Of this union were 
born six children, of whom three survive, namely Addie, who remains at 
the parental home; Nona, who is the wife of F. L. Snyder, of Plankinton, 
and John S., who is also at home.