James H. Baskin Biography


	This biography appears on pages 1079-1081 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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	JAMES H. BASKIN, one of the best-known and most popular residents 
of Bon Homme county, and late mayor of the town of Scotland, was a 
native of the sunny south, having been born in the city of Atlanta, 
Georgia, on the 17th of February 1845, a son of John and Elizabeth 
(Benton) Baskin, of whose seven children four are living at the present 
time, namely: Anna, who is the wife of a Mr. Harris, of Atlanta; Walter, 
who likewise continues to reside in that city, as does also Zachariah; 
and James H., the immediate subject of this sketch. The father of the 
subject came of stanch English lineage and was himself a native of the 
state of South Carolina, where he was reared to maturity. He finally 
removed thence to Atlanta, Georgia, where he established himself in the 
blacksmithing and wagon-making business, in which he continued to be 
actively engaged for many years, and in that city he continued to reside 
until his death, at the age of seventy years, while his devoted wife 
passed away when the subject was quite young.  

	James H. Baskin was reared and educated in his native city and was 
a lad of sixteen years at the time of the outbreak of the Civil war. His 
sympathies were naturally with the section in which he had been reared, 
and he was among many others of the chivalrous and valiant young men of 
the south who tendered their services to the Confederate government. At 
the age of sixteen years he enlisted, in September, 1861, as a member of 
a Georgia regiment, heavy artillery, with which he continued in active 
service until] November, 1864, when he was captured at Fisher Hill, 
Virginia, and taken to the Union prison at Point Lookout, Maryland, 
being released on parole two weeks later. He had participated in many of 
the important engagements of the war and had proved a valiant defender 
of the "lost cause." After his release from captivity he passed a short 
interval in New York city and then drifted westward to St. Louis, 
Missouri, while in 1868 he came as a pioneer to the territory of Dakota, 
which was then on the frontier of civilization. For a year after his 
arrival he was in the employ of the firm of Duett & Bogue, traders, at 
Fort Thompson. About this time the Indians were removed to the Santee 
agency, and our subject was sent to that point in the employ of the 
government, and there he continued in service until 1875, when he took 
up his residence in Springfield, Bon Homme county, where he established 
himself in the hotel business, in which he there continued for the long 
period of eleven years, gaining a wide acquaintanceship throughout what 
is now the state of South Dakota and becoming one of the most popular 
pioneer hotel men of the state. In 1886 he came to Scotland, where he 
conducted the Baskin hotel, which is a popular resort of the traveling 
public; no pains being spared to provide the best possible 
accommodations and cater to the comfort and pleasure of the guests of 
the house. That the subject was a man of versatility is shown when we 
state that for seven years after coming to Scotland he was editor and 
publisher of the Scotland Journal, which he made an able exponent of 
local interests and a factor of importance in public and political 
affairs in this section. In 1890 he was elected mayor of the town, and 
served continuously as chief executive of the municipal government from 
that time to the date of his death, save for an interim of two years. He 
maintained a progressive policy and yet conserved economy in all 
departments, while his long retention in office was the best voucher of 
the popular appreciation accorded his well-directed efforts in the 
connection. In 1899 Mr. Baskin was elected a member of the lower house 
of the state legislature, and during his service of one term he proved 
an able and discriminating legislator, taking an active part in the work 
of the body, while he had the distinction of being chairman of the 
important committee on ways and means and also held membership on the 
committee on railroads and that on military affairs. He was originally 
an adherent of the Democratic party, but was a man who ever showed the 
courage of his convictions, and in harmony therewith he transferred his 
allegiance to the Republican party in 1896, during the campaign of which 
year he gave effective service in the support of the candidacy of 
President McKinley, and he afterward continued a stalwart advocate of 
the cause of the "grand old party." He and his wife were communicants of 
the Protestant Episcopal church, and fraternally he was identified with 
Scotland Lodge, No. 52, Free and Accepted Masons, and Scotland Chapter, 
No. 31, Royal Arch Masons.  

	On the 1st of December, 1888, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Baskin 
to Miss Mary Kula of this county, and they became the parents of two 
sons, James E. and Frederick R., both of whom remain at the parental 
home. Mr. Baskin departed this life on February 29, 1904.