George Cassady Biography


	This biography appears on page 709 in "History of South 
	Dakota" by Doane Robinson, Vol. I (1904) and was scanned, 
	OCRed and edited by Maurice Krueger, mkrueger@iw.net.

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	GEORGE CASSADY was born in Hamilton county, Ohio, May 25, 1849, 
the son of George and A. M. ( Sampson) Cassady. He was educated in the 
public schools of Cincinnati and when a young man learned telegraphy, 
which profession he followed at different times in the west from 1865 
to 1878. In the latter year he came to Valley Springs, South Dakota, as 
agent for the Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha Railroad at this 
place, and has had charge of the office ever since, being one of the 
oldest local agents in point of continued service in the state. The 
year following his arrival in Valley Springs Mr. Cassady began 
experimenting in horticulture and finding the soil and climate of this- 
part of Dakota adapted to fruit growing, he planted large orchards and 
from that time to the present has prosecuted the business with most 
gratifying success. In partnership with J. M. Bailey, under the firm 
name of Cassady & Bailey, he is now interested in one of the largest 
nurseries in the state, in which all kinds of fruit trees, shrubbery 
and small fruits grown in this latitude are reared and sold, the 
business being so extensive as to give the proprietors a wide and 
constantly increasing reputation. To Mr. Cassady belongs the credit of 
being one of the first men to introduce horticulture into South Dakota 
and he has demonstrated beyond a doubt that the state is destined at no 
distant day to become one of the greatest fruit-producing sections of 
the Union. He has made a careful study of the business in its every 
phase, is a member of the State Horticultural Society and takes an 
active interest in the deliberations in this and other organizations 
for the promotion of the fruit industry throughout the west.  

	Mr. Cassady has held a number of local offices since becoming a 
resident of Valley Springs and been quite prominent in municipal 
matters. He is a Republican in politics and an influential factor in 
the councils of his party in Minnehaha county, having been a delegate 
to state conventions and a leader during that time in local affairs. He 
is a Master Mason, belonging to the lodge at Sioux Falls, and in this 
fraternity, as elsewhere, has made his presence felt among his 
associates.  

	Mr. Cassady was married on October 23, 1870, to Miss Anna 
Costello, of Minnesota, who has borne him children as follows: Alice; 
Charlotte, wife of J. M. Bailey, of Valley Springs; Mabel, now Mrs. E. 
W. Schmidt, of the same place; Lulu and Ruth.