John N. Ellerman Biography This biography appears on pages 1787-1788 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. JOHN N. ELLERMAN, one of the prominent young business men of Fairfax, Gregory county, not only has the distinction of being a native of the state of South Dakota, but also that of being the youngest county treasurer in this commonwealth, which has been his home throughout his entire life. Mr. Ellerman was born at Jamesville, Yankton county, this state, on the 18th of June, 1878, and the date signifies plainly that he is a representative of one of the pioneer families of South Dakota. He is the son of Herman and Emily (Rudolph) Ellerman, both of whom were born in Germany, whence they came to America in their early childhood. Their marriage was solemnized at Jamesville, South Dakota, where the father of the subject took up a homestead claim of government land, which he improved and placed under cultivation. In the years following this settlement Herman Ellerman took an active part in the politics of Yankton county and held several positions of trust, among them being county treasurer and county assessor. He now is the United States collector of internal revenue for the district of North and South Dakota, to which position he was appointed during McKinley's administration and in which he has continued ever since. John N. Ellerman, the immediate subject of this review, secured his early training in the public schools of the city of Yankton, being graduated in the high school as a member of the class of 1898. In September of that year he entered the celebrated University of Michigan, at Ann Arbor, and in this institution continued his studies for two years, at the expiration of which he returned to his home at Yankton. In 1900 he was appointed deputy county treasurer, in which capacity he continued to serve nearly two years, after which he became business manager of the Dakota Free Press and devoted his attention to newspaper work until May, 1902, gaining prestige and success in this field of endeavor. In May, 1902, he took up his residence at Fairfax, the capital of Gregory county, and here established himself in the real-estate and loan business. He has been successful in his labors and is known as a progressive and public-spirited citizen. Only four months after his arrival in the county Mr. Ellerman was nominated on the Republican ticket for the office of county treasurer, and in the autumn of the same year, 1902, he was elected to this responsible office. He entered upon the active discharge of his official duties on the 1st of January, 1903, and as an executive and citizen spares no pains to further the best interests of the new and thriving county with whose people he has cast his lot. He still continues his real-estate and loan business and enjoys the liberal patronage of the people of the county. At the time of his nomination for county treasurer he was incumbent of the office of justice of the peace, resigning the same to take up the work of his present office. In politics Mr. Ellerman gives an uncompromising al- legiance to the Republican party, and fraternally he has attained high advancement in the time-honored Masonic order, in which his af- filiations include membership in St. John's Lodge, No. 1, Free and Accepted Masons, in Yankton, and Oriental Consistory, No. 1, Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite, in which he has attained the thirty-second degree at the time of this writing. Mr. Ellerman enjoys a marked popularity in Gregory county, as does he also in his old home in Yankton county, and he is one who well exemplified the progressive spirit so manifest in his native commonwealth.