William H. Everhard, M. D. Biography


	This biography appears on pages 1697-1698 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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	WILLIAM H. EVERHARD, M. D., one of the representative members of 
the medical fraternity in Volga, Brookings county, was born in Ripon, 
Fond du Lac county, Wisconsin, on the 4th of May, 1857, and is a son of 
Dr. Aaron and Ann V. (Venett) Everhard, the former of whon1 was born in 
Doylestown, Wayne county, Ohio, and the latter in the state of 
Massachusetts. The father of our subject was graduated in the medical 
department of the Western Reserve University, one of the oldest 
educational institutions in the Buckeye state, and was a thoroughly 
skilled physician and surgeon, having been engaged in the active 
practice of his profession for full half a century. He located in Ripon, 
Wisconsin, in 1856, being one of the pioneer physicians of that section, 
and there continued in practice until his death, in 1892, at which time 
he was sixty-nine years of age. His widow is still living and makes her 
home with her children, who accord her the utmost filial care and 
solicitude. The father of our subject was mayor of Ripon for fourteen 
years and was one of the most honored citizens of the community in which 
he so long lived and labored. Of his seven children six are living, 
namely: Andrew T., who is a resident of Bryant, South Dakota; Kendrick 
M., who is engaged in Bryant, Hamlin county, South Dakota: Frank A., who 
is a practicing physician in Ripon, Wisconsin; Ella S., who is likewise 
a medical practitioner, engaged in the work of her profession in Dayton, 
Ohio; Mary, who is a resident of the city of Boston, and William H., who 
is the immediate subject of this review. 

	Dr. William H. Everhard was reared to maturity in his native town, 
and after completing the curriculum of the public schools he entered 
Ripon College for two years, being twenty-one years of age at the time. 
He was matriculated in Rush Medical College, in the city of Chicago, in 
1878, and there completed the prescribed course, being graduated in this 
celebrated institution in February, 1880, and receiving his degree of 
Doctor of Medicine. It should be stated that he had previously taken up 
the study of medicine under the effective direction of his honored 
father. Almost immediately after his graduation the Doctor started for 
South Dakota, having determined to follow the advice of Horace Greeley 
by coming west and growing up with the country. He arrived in Volga on 
the 9th of April, 1880, the line of the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad 
having been completed to this point only a few months previously. The 
Doctor at once displayed his professional "shingle" in the new town, and 
that it was essential for him to find someone to "practice" upon may be 
well understood when we state that his cash capital was reduced to the 
sum of fifty cents the day succeeding his arrival. It was his good 
fortune, however, to find his services in demand that same morning, 
twenty-one patients coming to him for treatment. He is distinctively the 
pioneer physician of the town, and for many years labored with unabating 
zeal and self-abnegation in the relieving of suffering and distress in 
the community, driving to great distances, often through blinding 
snowstorms over the trackless prairies, and ever responding to the call 
of duty, no matter how great the personal discomfort or even hazard. He 
was very successful in his professional work and continued in active 
practice until 1901, when he sold out his professional business to Dr. 
D. L. Scanlan, in order that he might have more time to devote to his 
various capitalistic interests, while he gives special attention to 
dealing in real estate, being the owner of much valuable property in the 
county and elsewhere in the state. He is a member of the National 
Association of Railroad Surgeons. 

	Dr. Everhard is the owner of two thousand acres of land in the 
state, and the greater portion of this is in Brookings county, and he 
has shown marked discrimination in the handling of realty since coming 
here. He is associated with Messrs. John L. Hall and Robert Henry in the 
ownership of the First State Bank of Volga, which was organized and 
incorporated in 1900. He was the first single individual to raise a 
carload of hogs west of the Sioux river in Brookings county and since 
1893 he has had under effective cultivation in the county about fifteen 
hundred acres of land. He has paid out more than any other one man in 
the section of the county west of the Sioux river in the way of farm 
improvements, including labor, and has thus materially aided in the 
development of the resources of this section. 

Dr. Everhard was aligned with the Democratic party until 1896, 
when he felt convinced that the platform of the party did not represent 
the organic principles which the name should imply, and he therefore 
transferred his allegiance to the Republican party, to which he has 
since given his support, having been a delegate to one of its state 
conventions. He was the first treasurer of the village of Volga, was 
county coroner for a number of years and also a valued member of the 
board of health. He served as surgeon for the Chicago & Northwestern 
Railroad Company from the time of coming here until he retired from 
practice, and he is now frequently called in consultation and emergency 
work. Fraternally the Doctor is identified with the lodge, chapter and 
council of the Masonic order, having passed the official chairs in the 
lodge, and is also affiliated with the Benevolent and Protective Order 
of Elks, the Modern Woodmen of America and the Ancient Order of United 
Workmen. 

	On the 19th of March, 1882, Dr. Everhard was united in marriage to 
Miss T. Ella Taggart, who was born in Meadville, Pennsylvania, being a 
daughter of George and Elizabeth Taggart, who settled in Brookings, in 
1881, being numbered among the pioneers of this section of the state. 
Mr. Taggart served with distinction during the war of the Rebellion and 
he and his wife are now dead. Dr. and Mrs. Everhard have three children, 
namely: Frank T., who was graduated in Ripon high school, Wisconsin, in 
1901, and who thereafter continued his studies for one year in the 
Wisconsin State University, at Madison, and is now in the University of 
Minnesota; Bertha M., who completed the course in the Volga graded 
school, later attended the college at Yankton for two years, and is now 
at the parental home; and Raymond is a student in the East high school 
at Minneapolis, Minnesota.