Emil Faust Biography

	This biography appears on pages 978-980 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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	EMIL FAUST, of Lead, is a scion of illustrious German 
stock, and is a native of Hessen  Cassel, Germany, where he was 
born on the 11th of December, 1838, being a son of George  and 
Lucia (Rodman) Faust, who were likewise born in the province 
mentioned, the maternal  grandfather of the subject having been 
an eminent physician and surgeon in that section of the  great 
empire. The paternal grandfather, Faust, was colonel of the 
Twenty-first Hessian Regiment, and served under Napoleon in 
Russia, while under General Blucher he participated  in the 
historic battle of Waterloo, having received honorable mention 
for distinguished service  under the great French emperor, the 
first Napoleon. The father of the subject was a man of  
prominence in his native province, having there served as state 
treasurer for the long period of  fifty-two years and having 
wielded marked influence in public and civic affairs. He 
resigned the  office mentioned during the revolution oŁ 1848, 
but when the government again gained control  he was re-
appointed to the position. During the revolution he succeeded in 
concealing a large  amount of government funds, which he 
returned upon the re-establishment of the stable government. Of 
the six children in the family the subject of this review was 
the second in order of birth, and of the number four are yet 
living.  

	Mr. Faust received his early education in the theological 
seminary at Fulda, which he attended from the age of ten years 
to that of fourteen, the work being that of a preparatory nature 
for the  priesthood of the Catholic church, of which his parents 
were devoted communicants. He decided, however, that he had no 
inclination for the ecclesiastical life, and accordingly left  
school and went to Bremen, where he shipped on a sailing vessel 
bound for Melbourne, Australia, and in due time touched the 
ports of Hong Kong, Yokohama, Honolulu, San Francisco, and 
thence passed around Cape Horn to South America, from which 
point the  vessel came to New Orleans, Louisiana where he took 
"French leave," deserting the ship. He  remained in the Crescent 
City until the outbreak of the Civil war, when, in February, 
1861 he  enlisted in Company K, Eighth Louisiana Infantry, 
commanded by Colonel Nicholson. He  proceeded With his command 
to the Confederate capitol, the city of Richmond, Virginia, and  
there the regiment was assigned to the army commanded by General 
(Stonewall) Jackson. Faust thus took part in the various battles 
in which that intrepid officer led his forces, including  the 
battle of Fredericksburg, the seven days' battle about Richmond, 
and was present at  Chancellorsville, where Jackson met his 
death, having been in the immediate proximity when the body of 
the valiant commander was brought in. General Ewell then assumed 
command, and the  subject had by this time been made first 
lieutenant of his company, which he commanded in the battle of 
Gettysburg, the company entering this historic and sanguinary 
battle with a complement  of one hundred and ten men, and forty 
lost their lives in this conflict, while thirty-two, including 
subject, were there taken prisoners on the 3d of July, 1863. Mr. 
Faust had entered the  Confederate service more in a spirit of 
adventure than one of conviction of the righteous of the  cause, 
and after being captured he manifested no reluctance in taking 
the oath of allegiance to the Union, and he then proceeded to 
the city of Chicago, where, in October, 1863, he enlisted as a 
private in Company B, Twelfth Illinois Volunteer Cavalry, 
commanded by Colonel Davis, being finally promoted sergeant of 
his company. He continued in the service, Tennessee, Louisiana, 
and Texas, until the close of the war, taking part in no large 
battles within the interval; and received his honorable 
discharge: in July, 1865, being in Texas at the time, He joined 
a volunteer regiment under Colonel Williams, who is now a 
resident of Chicago, and was  made captain of Company A. The 
command marched into Mexico and there joined the forces of 
General Diaz and engaged in bushwhacking service until 
Maximilian was taken prisoner, in 1867, when they were mustered 
out and returned to the United States. Mr. Faust came up the 
Mississippi river to St. Louis, and thence went to Oil City; 
Pennsylvania, where the oil excitement was at its height, but 
remained but a short time, going then to Omaha, Nebraska, and 
becoming one of the pioneers of that city.  He located there in 
the fall of 1868, and was there engaged in the bakery business 
until 1872, meeting with marked success. He then disposed of his 
interests there and removed to Fremont, Nebraska, where he 
erected a flouring mill, at a cost of twenty-five thousand 
dollars. Shortly after its completion the Elkhorn river flooded 
its banks and took the mill down stream, entailing a total loss. 
Mr. Faust then moved to Evanston, Wyoming, and in 1875 was among 
the first of the bold and adventurous spirits who made their way 
to the Black Hills. He started from Cheyenne in November of that 
year, and his party, comprising a mule train of about a dozen 
wagons, came through without trouble with the Indians, reaching 
Custer on the 24th of December, and there finding the "city" 
represented by a population of about twenty persons. Mr. Faust 
had brought supplies and there opened a general merchandise 
store, while he also planted ten acres of potatoes, which grew 
well and proved excellent provender for the grasshoppers, after 
whose visitation no trace of the growing vines was to be found. 
He also turned his attention to mining, locating some quartz 
claims, but being unsuccessful in the development of his 
properties. In the spring of 1877 he removed to Lead, where he 
had secured property early in the preceding year and here he has 
ever since maintained his home, contributing to the upbuilding 
and progress of the town to a greater degree than has probably 
any other one man, and being one of the most public spirited and 
enterprising of its citizens. After locating in Lead Mr. Faust 
established himself in the general merchandise business, 
building up a large trade and continuing the enterprise until 
1896, when he sold out. From the start he also interested 
himself in mining in this locality. On the 24th of April, 1876, 
he located the Mammoth Tunnel, going in four hundred feet and 
being then compelled to abandon operations by reason of lack of 
funds. This is now one of the rich properties controlled by the 
Homestake Mining Company. He also located the Old Abe extension, 
which likewise went by default, as he was not able to continue 
its development, and the same now constitutes the richest ground 
owned by the Homestake Company. While a resident of Custer, in 
March, 1876, Mr. Faust took out the first shipment of gold to 
Cheyenne, amounting to about five thousand dollars. D. G. 
Tallent and James Allen were of the party, with their freighting 
outfits, and our subject also had a team and wagon. They were 
snow-bound for five days on Hat Creek, but finally reached their 
destination in safety. On the return trip, however, the party, 
comprising about forty men, were attacked by the Indians at 
Indian Creek, the band of savages numbering fully two hundred. 
In the conflict the party lost one man killed, and succeeded in 
holding the Indians at bay until Captain Egan came to the relief 
with troops from Fort Laramie, when the savages fled. Mr. 
Faust's army experience proved of great value to him and his 
companions in warding off the attacks of the Indians on this 
occasion. Mr. Faust located thirty-seven claims in Garden City, 
in 1894, and later sold them to the Penobscot Company, having 
applied to them the title of the Realization claims. He owns and 
is operating the Esmeralda group of claims in the Black Tail 
Gulch. In 1897 he erected the Faust block, a large and 
substantial brick structure, on main street, and also the block 
known as the Dickerson corner, these being among the most modern 
and attractive buildings in the business section, and in 1902 he 
erected a fine modern block at the corner of Main and Seavers 
streets, the same being fifty by one hundred feet in dimensions 
and three stories in height. He has otherwise shown his public 
spirit in a way which has conserved the best interests of the 
community, and is always ready to lend his influence in the 
furtherance of worthy objects for the general good.  
In politics, though never an aspirant for office, Mr. 
Faust is staunchly arrayed in support of the Republican party, 
and fraternally he is identified with Stanton Post, No. 81, 
Grand Army of the Republic; is a charter member of Samaritan 
Lodge, No. 158, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, at Chadron, 
Nebraska, and is also a charter member of Chadron Lodge, No. 
140, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of the same place, of 
which he is past grand master; and Dakota Lodge, No. 6, Knights 
of Pythias) at Lead City, of which he is past chancellor.  

	On the 4th Of July, 1868, Mr. Faust was united in marriage 
to Miss Minnie Statler, who was born and reared in Pennsylvania, 
where the family was founded shortly after the war of the 
Revolution, the original American progenitor having been a 
soldier in the Hessian army during the struggle for 
independence. Mr. and Mrs. Faust have two children, William L., 
engaged in the drug business in Deadwood, and Maud, at home.