George D. Foglesong Biography This biography appears on pages 1494-1495 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. GEORGE D. FOGLESONG, the efficient bookkeeper in charge of the office of the Homestake Mining Company at Lead, Lawrence county, is a native of the state of Missouri, having been born in Westport, Jackson county, on the 5th of December, 1862, and being a son of George D. and Martha W. (Wetzel) Foglesong, both of whom were born and reared in Greenbriar county, West Virginia. They removed finally to Missouri and later to Cheyenne, Wyoming, whence they came to Lawrence county, South Dakota, in 1880, settling on a ranch and there developing a valuable property. The father died twelve years ago, and the mother six years ago. The subject of this review was about six years of age at the time of his parents' removal to Wyoming, and he secured his educational training in the public schools of the city of Cheyenne. At the age of fourteen he began serving as a messenger for the Western Union Telegraph Company, and within this time learned the art of telegraphy in the Cheyenne office, so that when but sixteen years of age he held a responsible position as operator. He continued in the employ of the company until the autumn of 1880, when he accompanied his parents on their overland trip to the Black Hills. He remained with them on the home ranch until the autumn of 1890 when he entered the employ of the great Homestake Mining Company, holding a position in one of their mills. In June of the following year he became bookkeeper and telegraph operator in the office of the company at Lead, and is at the present time in charge of the office, his able and faithful service having gained to him the appreciative regard and confidence of the company, while his genial and open-hearted ways have made him distinctively popular in all classes. In politics Mr. Foglesong was reared in the faith of the Democratic party, to which he clung until the first nomination of the late lamented President McKinley, whom he enthusiastically supported, and since that time he has given an unqualified allegiance to the Republican party. He and his wife are communicants of the Protestant Episcopal church, and fraternally he is affiliated with the Modern Woodmen of America. On the 30th of June, 1892, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Foglesong to Miss Olivia A. Hokins, who was born in the fair old city of Stockholm, Sweden, on the 3d of October, 1866, being a daughter of John G. and Anna L. Hokins. The subject and his estimable wife have four children, namely: Mary M., Ruth H., Walter D. and Hilda L.