Henry Frawley Biography


	This biography appears on pages 847-849 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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	HENRY FRAWLEY. -- Among the pioneers of the state the subject of 
this sketch has a place of priority. while he is one of the leading 
members of the bar of the commonwealth. having been actively engaged in 
the practice of his profession in the city of Deadwood since 1877, and 
he is also one of the extensive land owners of Lawrence county and 
interested in valuable mining properties. Mr. Frawley comes from 
staunch Irish ancestry. and is a native of the Empire state, having 
been born in Washington county. New York. on the 13th day of March. 
1851, being a son of Thomas and Honora (Hogan) Frawley both of whom 
were born and raised near the city of Limerick Ireland in which section 
both families have been established for many generations. The old 
Frawley homestead. which is still standing near Rathkeal, is in a fine 
state of preservation. having been continually in the possession of the 
family for more than one hundred and fifty years while the name has 
been identified with the great basic art of agriculture in the Emerald 
Isle from the days to which the memory of man runneth not to the 
contrary. The parental grandparents of the subject were Thomas and Mary 
(Fitzgerald) Frawley, who passed their entire lives in the county of 
Limerick and the maternal grandparents were Michael and Elizabeth 
(Burke) Hogan, who also passed their entire lives in the same country. 
The parents of the subject emigrated to America in 1848 and remained a 
short time in the state of New York, after which they removed to 
Wisconsin, being numbered among the sterling pioneers of Dane county, 
and there passed the remainder of their long and useful lives. The 
father became one of the prominent and influential stock growers and 
farmers of that section. He was a man of inflexible integrity and 
strong intellectuality, and was ever held in confidence and esteem by 
those with whom he came in contact. Through his well directed efforts 
he attained a fair degree of prosperity. He died at Eau Claire, 
Wisconsin, in January, 1896. His wife passed away in 1884 on the old 
homestead in Dane county. They became the parents of eight sons and two 
daughters. Both daughters are dead and one son died when quite young. 
Another, T. F. Frawley who became a very prominent lawyer, died at Eau 
Claire, Wisconsin, June 28, 1902. It may be consistently noted that 
five of the sons were graduates of the literary department of the 
University of Wisconsin, and three in the law department of that 
institution, while at the present time four members of the family are 
engaged in the practice of law. The two daughters were graduates of the 
normal school; Honora A. graduated in June, 1885, and died in 
September. Mary E. graduated in 1882, taught school for many years and 
died at Eau Claire, in 1893.  

	Henry Frawley the immediate subject of this sketch, was raised on 
the homestead and secured his rudimentary education in the district 
school, after which he continued his studies at Albion Academy, Dane 
county and in 1872 entered the University of Wisconsin, graduating 
therefrom in 1874 with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. He then entered 
the law department of that institution and completed the course 
prescribed and graduated as a member of the class of 1876 with the 
degree of Bachelor of Law and was at once admitted to practice in the 
courts of that state. He read law during his course at law school in 
the office of P. L. Spooner, father of Senator J. C. Spooner, of 
Wisconsin. Almost immediately after his graduation he was nominated for 
state's attorney of Dane county and was defeated. In the fall of 1876 
he went to Eau Claire and was associated with Henry Cousins in the 
practice of law until the spring of 1877. In June of that year he 
started for the Black Hills district, making the trip by railroad to 
Bismarck and thence going onward to Deadwood with a party of immigrants 
traveling in wagon trains, encountering no trouble with the Indians. He 
arrived in Deadwood, then a stirring mining town, opened an office, 
commenced the practice of law and was fairly successful from the start. 
In November, 1879, he formed a co-partnership with Edward L. Kohen, 
which continued until 1881 under the firm name of Frawley & Kohen. From 
then until 1894 he practiced law by himself, having from 1886 John P. 
Laffey associated with him, and in 1894 John P. Laffey and James 
Frawley, a brother who graduated from the University in 1892 and 
studied law under the preceptorship of the subject, became members of 
the firm, adopting the title of Frawley & Laffey. This association 
con,tinued until 1896, when James Frawley removed to Nome, Alaska, 
where he has since become established in the practice. Messrs. Frawley 
& Laffey continued the practice under the partnership until February, 
1903, when Mr. Laffey became the general counsel for the Repauno 
Chemical Company of Wilmington, Delaware. The firm then became Frawley 
& Frawley, E. J. Frawley succeeding Mr. Laffey, and it has done a large 
and important law business of a general nature. Mr. Frawley was the 
attorney for John Fitzgerald & Brother during all their litigation in 
the construction of the line of the Burlington & Missouri River 
Railroad from Edgemont to Deadwood, and since the completion of that 
road has continually served the company as its counsel. He is also the 
attorney of the Golden Reward Consolidated Gold Mining Company, the 
American National Bank, the Hidden Fortune Gold Mining Company and a 
number of other mining corporations. In politics he is a staunch 
advocate of the Jeffersonian principles of the Democratic party, though 
he supported McKinley in 1896 and in 1900. While taking an active 
interest in the promotion of the general interests of the state, he has 
not permitted the use of his name for nomination to any public office 
of any description since his nomination, a few months after his 
graduation, to the office of prosecuting attorney of Dane county.  

	Mr. Frawley is the most extensive real estate owner in Lawrence 
county; has a finely improved stock farm located on the road between 
Deadwood and Spearfish, comprising more than three thousand acres, and 
is known as one of the best improved ranches in the state., It is 
commonly called the Centennial Home farm. Here the subject is 
extensively engaged in raising live stock, principally horses and 
cattle. He raises the shorthorns from thoroughbred stock and also the 
Hereford type, while upon his farm are always found a large number of 
draft and road horses. The Centennial farm is one of the show places of 
the state and attracts many visitors each year, especially those 
interested in breeding cattle and horses. Mr. Frawley also became early 
interested in the gold mining of the Black Hills and owns valuable 
properties in this line. He sold the Iowa and Brunett properties to the 
Hidden Fortune Gold Mining Company, in which he still retains a large 
block of stock. He also owns, personally, one hundred acres of patented 
mining property situated at Portland in the Bald Mountain ore zone, 
reputed to be very valuable, besides other mining interests over 
different parts of the ore zone of the Black Hills.  

	Fraternally, Mr. Frawley is a charter member of Lodge No. 508, 
Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, in whose affairs he has taken 
much interest from its inception. He enjoys unqualified confidence and 
esteem in professional and business circles.  

	On the 22d day of July, 1890, Mr. Frawley was united in marriage 
to Miss Christine Anderson, who was born and reared in the city of 
Yankton, the original capital of the territory of Dakota. She is the 
only child of James Anderson, who came to Deadwood in 1877, being a 
prominent farmer and stock raiser, largely interested in mining 
properties and owning a large hardware store in the city of Deadwood 
for many years. He was a man who stood high in the public estimation 
and was a member of the first state legislature. His death occurred on 
the 1st day of September, 1890. Mr. and Mrs. Frawley have three 
children, Henry J., William G. and Honora C.