John W. Heston Biography


	This biography appears on pages 1628-1630 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 W. HESTON.-The state of South Dakota has realized a 
development and progress almost unprecedented in the lines of civic and 
material advancement of a comparatively new commonwealth, and it is 
gratifying to note that a proper estimate has been placed upon the 
educational facilities demanded within its borders. As the state 
represents an essentially agricultural section it is most consistent 
that we find maintained here that most excellent institution. the State 
Agricultural College, which is located at Brookings, Brookings county, 
while the same is favored in having as its executive head the subject of 
this sketch, who is president of the college. 

	John William Heston was born in Bellefonte, Center county, 
Pennsylvania, on the 1st of February, 1854, being a son of Elisha B. and 
Catherine (Eckel) Heston, both of whom were likewise born in the old 
Keystone state. Elisha B. Heston was a son of John W. Heston, who was 
born in Hestonville, a suburb of the city of Philadelphia, and the name 
was given to the village in honor of the family, the name having been 
prominently identified with the annals of the history of Pennsylvania 
for several generations, while the lineage is traced back to Scottish 
and English origin. The paternal grandfather of the subject devoted his 
active business life to mercantile pursuits. Elisha B. Heston, who was a 
successful manufacturer of carriages for many years, removed with his 
family to Kansas in 1879, becoming one of the honored pioneers of 
Plainville, Rooks county, where he passed the residue of his life, his 
death resulting from an injury received in a runaway accident. He passed 
away in 1896, at the age of sixty-seven years, his wife having died in 
the preceding year, from a sunstroke, being sixty-five years of age at 
the time. Both were devoted members of the Presbyterian church, and the 
father was a staunch Republican in his political proclivities, being a 
man of highest integrity and excellent business ability. Of the six 
children of this estimable couple we enter brief record as follows: 
Mary, who became the wife of William Henderson, is now deceased; John W. 
is the immediate subject of this review; Daniel died at the age of seven 
years; Emma C. passed away in childhood; Robert H. is a resident of 
Seattle, Washington, and is interested in the gold-mining industry; and 
Sallie is the wife of William L. Clark, of Salina, Kansas. 

	John W. Heston, to whom this sketch is dedicated, passed his 
youthful days in Boalsburg, Pennsylvania, where he attended the public 
schools until he had attained the age of eighteen years, when he became 
a student in the Center Hall Normal School, at Center Hall, that state, 
remaining two years in that institution, after which he was engaged in 
teaching for one year, at the expiration of which he was matriculated in 
the State Agricultural College of Pennsylvania, at Bellefonte, where he 
was graduated as a member of the class of 1879. Shortly afterward he was 
made a member of the faculty of his alma mater, where he continued to 
teach for eleven years, having been principal of the preparatory 
department for seven years and assistant in agriculture, while for three 
years he was professor of the science and art of teaching. After leaving 
the college in Pennsylvania Professor Heston, who had received from the 
institution the degrees of Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts removed 
to the city of Seattle, Washington, where he was incumbent of the 
position of principal of the high school for the ensuing three years, 
resigning this incumbency to accept the presidency of the State 
Agricultural College of Washington, at Pullman, remaining in tenure of 
this executive office for two years, within which he further augmented 
his prestige as an able educator and administrative factor. He was then 
called to his present position at the head of the South Dakota 
Agricultural College, over whose affairs he has thus presided, and with 
signal ability and discrimination, since 1896, having done much to 
further the precedence of the institution in all departments of its work 
and to raise the standard of scholarship to a point which places the 
college in the front rank among similar institutions of the sort in the 
Union. He has brought about a marked amplification of the courses of 
study, introduced the elective system of work and made the requirements 
for graduation notably higher, while during his regime the facilities 
and accessories of the college have been materially augmented. The 
college was established in 1883, almost a decade before the admission of 
the state to the Union, and at the time when President Heston assumed 
his present office the enrollment of students showed but one hundred and 
thirty-five names. The appreciative estimate now placed upon the college 
is shown in the fact that during the year 1903 the enrollment has 
reached six hundred names, while the finances of the college have 
increased in like proportion, so that the future of the institution is 
most gratifying to contemplate, as is, indeed, its present status. 

	President Heston takes the deepest interest in his students, being 
thoroughly appreciative of the value of education and sparing no pains 
to aid those who are striving to broaden their sphere of knowledge. It 
is not strange that his sympathy and timely aid are thus extended, for 
he gained his own education through personal effort, having worked his 
way through college and earned the funds for his maintenance during the 
period of his collegiate course. He received from his alma mater the 
degrees of Bachelor and Master of Arts, while the degrees of Doctor of 
Philosophy and of Laws were conferred upon him by the University of 
Seattle. He was president of the State Teachers' Association of South 
Dakota in 1902, and is a member of the American Association of 
Agricultural Colleges and Experiment Stations, of which he was a vice-
president during 1902. In politics he gives his allegiance to the 
Republican party, and both he and his wife are prominent and zealous 
members of the Baptist church, while fraternally he is identified with 
the Knights of Pythias and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. 
During his college days he was affiliated with the Phi Gamma Delta 
fraternity. 

	On the 16th of August, 1881, was solemnized the marriage of Dr. 
Heston to Miss Mary E. Calder, who was born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, 
a daughter of Dr. James and Eliza D. Calder, the former of whom was for 
a decade president of the State Agricultural College of Pennsylvania. He 
is now deceased, and his widow resides in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Mrs. 
Heston received her education in the public schools of Harrisburg and 
the State College of Pennsylvania, being an accomplished musician and a 
woman of gracious refinement. Dr. and Mrs. Heston are the parents of two 
children: Charles, who was born on the 9th of February, 1883, is a 
member of the junior class in the University of Wisconsin, where he is 
completing a course in electrical engineering, and Edward, who was born 
on the 20th of September, 1884, was graduated in pharmacy in the State 
Agricultural College of South Dakota, as a member of the class of 1903, 
and is now engaged in the drug business in Aberdeen, South Dakota, 
having formed a partnership with D. E. Crowley.