W. S. Hill Biography This biography appears on pages 1093-1094 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. W. S.HILL, one of the representative business men of Hanson county and an influential citizen of Alexandria, was born in Edgar county, Illinois, on the 3d of June, 1863, being a son of Joseph and Rebecca (Braden) Hill, of whose four children three are living at the present time, namely: Elizabeth, wife of William Hillyard, of Wayne county, Iowa; Albert, a resident of Alexandria, South Dakota; and W. S., the immediate subject of this sketch. Joseph Hill was born in Washington county, Pennsylvania, and his wife in Greene county, that state, both being of 'Scotch-Irish lineage, and both having removed to the state of Illinois when young, their marriage having been there solemnized a few years later. The father of the subject was reared on a farm but as a young man learned the trade of carpenter, becoming a skilled artisan. He followed his trade for a time in Iowa, having resided in Keokuk, and then returned to Illinois, settling in Edgar county after his marriage and there engaging in agricultural pursuits. He tendered his services in defense of the union at the time of the Civil war, enlisting as a member of Company E, Twelfth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, with which he served eighteen months,— until the close of the war, when he received his honorable discharge. In 1869 he removed to Iowa and located in Wayne county, where he became a prominent and prosperous farmer, there continuing his residence until his death, in 1897, at the age of sixty years. He was a Republican in politics from the time of the organization of the party, and was originally a member of the Presbyterian church, later embracing the faith of the Methodist Episcopal church. His widow is still living, making her home in Wayne county. The subject of this sketch completed the curriculum of the common schools and was graduated in the high school at Allerton, Iowa, as a member of the class of 1844, while two years prior to this he had completed a course in the Pierce Business College, in Keokuk, Iowa, being duly graduated in 1882. At the age of twenty-one years he secured a position with a firm of wholesale dealers in farming machinery and implements in the city of Des Moines, remaining thus engaged for a short time and then accepting a position with the McCormick Harvesting machine Company, while a year later he entered the employ of a wholesale grocery house in Des Moines. In the spring of 1887 Mr. Hill came to South Dakota and located in Alexandria, where he purchased an interest in the business of Lanz & Jacobs, securing the interest of the junior member of the firm, while operations were continued under the title of Lanz & I Hill, the enterprise involving the handling of agricultural implements and machinery and varied allied lines of goods. In 1893 the subject's brother, Albert, purchased Mr. Lanz's interest in the business, which was conducted for the ensuing six years under the firm name of Hill Brothers. In 1899 our subject purchased his brother's interest and has since been in entire control of the extensive business which has been built up through energy, enterprise and honorable methods. He handles a complete assortment of agricultural implements, vehicles of all kinds, harness and saddlery goods and also coal, and the enterprise ranks as one of the foremost of the sort in this section of the state. In 1897 Mr. Hill became identified with the cattle business, making his first purchase of ranch land in that year, and from time to time he has made additional purchases until he now has a fine landed estate of fifteen hundred and twenty acres, all being located in Hanson county and being known as the Riverview ranch, while it is recognized as one of the finest stock farms in this section, having the best of modern improvements and facilities. Mr. Hill makes a specialty of the breeding of registered red polled cattle. and in this line he has attained a high reputation throughout the state and has done much to improve the grade of cattle raised here. In politics he is a stanch Republican, and he is now serving his third term as mayor of Alexandria. He is secretary of the Retail Implement Dealers' Association of South Dakota, Southwestern Minnesota and Northwestern Iowa, having held this office from the time of the organization of the association, in 1899. He and his wife are prominent members of the Presbyterian church, in which he is an elder, taking a deep interest in all departments of church work. He is affiliated with Celestial Lodge. No. 37, Free and Accepted Masons, at Alexandria; Mitchell Chapter, No. 16, Royal Arch Masons, in Mitchell; St. Bernard Commandery, No. 11, Knights Templar, in this city; Oriental Consistory, No. 1, Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite, in Yankton; and El Riad Temple of the Mystic Shrine, in Sioux Falls, while he is also identified with Alexandria Lodge, No. 11, Ancient Order of United Workmen. On the 3d of September, 1890, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Hill to Miss Ida Kellogg, of Wayne county, Iowa, and they are the parents of five sons, Joseph L., W. Braden, Emory K., Lawrence M. and Robert D.