Charles L. Hyde Biography


	This biography appears on pages  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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	CHARLES L. HYDE was born in Pike county, Illinois, on the 23d of 
June, 1861, being a son of James F. and Hattie (Blake) Hyde, the former 
of whom was born in Massachusetts, in 1812, and the latter in Maine, in 
1830. The father of the subject is an expert accountant and 
mathematician, and though now more than ninety-two years of age he is 
incumbent of the office of city treasurer of Lincoln, Illinois, and is 
also acting as deputy city auditor, having charge of five different 
sets of books. He is certainly one of the most remarkable men of his 
age, both mentally and physically, that can be found in the entire 
Union. The subject of this review received his early education in the 
public schools and supplemented this by attending for three years the 
Cumberland Presbyterian College, at Lincoln, Illinois. He early became 
imbued with a great ambition to prepare himself for the medical 
profession, but overstudy caused a difficulty of his eyes and he was 
compelled thereby to leave college. At the age of seventeen he went to 
Colorado, and for two years was there employed as a "cowboy" on the 
great cattle ranches, the free and exhilarating life enabling him to 
fully recuperate his energies. At the age of nineteen he became a 
commercial traveler in the hardware trade, following this vocation 
until he had attained the age of twenty-five. In the meanwhile he began 
investing his surplus earnings in western lands and town properties. In 
the fall of 1886 he was married and shortly afterward engaged in the 
wall paper and carpet business at Lima, Ohio, the venture proving 
successful. In January, 1888, Mr. Hyde disposed of this enterprise and 
came to Sioux Falls, South Dakota, turning his attention to the real 
estate business. In April, 1889, he removed to Pierre, where he had 
previously acquired large realty holdings, and from that time forward 
his operations in the real-estate line have increased in scope and 
importance until he is now one of the most prominent and successful 
representatives of this great branch of industry in the northwest. His 
holdings at the time of this writing include about fifty thousand acres 
of land in South Dakota; town property in Pierre, Sioux Falls, 
Aberdeen, Watertown, Huron, Brookings, Chamberlain and Rapid City, this 
state; together with large holdings at Duluth, Minnesota, and Superior, 
Wisconsin; Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan; Winnipeg. Manitoba; Spokane, 
Washington; Bismarck, North Dakota, and other towns and cities. He also 
owns land and town property in Ohio, Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, Kansas, 
Texas, Nebraska, Tennessee, Alabama and other states, besides large 
mining interests in Colorado and some in the Black Hills. He is the 
owner of a large and finely equipped flouring mill in Pierre, and it is 
stated upon competent authority that he is today the largest taxpayer 
in South Dakota and is probably its wealthiest citizen, while he is yet 
a comparatively young man and has gained this great prosperity through 
his own well directed endeavors and business sagacity. Of him it has 
been well said "He has unflinching confidence in the future greatness 
of Pierre his chosen city, and in South Dakota as a whole, and is ever 
ready to defend the state against criticism. He is a man who will do 
much toward the upbuilding of our state and its capital city, Pierre." 
In fact, Mr. Hyde states emphatically that, initiating his business 
career with no capital. he has gained his fortune through the 
manifestation of his confidence in the future of the western states and 
cities, especially South Dakota. He is a man of unassuming and genial 
personality, tolerant in his judgment of his fellow men and imbued with 
a deep appreciation of the dignity of honest toil and endeavor. He 
finds his greatest solace and pleasure in the sacred precincts of his 
beautiful home, is a staunch advocate of temperance, has been a student 
of science from his youth up, is fond of hunting, being an expert shot 
with rifle, shotgun and revolver, - in short is a clean-cut, sane and 
vigorous man and one whose labors both dignify and advance the 
interests of the great state with which he has so prominently 
identified himself. While engaged as a traveling salesman he acted also 
as a detective and as a reporter for the Chicago Inter Ocean. In 
politics Mr. Hyde maintains an independent attitude, following the 
dictates of his own judgment without fear or favor. He was originally a 
supporter of the Republican party and was a delegate to its national 
convention in Minneapolis, in 1892, while in 1900 he was a delegate to 
the Democratic national convention, in Kansas City. He and his wife are 
prominent and valued members of the Congregational church, and 
fraternally he is identified with the Ancient Order of United Workmen, 
the Modern Woodmen of America, the Knights of the Maccabees, the 
American Brotherhood, the Yeomen and the Knights of Pythias.  

	In Trumbull county, Ohio, on the 28th of July, 1886, Mr. Hyde was 
united in marriage to Miss Katherine Robinson, whose ancestry is of 
Scotch-Irish extraction, her parents having been pioneers of Ohio, 
where her father took up government land in 1835. Mr. and Mrs. Hyde 
have four children, whose names are here entered, together with 
respective dates of birth: Ruth Elizabeth, October 23, 1888; Charles 
L., Jr., February 27, 1892; Dorothy, July 8, 1896; and Franklin R., 
June 9, 1901.