Alfred B. Kittredge Biography


	This biography appears on pages 830-832 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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	HON. ALFRED B. KITTREDGE. - Down in New England they have a word 
which ought to be in the dictionaries, for it expresses a type of men 
not easily defined by another term. They say a man is "judgmatical," if 
he is sane, correct and evenly balanced in judgment, and no other 
characteristics are so prominent in Senator Kittredge as are those 
elements which would induce the Yankee of his native land to say that 
he is a judgmatical man. Unfailing common sense is the fundamental 
quality which has brought to him success in his undertakings, 
professionally and politically, and has won for him the esteem and 
admiration of a state-wide constituency. Founded in his great common 
sense are those other characteristics of industry, persistence and 
loyalty which have so strongly marked his career from boyhood, to the 
commanding success which he has attained in his yet early manhood.  

	Senator Kittredge is a native of Cheshire county, New Hampshire, 
where he was born March 28, 1861. His parents were farmers and he was 
thoroughly instructed in agriculture, as it is practiced by the thrifty 
people of the White Mountain country and even yet, upon occasion, he 
surprises trained and practical farmers with his complete understanding 
of the mysteries of crop culture and stock breeding. He was educated in 
the public schools and after a season of special preparation, under a 
private tutor, entered Yale College in 1878 and graduated with honor 
four years later. From Yale he entered the law office of Judge Veasy, 
of Rutland, Vermont, and later studied in the office of Batchelder & 
Faulkner, of Keene, New Hampshire, and in 1884 returned to Yale where 
he completed the law course the following year and at once came to 
Sioux Falls where he engaged in the practice of his profession with a 
degree of success which has easily placed him among the very first 
attorneys practicing in the west. For many years he represented the 
legal interests of the Milwaukee and of the Great Northern railways in 
South Dakota, only resigning from such relations when entering the 
United States senate.  

	Mr. Kittredge began his political career as senator from 
Minnehaha county in the first and second state legislatures, where his 
good judgment impressed him upon the public men of the state and at 
once marked him for leadership. He demonstrated exceptional powers of 
organization and next year was chosen national committeeman for the 
Republican party for South Dakota and from that time has been the 
acknowledged leader of the party in the state. He was reelected 
national committeeman in 1896, continuing in that position until 1900, 
when he declined reelection. When a vacancy in the United States senate 
was caused by the death of Senator James H. Kyle in 1901, Governor 
Herreid promptly carried out the common desire of the party by 
appointing Mr. Kittredge to the position. He received the unanimous 
endorsement of his party in state convention for election by the next 
legislature and when the legislature was chosen upon that issue it was 
found that only thirteen Democrats out of a total of one hundred and 
thirty-two members had been chosen, and after the final choice of 
Senator Kittredge had been made for both the short and the long terms 
the legislature unanimously joined in a resolution to telegraph 
congratulations to the Senator, who had remained at his post in 
Washington, and the Democratic members joined in support of the 
resolution. At this writing (June, 1903) Senator Kittredge has 
participated in two sessions of the national legislature and has 
impressed himself upon that body much more forcibly and favorably than 
it is the fortune of new members often to do, in fact it is doubtful if 
another new member has ever achieved so much in his first term. He was 
placed upon the Isthmian canal committee and at once set out to master 
all of the facts involved in the canal question. At that time, as 
demonstrated by repeated tests in the senate, the preponderance of 
favor was for the Nicaragua route, but as Senator Kittredge proceeded 
with his examination of the subject the conviction began to grow upon 
him that the Panama route was the more feasible and when he had 
completed his study of the matter he was firm in this view of the case. 
Two propositions were involved: The feasibility of the Panama route and 
the legality of it, i. e., the power of the French people to give good 
title to the property. On both of these propositions the Senator 
prepared himself with the same care with which he habitually prepared 
his cases for trial and his speeches upon the topic were so conclusive 
that the senate, in spite of the strong opposition of several members 
and the influence of a most powerful lobby, accepted Mr. Kittredge's 
view and adopted the Panama route.  

	In those matters by which the success of a Western senator is 
most generally determined - the securing of loaves and fishes for his 
constituents - Senator Kittredge has been extraordinarily successful, 
without permitting this class of work, to which every new senator is 
doomed, to distract his attention from questions of great national 
policy.  

	As a speaker Senator Kittredge is earnest and convincing, 
avoiding all flamboyant mannerisms, but going directly and forcibly to 
the heart of his subject with the first stroke and adducing argument 
after argument in logical sequence and in a manner both interesting and 
irresistible. While bearing a reputation for taciturnity, he is 
delightful in his social relations, possessing an inexhaustible fund of 
anecdote and illustration and a graciousness of manner which captivates 
and holds all who come within the sphere of his social influence. He is 
unmarried, but maintains an extensive and elaborate bachelor 
establishment in Sioux Falls where his friends from every section 
delight to congregate.