D. P. L. Lamb Biography

	This biography appears on pages 1002-1003 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.



	D. L. P. LAMB.—Judge Lamb is now serving his third term as county 
judge in Charles Mix county, maintaining his residence in the town of 
Geddes, and merits consideration as one of the able members of the bar 
of the state. He is a native of the Wolverine state, having been born in 
Hillsdale county, Michigan, on the l5th of June 1852, and being a son of 
John and Virginia (Newkirk) Lamb, of whose nine children all save one 
are still living. The father of the subject was born in Pennsylvania, 
where he was reared and educated, having grown up under the sturdy 
discipline of the farm. His parents came to the United States from 
Holland and located in the old Keystone state, where they passed the 
remainder of their lives. As a young man John Lamb removed to Ohio, 
settling near Lancaster, Fairfield county, where his marriage occurred, 
his wife having been a native of Westmoreland county, West Virginia, 
where her father was a wealthy manufacturer and slaveholder, while 
eventually she and several of her brothers became residents of Ohio. 
John Lamb was engaged in farming in Fairfield county, Ohio, until about 
1850, when he removed to Michigan and settled in Hillsdale county, where 
he continued in agricultural pursuits, becoming one of the substantial 
farmers and honored citizens of that county, in which he passed the 
residue of his life, his death occurring in 1881, at which time he was 
seventy-two years of age, while his devoted wife passed away in 1903, at 
the age of eighty-four years, both having been consistent members of the 
German Reformed church, while he was a Democrat in his political 
adherency. 

	Judge Lamb was reared on the homestead farm and his early 
educational advantages were such as were afforded in the public schools 
of his native county. In 1875 he came west to the western part of 
Nebraska, where he spent about a year on the ranch of his uncle, 
returning home in 1876, while he continued to devote his attention to 
study as opportunity presented, having gained much through his well-
directed application. In 1880 he came to Fort Randall, Dakota, where he 
secured employment in a trader's store and also secured contracts for 
supplying wood. In 1882 he came to Charles Mix county and entered timber 
and pre-emption claims, in Jackson township, proving up on the same in 
due time, and in the spring of 1885 he located in the village of 
Wheeler, this county, where he was soon afterward appointed deputy 
sheriff, serving one year in this capacity, and at the expiration of 
that period, in July, 1886, he was appointed to the office of clerk of 
the district court by Judge Bartlett Tripp, retaining this incumbency 
until the admission of South Dakota to the Union, retiring from the 
office in November,1890. In the meanwhile he had continued his study of 
the law, and was admitted to the bar of the territory in June, 1889, 
since which time he has been engaged in the practice of his profession 
to a greater or less extent. The winter after his retirement from the 
office of clerk Judge Lamb engaged in the abstract business, in 
partnership with Frank Adams, whose interest in the enterprise he 
purchased in 1892, and he still conducts an abstract business in 
Wheeler. In 1894 he was elected to the office of state's attorney, on 
the Democratic ticket, serving two years, and in 1896 the financial 
policy of the Democracy failed to meet his approval and he transferred 
his allegiance to the Republican party, being an active worker in the 
presidential campaign of that year. In 1896 he was the candidate of his 
party for the office of county judge and was elected by a gratifying 
majority, but in the election of 1898 he was defeated for the same 
office, while in 19OO he was again elected to the bench and was chosen 
as his own successor in 1902, being now on his third term and having 
proved a most impartial and fair-minded member of the judiciary of the 
state. After the town of Geddes was platted and its settlement was 
instituted, in 1900, Judge Lamb removed from Wheeler to the new and 
enterprising town, with whose phenomenal progress and growth he has been 
thus identified from the start. He was appointed United States 
commissioner in January, 1902, and is still incumbent of this office, 
being one of the most prominent and influential citizens of the county 
in which he has so long maintained his home and in whose welfare he has 
an abiding interest. While a resident of Wheeler he served as postmaster 
during both administrations of President Cleveland, while for several 
years he has held the office of notary public. He and his wife are 
members of the Congregational church, and fraternally the Judge is 
identified with Geddes Lodge, No. 135, Free and Accepted Masons, and 
Mitchell Chapter, No. 16, Royal Arch Masons. 

	On the 6th of May, 1890, Judge Lamb was united in marriage to Miss 
Caroline McLain, of this county, and they are the parents of four 
children, Charles E., Fred, Daniel L. P., Jr., and Iril C.