William C. Lampson Biography


	This biography appears on pages 742-743 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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	WILLIAM C. LAMPSON is a native of the old Buckeye state, having 
been born on a farm in Medina county, Ohio, on the 17th of July, 1831, 
and being a son of Riley and Betsy (Gifford) Lampson, both of whom were 
born in Vermont, being representatives of families established in New 
England in the colonial era of our national history, while the ancestry 
is of English extraction on both sides. The paternal great-grandfather 
of the subject was a valiant soldier in the Continental line during the 
war of the Revolution. The father of our subject followed the vocation 
of farming throughout life, having removed from New England to Ohio in 
1829, where he became the owner of nine hundred acres of government 
land, the same being a veritable sylvan wilderness at the time of his 
securing the property. He attained a high degree of success as an 
agriculturist, having removed to McHenry county, Illinois, in 1855, and 
there became a prosperous farmer. His death there occurred in 1859, and 
his wife passed away in 1888. They became the parents of three 
children, William C., the immediate subject of this sketch, who is the 
only survivor; and George R. and Mary M., who are deceased.  

	Mr. Lampson was reared under the sturdy discipline of the 
homestead farm in Ohio, and received his education in the common 
schools of the old Buckeye state, while as a young man he was for some 
time a successful teacher in the district schools. He accompanied his 
parents on their removal to McHenry county, Illinois, and became the 
owner of the farm upon the death of his parents, there continuing to be 
engaged in agricultural pursuits until 1884, when he disposed of the 
property and came to South Dakota, purchasing three hundred and twenty 
acres of arable land in Fremont township, Moody county, the tract 
having at the time never been furrowed by the plowshare, all being in 
its wild state. He has since added to the area of his landed estate 
until he now has a valuable ranch of six hundred and ninety acres, the 
greater-portion being available for, cultivation, while in the 
intervening years he has transformed the wild land into a fertile and 
productive farm, upon which are to be seen substantial and well 
equipped buildings, making the ranch one of the most attractive to be 
found in this section of the state, while all this is the tangible 
evidence of the high degree of success which Mr. Lampson has gained 
since coming to the state, with whose development and material progress 
he has thus been prominently identified. Mr. Lampson devotes his 
attention to diversified farming and to the raising of high grade live 
stock, giving special preference to the registered Galloway cattle, of 
which he has sold many fine animals for breeding purposes, while he now 
has an excellent band of registered and graded Shropshire sheep.  

	In politics Mr. Lampson accords a stanch allegiance to the 
Republican party, and he takes a deep interest in the cause of the 
same, having been a delegate to various state and county conventions, 
but never having been a seeker of official preferment. His interest in 
the cause of popular education has been of an insistent sort, and he 
has served as a school officer for the past thirty years. He has been a 
member of the Masonic fraternity since 1860, and is now affiliated with 
Lodge No. 11, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, at Flandreau.  

	On the 17th of October, 1855, at River Styx, Ohio, Mr. Lampson 
was married to Miss Harriet A. Dean, who was born and reared in Medina 
county, Ohio, being a daughter of Ansel and Emeline (Munson) Dean, her 
father having been a successful farmer. Of the five children born to 
Mr. and Mrs. Lampson three are living, namely: George R., who is a 
prominent farmer and veterinary surgeon of this county; Albert, who is 
likewise a representative farmer of the county; and Frank E., who is 
engaged in business in the city of Minneapolis, Minnesota. William C. 
died at the age of twelve years, and Edgar G. at the age of twenty-one 
years.