Thomas Quinby Loveland Biography


	This biography appears on pages 1630-1632 in "History of South 
	Dakota" by Doane Robinson, Vol. II (1904) and was scanned, 
	OCRed and edited by Maurice Krueger, mkrueger@iw.net.

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	THOMAS QUINBY LOVELAND, one of the honored pioneers of Brookings 
county, is a native of the state of Ohio, having been born in Trumbull 
county, on the 14th of January, 1829, and being a son of Azehel and 
Emily (Newell) Loveland, both of whom were born in the state of 
Connecticut, their marriage being solemnized in Ohio, where Mr. Loveland 
was engaged in farming and followed the trade of carpenter until his son 
Thomas, subject of this review, attained such age as to make it possible 
for him to assume the management of the farm. When the subject was 
sixteen years of age his parents removed to the northern part of 
Trumbull county, locating near the town of Bristol, where the father 
turned his attention to lumbering, having owned and operated a sawmill, 
in which Thomas was actively employed for some time. Azehel Loveland 
died in the year 1851, his death resulting from an accident,—a slight 
cut in the knee developing into blood poisoning, from which he died nine 
days after receiving the injury, being survived by his wife and five 
children, concerning the latter of whom we incorporate the following 
brief record: Thomas Q. is the immediate subject of this review; Emily, 
who is deceased, was the wife of Hiram Williams, of Trumbull county, 
Ohio; Martha is the wife of Smith Travis, of Bristol, that county; Mary, 
the widow of John Russell, is a resident of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania; and 
Sidney A. is a resident of Ellsworth, Minnesota. The devoted mother was 
summoned into eternal rest in 1881, her death occurring in Bristol, 
Ohio. 

	Thomas Q. Loveland continued to be associated with his father in 
business until the death of the latter, and continued the enterprise one 
year thereafter in the interest of the family. On the 2d of April, 1850, 
he was united in marriage to Miss Roana House, a daughter of Alvin and 
Sallie (Melbe) House, who came to Ohio from Stanestead, Canada, passing 
the remainder of their lives in the old Buckeye state. Our subject and 
his wife walked side by side on the journey of life for more than half a 
century, strong in mutual love and confidence, and the silver cord was 
finally loosened when the devoted wife and helpmeet was summoned to the 
land of the leal, on the 19th of March, 1901, at the age of sixty-nine 
years. She was a woman of noble and gracious character and was loved by 
all who came within the sphere of her influence. Of the union of Mr. and 
Mrs. Loveland were born nine children, of whom two died in infancy. Of 
those who attained maturity we enter data as follows: Rozelia, the widow 
of Enos M. Hunt is a resident of Alexandria, Minnesota; Ella is the wife 
of Dr. James L. Colegrove, of Brookings, South Dakota; Edna is the wife 
of Austin Maxwell, of Kanaranzi, Minnesota; Emma is the wife of George 
Thayer, of Brookings; Quinty A. resides in Fairfield, Wisconsin; Susie 
is the wife of Herman M. Harden, editor and publisher of the Huron 
Democrat, at Huron, South Dakota; and Addie is the wife of Judson R. 
Towne, a teacher in the high school at Duluth, Minnesota. 

	After retiring from the lumbering business the subject conducted a 
hotel at Bristol, Ohio, about two years, at the expiration of which he 
removed to Baraboo, Sauk county, Wisconsin, in which locality he rented 
a farm, to whose cultivation he devoted his attention for the ensuing 
year, and he thereafter was in the hotel business in Baraboo for two 
years. This was about the time of the discovery of gold at Pike's Peak, 
Colorado, and Mr. Loveland was among those who set forth to seek fortune 
in the new Eldorado. He set forth for the gold fields and the company 
proceeded as far as Fort Carney, where they encountered persons 
returning from Pike's Peak, their reports being so unfavorable as to 
cause many of the outgoing party to abandon the trip and return home, 
among the number being the subject. He was thereafter engaged in farming 
in Sauk county, Wisconsin, for two years, within which time the dark 
clouds of civil war obscured the national horizon. In 1863 he tendered 
his services in defense of the Union, enlisting as a private in Company 
F, Third Wisconsin Cavalry, with which he continued in active service 
until December, 1865, when he received his honorable discharge, at 
Madison, Wisconsin. It was his good fortune to receive no wound while 
fighting .or the integrity of the nation, nor was he ill at any time 
during his term of service. He was discharged as second lieutenant and 
brevetted first lieutenant of his company, having been promoted to this 
office within a year after his enlistment, while he proved a valiant and 
faithful soldier of the republic. In the spring of 1866, with money 
which he had saved from his pay as a soldier, he purchased sixteen acres 
of land at Russell's Corners, Sauk county, Wisconsin, and there began 
raising hops. He continued this enterprise one year, disposing of his 
property after gathering his first crop, for which he secured sixty 
cents a pound. From this source he realized sufficient money to purchase 
a farm of fifty-five acres, in the same township. He remained on this 
farm until 1872, when he sold the property and started for the west, his 
financial resources at the time being represented in the sum of one 
thousand dollars. He proceeded to Rock county, Minnesota, where he 
entered claim to a homestead, proving on the same and there continuing 
to follow agricultural pursuits until he found that his efforts were 
rendered futile by conditions over which he had no control. In 1878 the 
grasshoppers destroyed his crops, and for five years their depredations 
were such that he was not able to even raise seed for planting, being 
compelled to mortgage his farm and eventually losing the property. In 
1878 he determined to try his fortunes in South Dakota, whither he came 
with a team, a small supply of farming implements and seven or eight 
head of cattle, the only vestiges of his years of toil and endeavor. He 
settled near the little village of Fountain, in Aurora township, 
Brookings county, where he took up pre-emption and tree claims, thus 
coming into possession of a half section of land. His first effort was 
to bring about the required improvement of his tree claim, which he did 
by the setting out of ten acres of trees, and he bent himself earnestly 
to the work before him and, soon a definite success attended his 
efforts. In time he erected on his farm a commodious and substantial 
house, good barn and other buildings, while he brought two hundred and 
forty acres of the tract under a high state of cultivation, developing 
one of the valuable farms of this section of the state. In I90O he 
disposed of his farm, having become the owner of an entire section, and 
from this sale he realized eleven thousand dollars,—a fact which stands 
in evidence of the prosperity which had been gained through his 
indefatigable energy and his availing himself of the excellent 
opportunities presented. After disposing of his farm Mr. Loveland took 
up his residence in the city of Brookings, where he has since maintained 
his home, being now the owner of four houses and lots in the city and 
having other excellent investments. He is now living retired and is 
enjoying the just rewards of his many years of honest and earnest toil. 
Fraternally he is a member of the Masonic order, but is not affiliated 
with any of its bodies in an active way at the present time. He was 
reared in the faith of the Democratic party, to which he gave his 
allegiance until the outbreak of the war of the Rebellion, since which 
time he has been a staunch advocate of the principles of the Republican 
party. In 1894 he was elected a member of the board of county 
commissioners of Brookings county, serving three years, within which 
term the county jail and sheriff's residence were erected.