Frank C. Mariner Biography


	This biography appears on page 1653 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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	FRANK C. MARINER, representative member of the bar of Spink 
county, is a native of the state of Illinois, having been born in 
Bushnell, McDonough county, on the 21st of November, 1854, and being a 
son of Orrin and Hannah (York) Mariner, the former of whom was born in 
Connecticut and the latter in the state of New York, both being 
representatives of staunch old colonial stock. The progenitor of the 
Mariner family in America was William Mariner, a Frenchman, who came to 
this country with General Lafayette, as nearly as can be determined from 
the records extant, taking part in the war of the Revolution under his 
noble commander and remaining to enjoy the advantages of the country 
whose independence he had thus aided in securing. The maternal 
grandfather of the subject was an active participant in the war of 1812. 
In 1840 Orrin Mariner removed to Illinois, becoming one of the sterling 
pioneer settlers of that state. He first located in Peoria county, 
whence he later removed to Marshall county, while finally he took up his 
residence in McDonough county, where both he and his wife passed the 
remainder of their lives, his vocation having been that of farming. Of 
the six children of this union four are living, the subject of this 
review having been the fifth in order of birth. 

	Frank C. Mariner received his preliminary educational training in 
the public schools of his native county, and supplemented this by a 
course of study in Lombard University, at Galesburg, Illinois. He then 
began reading law in the office of the firm of Barnes & Doughty, of 
Bushnell, Illinois, thus prosecuting his technical studies for some 
time, after which he went to Denver, Colorado, where he remained about 
one year. He then took up his residence in Shenandoah, Iowa, where he 
was admitted to the bar of the state in 1881. On the 6th of May of the 
following year he arrived in Northville, Spink county, Dakota, and here 
turned his attention to farming, taking up government land a few miles 
distant from the then embryonic village of Northville, and improving his 
property. He there continued to be actively engaged in farming until 
1887, when he established his home in Northville and entered upon the 
active practice of his profession, in which he has attained prestige and 
marked success, having a representative clientage in the community and 
conducting a prosperous general practice, while he is also engaged to a 
very considerable extent in dealing in real estate, being personally the 
owner of sixteen hundred acres of valuable agricultural land, the major 
portion of which is in Spink county. He has ever shown a loyal interest 
in public affairs and has served in various positions of local trust and 
responsibility, having been a member of the board of county 
commissioners in the early days, while he is one of the leaders in the 
ranks of the Republican party in his section, being a member of the 
state central committee of the same at the time of this writing, having 
been chosen for his second term at the Republican state convention in 
May, 1904. He is identified with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows 
and the Ancient Order of United Workmen. 

	On the 18th of November, 1884, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. 
Mariner to Miss Merta Peterson, who was born in Nebraska, whence she 
came with her parents to South Dakota in the territorial days. Of this 
union have been born six children, namely: Leta M., Hannah G., Orrin 
(deceased), Guy, Claude and Ward.