Newman C. Nash Biography


	This biography appears on pages 1011-1013 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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	NEWMAN C. NASH, well known as the editor and publisher of the Sioux 
Valley News, at Canton, is a native of the old Empire state, having been 
born in Orleans county, New York, on the 15th of February, 1848 and 
being a son of Francis and Catherine V. (Curtis) Nash. His father was 
born in Genesee county, New York, of English and Holland Dutch descent, 
and was by vocation a farmer. The mother of our subject was born in 
Berkshire county, Massachusetts, and in the agnatic line was of Holland 
Dutch descent, while her mother was a representative of  families 
established in New England in the colonial epoch of our national 
history. Francis and Catherine V. Nash became the parents of nine 
children, of whom the subject of this review was  the eldest son, while 
of the number seven are living at the present time.  

	Newman C. Nash passed his early childhood days on the homestead 
farm in Orleans county,  New York, and was seven years of age at the 
time of his parents' removal to Rock county,  Wisconsin, where his 
father became a pioneer farmer, and there the parents passed the  
remainder of their lives, honored by all who knew them. The subject was 
reared to the sturdy  discipline of the home farm, duly availing himself 
of the advantages afforded by the common  schools of the locality and 
period, and he was still a member of the parental household at the  time 
when the dark cloud of civil war obscured the national horizon. When but 
seventeen years  of age he enlisted as a private in Company A, 
Thirteenth Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, with  which he continued in 
active service for four years and three months, participating in all of 
the  many engagements in which his command was involved, so that the 
history of his regiment is  practically the history of his faithful and 
valiant career as a soldier of the republic. He received  his honorable 
discharge on the 28th of December, 1865.  

	As soon as he was mustered out Mr. Nash returned to Rock county, 
Wisconsin, and was  thereafter engaged in agricultural pursuits near the 
city of Janesville, that county, until 1871, when  he came as a pioneer 
to the territory of Dakota. He arrived in Lincoln county in February of  
that year and in Canton township took up a homestead claim of one 
hundred and sixty acres,  perfecting his title in due course of time and 
forthwith instituting the improvement and cultivation  of his land. He 
continued to reside on this ranch until the autumn of 1876, when he 
removed to  the city of Canton, which was then a small frontier village, 
and in January of the following year  he initiated his career in 
connection with the "art preservative of all arts," by purchasing a half 
interest in the plant and business of the Sioux Valley News of which he 
became the sole  proprietor in the following April. This was one of the 
first papers published in the territory. and  he has presided over its 
destinies consecutively from the time noted. The paper is a model in the 
matter of letter press, discrimination is displayed in the news columns 
and those devoted to  miscellaneous reading, while even a cursory, 
glance establishes the fact that the editorial  department is under the 
control of a man who keeps himself well informed regarding matters of  
public moment and who writes forcibly and with directness in expressing 
his opinions. The  News has a circulation of fourteen hundred copies and 
is a welcome visitor in the majority of  the homes in this section of 
the state. Mr. Nash is a valued and influential member of the South  
Dakota Press Association, of which he was president for two years, and 
politically he is a  stanch adherent of the Republican party, whose 
principles he supports by his franchise and  personal influence. He is 
an appreciative and most popular member of the Grand Army of the  
Republic, being affiliated with General Lyon Post, No. II, while from 
June, 1893, to June,  1894, he held the office of commander of the order 
for the department of South Dakota. He is  also past grand master of the 
grand lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows in the  state, and 
is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity and the Modern Woodmen of 
America. He  and his wife are zealous members of the Congregational 
church in their home city, and he has  served as a member of its board 
of trustees for more than a decade and a half. He was a  member of the 
board of education for several years, and has also rendered effective 
service in  other local offices of public trust, including that of 
postmaster, of which he was incumbent from  April, 1890, to June, 1894.  

	On the 26th of June, 1865, Mr. Nash was united in marriage to Miss 
Jennie E. Williston, who  was born and reared in Janesville, Wisconsin, 
and of their five children we incorporate the  following brief record: 
Nina M. is the director of the model school in the Aberdeen Normal; 
George W. is state superintendent of schools for  South Dakota; Clara 
W., a graduate of Yankton College, is married ; Marion is deceased; and  
Francis F. is also a graduate of Yankton College, and is junior member 
of the firm of N. C. Nash & Son, publishers of the Sioux Valley News, of 
Canton, and the Harrisburg News, of  Harrisburg.