Leonard Renner Biography


	This biography appears on pages 893-894 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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	HON. LEONARD RENNER. - Prominent in the progress of every 
enterprising community is its agricultural interest, and the men 
devoting their energies and power of mind to the development and 
prosecution of this useful and time honored vocation contribute more 
perhaps than any other class to the development and substantial 
prosperity of a new and rapidly growing state. Among the leading 
agriculturists of Minnehaha county, South Dakota, Leonard Renner, of 
Mapleton township, occupies a conspicuous place. He has been 
prominently identified with this part of the state for a number of 
years, has taken an active part in promoting its material welfare and 
in addition to the noble calling to which he so successfully devotes 
his attention, he has also made his influence felt in the public and 
political affairs of the commonwealth.  

	Mr. Renner is a native of Germany and a creditable representative 
of this strong, virile nationality, a nationality which, perhaps more 
than any other, has made for the material welfare, intellectual 
advancement and general prosperity of the great American republic. He 
was born June 9, 1840, in the kingdom of Baden, and is the sixth of a 
family of eight children, five sons and three daughters, whose parents 
were Casper and Elizabeth Renner. He spent the first eight v ears of 
his life in his native land, and in 1840 was brought by his parents to 
the United States, the family settling in Racine county, Wisconsin, 
where he grew to maturity on a farm. Coming to America when quite 
young, he soon became habituated to the manners and customs of his 
environment, secured a good practical education in the public schools, 
and as he advanced in years and knowledge his love and admiration for 
his adopted country and its institutions increased in like ratio. He 
remained with his parents until he was twenty-three years of age. On 
the 8th day of July, 1863, he enlisted in Battery B, First Illinois 
Light Artillery, with which he served two years to a day, being 
discharged July 8, 1865, with an honorable record as a brave and 
fearless defender of the national union. He accompanied his command 
through all the varied vicissitudes of warfare, and his two years at 
the front were marked by almost continued activity. Among the many 
battles in which he participated, the following were the most noted: 
Chickamauga, Chattanooga, Missionary Ridge, Rocky Face Gap, Resaca, 
Peach Tree Creek, Kenesaw Mountain, Franklin, Nashville, besides 
numerous skirmishes and minor engagements, to say nothing of the long 
marches and other thrilling experiences encountered by the soldier in 
constant and active service. Mr. Renner retired from the army with the 
rank of corporal and, returning home, resumed his usual vocation, which 
he carried on with success and financial profit in Wisconsin until 
1878, when he disposed of his interests in that state and removed to 
Minnehaha county, South Dakota. Purchasing a valuable tract of land in 
Mapleton township, he at once addressed himself to the task of its 
improvement and in due time he not only erected a number of substantial 
buildings on his place, but took leading rank as an enterprising farmer 
and successful raiser. Mr. Renner's farm, situated in one of the finest 
agricultural districts of South Dakota, embraces an area of nine 
hundred and sixty acres, the greater part under a high state of 
cultivation, the rest being devoted to live stock, which, as stated 
above, he has carried on with most gratifying financial results. His 
home, beautiful for situation and surrounded by natural and artificial 
features which enhance its attractions, is supplied with all the 
comforts and conveniences calculated to make rural life pleasant and 
agreeable, and without prevarication it can be called one of the finest 
and on the whole one of the most desirable country homes in the county 
of Minnehaha.  

	Mr. Renner, on March 19, 1873, was married in Racine county-, 
Wisconsin, to Miss Catherine Kaiser, whose birth occurred November 22, 
1845, in I,afayette, that state, being the daughter of George L. and 
Margaret (Taupert) Kaiser, both natives of Germany. Of the seven 
children born of this union, three died in infancy, those surviving 
being Charles H., George L., Frank T. and Nellie A. 

	Mr. Renner, as already indicated, has been influential in the 
affairs of his township and county, and for several years served on the 
town board of Mapleton, of which body he was chairman during the 
greater part of his incumbency. In 1901 he was elected, on the 
Republican ticket, to represent Minnehaha county in the legislature of 
South Dakota, and his course as a lawmaker meeting the endorsement of 
his constituency, he was reelected in the fall of 1902, his record 
throughout being eminently creditable to himself and an honor to the 
county. During the session of 1901 he was a member of the committee on 
education, one of the most important committees of the house, and he 
also served during that time and the ensuing two years on the committee 
of public health, besides taking an active part in the general 
deliberations of that body. For the last twenty years he has been 
school treasurer of Mapleton township, and as | such has labored 
zealously for the cause of education, sparing no pains to raise the 
system within his jurisdiction to the highest standard of excellence 
attainable. He is a zealous member of the Grand Army of the Republic 
belonging to Joe Hooker Post, which at various times has honored him 
with important official positions. Mr. Renner is a broad-minded, 
intelligent man of generous impulses enterprising, progressive, and a 
typical representative of that large and eminently respectable class of 
citizens that have done so much for the development of the young and 
growing commonwealth of South Dakota. He is highly esteemed by his 
neighbors and by the public, and his private and official life 
demonstrates that the large measure of confidence reposed in him has 
not been misplaced.