Nicholas J. Schachter Biography


	This biography appears on pages 1412-1413 in "History of South 
	Dakota" by Doane Robinson, Vol. II (1904) and was scanned, 
	OCRed and edited by Maurice Krueger, mkrueger@iw.net.

	This file may be freely copied by individuals and non-profit 
	organizations for their private use. 

	Any other use, including publication, storage in a retrieval 
	system, or transmission by electronic, mechanical, or other 
	means requires the written approval of the file's author.


	NICHOLAS J. SCHLACHTER, a popular and progressive business man of 
Gettysburg, Potter county, is a native of the state of Wisconsin, having 
been born on a farm in Sheboygan county, on the 8th of October, 1865, 
and being a son of Thomas and Martha Schlachter, the former of whom was 
born in the state of New York and the latter in the old country. The 
father of the subject took up his residence in Wisconsin in the early 
'fifties, being one of the pioneers of Sheboygan county, and in the. 
Badger state he continued to maintain his home until 1883, when he 
located in Sully county, South Dakota, where he has since been engaged 
in farming and stock raising. In his family were four sons and five 
daughters, all of whom are living except two, the subject having been 
the fifth child. Nicholas J. Schlachter secured his educational training 
in the public schools of his native county, and at the age of fourteen 
years entered upon an apprenticeship at the carpenter's trade, becoming 
a thoroughly skilled artisan. He accompanied his parents on their 
removal to South Dakota, and during the first year was engaged in 
freighting from Pierre to the Black Hills, after which he worked at his 
trade in Deadwood, while in the fall of 1883 he assisted in the erection 
of the court house in Pierre. The following spring he went to Fairbank, 
Sully county, where he engaged in contracting and building on his own 
account, his success there being excellent during the period when the 
town was booming, and after the reaction came he was for a few months 
employed as clerk in the store of Allen & Heale, at Fairbank. The 
following year he engaged in dealing in horses, and in 1887 he put in a 
crop of wheat on his father's ranch, the venture proving a failure, as 
the crop was destroyed by hail. He then took up his residence in 
Gettysburg, where he has ever since maintained his home. The town of 
Fairbank had by this time fallen into decadence and he there purchased 
twenty-seven buildings and removed a part of them to the prosperous 
village of Gettysburg, where he disposed of the same at a profit after 
putting them into good order on lots which he had purchased for the 
purpose. He thereafter was actively engaged in business as a contractor 
and builder for several years, and about three-fourths of the business 
and residence buildings in the town stand as monuments to his skill. In 
1895 he erected the present attractive high-school building. In 1896 Mr. 
Schlachter established himself in the lumber business, and he has been 
an independent operator in this line ever since, having successfully 
held his ground against the encroachments of the various combines and 
having built up a large and prosperous business, as is evident when we 
note the fact that he handles annually an average of about one hundred 
thousand dollars' worth of dressed and plain lumber. He is an excellent 
judge of values, has exceptional facilities and has given a service to 
patrons which has begotten the utmost confidence in his integrity and 
his absolute fairness in all his dealings. He is the owner of a number 
of pieces of valuable real estate in the town, and is known as one of 
its most progressive and public-spirited citizens. In 1900, convinced of 
the value of creamery facilities in the county, through the promotion of 
the dairy interests, he erected a modern creamery in Gettysburg and 
another at Onida, in Sully county, these being the first in the two 
counties. For a time his labors were attended with but questionable 
success, but his courage and his confidence in ultimate success never 
wavered, and he has been able to find both amply justified. At 
Gettysburg he receives the cream from Sully county as well as from 
Potter county, and during the summer months he turns out about twelve 
thousand pounds of butter a week, disposing of the product in the 
markets of Chicago and New York. While other ventures of the sort have 
proved failures he has brought to bear that energy and good management 
which have made for definite success, and he receives the product from 
about ten thousand cows, which fact indicates the value of the 
undertaking to the farmers of this section. In politics he is staunchly 
arrayed in support of the principles and policies of the Republican 
party, and while never ambitious for public office he has served several 
terms as a member of the village council. Fraternally he is identified 
with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias and 
the Modern Woodmen of America. 

	In January, 1894, Mr. Schlachter was united in marriage to Miss 
Matilda Van Wald, of Gettysburg. She was born in Wisconsin, in which 
state she was reared, being a daughter of Len and Mattie Van Wald. Of 
this union have been born two sons, Guy and Leo.