Alvin M. Shaw Biography


	This biography appears on pages 850-851 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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	ALVIN M. SHAW, who is incumbent of the responsible executive 
office of cashier of the Delmont State Bank, of Delmont, Douglas 
county, is recognized as one of the able young business men of the 
county, where he is held in high esteem and is personally popular. He 
was born on a farm in Joe, Daviess county, Illinois, on the 3d of 
February, 1876, being a son of Henry and Mary  E. Shaw, of whose seven 
children four are living, namely: William H., who is cashier of the 
Hutchinson County Bank at Parkston, this state; Ora P., who is a grain 
buyer at Scotland, Bon Homme county; Ida, who is the wife of Frank L. 
Wheeler, also a resident of Scotland; and Alvin M., who is the 
immediate subject of this sketch. 

	Henry Shaw was born in the state of New York, in 1828, and as a 
young man he removed thence to Joe Daviess county, Illinois, where he 
was engaged in agricultural pursuits until 1886, when he came to South 
Dakota and took up his residence in Parkston, where he became 
associated with his eldest son, William H., in the organization of the 
Hutchinson County Bank, of which he was president from the time of its 
inception until his death, which occurred in October, 1902. He also 
acquired considerable valuable farming land, to the supervision of 
which he gave his attention, while his son William, as cashier had 
charge of the bank of which he is still cashier. The father was an 
uncompromising Republican in his political proclivities and his 
religious faith was that of the Presbyterian church. He was a man of 
strong intellectual powers and marked business acumen, and his life was 
one of signal usefulness and honor. His widow, who is a native of the 
state of New York retains her home in Scotland, this state.  

	Alvin M. Shaw was reared to the age of ten years in his native 
county in Illinois, where he secured his preliminary educational 
discipline in the public schools, and after the removal of the family 
to South Dakota he continued his studies in the Scotland Academy, in 
which he was graduated as a member of the class of 1893. He shortly 
afterward went to Vermilion and entered the commercial department of 
the state university, where he completed a thorough course and was 
graduated in 1895. Shortly after his graduation he became the assistant 
cashier in the Hutchinson County Bank, at Parkston, being thus engaged 
until the 1st of January, 1901, when he came to Delmont to assume the 
position of cashier of the Delmont State Bank, of which Alfred Shepard, 
a prominent manufacturer of threshing machines, is president, and since 
that time he has ably managed the executive affairs of the institution, 
in the capacity of cashier and manager. The bank does a heavy business 
in the extension of loans on farming property and is known as one of 
the strong monetary institutions of this part of the state. Mr. Shaw 
gives an unwavering allegiance to the Republican party, is progressive 
and public spirited and is one of the representative young business men 
of the county.  

	In July, 1901, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Shaw to Miss 
Nina P. Simmons, daughter of Frank Simmons, a prominent citizen of 
Parkston, and they are the parents of a winsome little daughter, 
Margaret.