John D. Smull Biography


	This biography appears on page 684 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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	JOHN D. SMULL, deputy postmaster at Milbank, was born in DeKalb 
county, Illinois, on the 31st of January, 1865, and is a son of Joel W. 
and Jennie (Dixon) Smull, the former of whom was born in New York and 
the latter in Pennsylvania. He is deceased and she resides in Chicago, 
John D. being their only child. Joel W. Smull devoted the major portion 
of his active business life to the vocation of contractor and became a 
prominent and influential citizen of Illinois, having served for a 
number of years as a member of the state legislature, while he was at 
one time grand master of the grand lodge of the Independent Order of 
Odd Fellows.  

	When John D. Smull was five years of age his parents removed to 
Chicago, in whose public schools he secured his education, after which 
he became identified with mercantile pursuits, having finally 
established himself in the rolling mill business in Chicago. where he 
remained until 1892, when he came to South Dakota and took up 
government land on the newly opened Sisseton Indian reservation. He 
assisted in the organization of Blooming Valley township, was its first 
clerk and was otherwise prominently concerned with local industrial and 
civic development. He was president of the Settlers' Association of the 
Sisseton Reservation, which had over one thousand members and which was 
formed to secure an abatement of the charge of two and one-half dollars 
per acre demanded by the government, and through the medium of the 
organization this was accomplished and the government permitted 
settlers to secure free homesteads, as had been the case in other 
sections. He remained on his farm, which he still owns, for about seven 
years, since when he has resided in Milbank. During the fifth general 
assembly in 1898-9 he served as clerk of the appropriations committee 
in the house. He is a staunch supporter of the Republican party and has 
been a zealous worker in its cause, having served for eight years as 
chairman or secretary of the county central committee. In March, 1899, 
he became deputy postmaster, in which capacity he has since served, 
except for a short interval. He is popular, courteous and obliging, 
proving to be the right man for the place. He is affiliated with the 
Independent Order of Odd Fellows, in which he has passed the official 
chairs, taking a lively interest in the work of the lodge and in the 
welfare of the order in general.  

	On the 27th of October, 1892, Mr. Smull was united in marriage to 
Miss Annie Clouckey, who was born in Greene, Butler county, Iowa, being 
a daughter of Joseph and Mary Clouckey, while she was a resident of 
Greene at the time of her marriage, of which two daughters have been 
born, Jennie C. and Mary D.