Joseph V. Wagner Biography


	This biography appears on pages 806-807 in "History of South 
	Dakota" by Doane Robinson, Vol. I (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.

	This file is part of the SDGENWEB Archives. If you arrived here 
	Inside a frame or from a link from somewhere else, our front door 
	is at

	http://usgwarchives.org/sd/sdfiles.htm


	JOSEPH V. WAGNER, who is incumbent of the office of treasurer of 
Bon Homme county, retaining his residence in the attractive village of 
Tabor, the county seat, is one of the popular and highly esteemed 
citizens of the county and one of the representative business men of 
this section of the state. being largely interested in banking and 
having attained prosperity and definite prestige through his own 
efforts, being thus entitled to be termed a self-made man, which is 
ever a title of honor in our republic.  

	Mr. Wagner is a native of Bohemia, where he was born on the 1st 
of March, 1855, the family having been resident of that section of the 
German empire for many generations. He was there reared to the age of 
fifteen years, having received his educational training in the 
excellent schools of the locality in which he was born. At the age 
noted he bade adieu to home and native land, in company with his elder 
brother, Albert, and set sail for the United States. From New York city 
they proceeded westward to Wisconsin, and after passing about ten 
months in Keewaunee county, that state, they came to what is now South 
Dakota, this being prior to the division of the territory. Our subject 
located in Bon Homme county, where he secured employment on various 
farms, being thus engaged for several years, during which time he 
carefully saved his earnings. In 1876 he took up a preemption claim of 
one hundred and sixty acres and later filed a homestead entry on the 
same property, which was located about twelve miles from the present 
county seat of Bon Homme county. He located on his farm and vigorously 
instituted the work of cultivating and improving the same. He resided 
on this place until 1887, when he sold the property, which had greatly 
appreciated in value, and then removed to Tabor, where he engaged in 
the general merchandise business, building up a large and prosperous 
enterprise and gaining the good will of the people of the surrounding 
country. In 1901 he disposed of his store and business and engaged in 
banking, to which important line of enterprise he has since devoted his 
attention, while his interests are of wide scope and importance and he 
is recognized as one of the substantial capitalists of this section of 
the state. He is president of the Utica State Bank, the Tabor State 
Bank and vice-president of the Lesterville State Bank, all of which 
have high standing among the monetary institutions of the state, being 
ably conducted and amply fortified in a capitalistic way.  

	In his political adherency Mr. Wagner is found staunchly arrayed 
in support of the principles and policies of the Democratic party, and 
while in no sense a politician he has taken at all times a loyal 
interest in the success of the party cause and has been an influential 
factor in furthering the same in a local way. In the autumn of 1902 he 
was elected to his present office as county treasurer, and it needs not 
be said that the fiscal affairs of the county have been placed in most 
competent hands, his administration being typified by strict business 
principles and a careful conservation of the interests of the county. 
Mr. Wagner is public-spirited and progressive and takes a deep concern 
in all that tends to promote the well-being of the state in which he 
has gained fortune. He is a communicant of the Roman Catholic church, 
in whose faith he was reared, and he holds membership in the Bohemian 
Catholic Central Union, being president of the lodge of the latter in 
Tabor.  

	On the 20th of October, 1877, Mr. Wagner was united in marriage 
to Miss Rosa Bumba, who, like himself, is a native of Bohemia, and of 
their seven children only three are living, namely: Joseph J., who is 
cashier of the Lesterville State Bank; James A., who is deputy county 
treasurer; and Thomas J., who is cashier of the Tabor State Bank, all 
being young men of excellent business ability and sterling character.