John H. Williamson Biography


	This biography appears on pages 1577-1578 in "History of South 
	Dakota" by Doane Robinson, Vol. II (1904) and was scanned, 
	OCRed and edited by Maurice Krueger, mkrueger@iw.net.

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	JOHN H. WILLIAMSON, a member of the state senate, from Lake 
county, is a native of the old Pine Tree state, having been born in the 
town of Stark, Somerset county, on the 30th of July, 1859, and being a 
son of Hon. Henry and Temperance (Boardman) Williamson, both of whom 
were born and reared in that same county, being scions of prominent old 
families of New England. The paternal grandfather of the subject was 
Rev. Stephen Williamson, who was born in Siasconset, Nantucket county, 
Massachusetts, and was a clergyman of the Freewill Baptist church and 
was long active in the work of the ministry. The original progenitors of 
the family in America came hither from England in the colonial days, and 
the great-grandfather of the Senator was a valiant soldier in the 
Continental line during the war of the Revolution, while the Rev. 
Stephen Williamson was in active service during the war of 1812, in 
which he was an officer. Patriotism and loyalty have been distinctive 
traits in the several generations, and the father of the subject was a 
staunch abolitionist in the crucial epoch culminating in the war of the 
Rebellion. He was physically disqualified for active service in the 
field but took a prominent part in recruiting work and in sustaining 
those who went to the front. He was a farmer by vocation, owning and 
operating a large homestead in his native county, where he was held in 
the highest esteem and confidence. He was graduated in Hamilton College, 
at Clinton, New York, as a member of the class of 1847. He was a member 
of the state senate of Maine and also of the lower house of the 
legislature, was chairman of the board of selectmen of his county for 
fifteen years, while he served for four years as county judge and for a 
time as a member of the governor's council, all of which preferments 
indicate the influential position which was his. He was twice married, 
the two children of the first union being John H., the immediate subject 
of this review, and Horace B., who died April 10, 1900, at Madison, 
South Dakota. The honored father died in 1892, at the advanced age of 
seventy-five years. 

	John H. Williamson received his preliminary educational discipline 
in the public schools of Stark, Maine, and then entered the Eaton 
School, at Norridgewock, Maine, and later the Maine Central Institute, 
at Pittsfield, where he completed his preparatory collegiate work, being 
graduated in the institution as a member-of the class of 1882. He was 
shortly afterward matriculated in Bates College, at Lewiston, Maine, 
where he completed the classical course and was graduated with the 
degree of Bachelor of Arts, in 1886, with special honors in mathematics. 
In October of the same year he came to South Dakota and took up his 
abode in Madison, where he entered the law office of Judge William E. 
Howe, under whose direction he prosecuted his technical study of the law 
for one year, at the expiration of which he entered the law ,department 
of the University of Wisconsin, at Madison, w here he took up the work 
in both the junior and senior classes, this being the first attempt of 
the sort made by any student in that celebrated institution, being 
graduated as a member of the class of 1888 and receiving the degree of 
Bachelor of Laws and being simultaneously admitted to the bar of 
Wisconsin by the supreme court of the state. He then went to Anoka, 
Minnesota, where he was for six months associated in practice with 
George Wyman, and at the expiration of the period noted he returned to 
Madison, South Dakota, where he has ever since been actively and 
prominently identified with the work of his profession. He served two 
years as police or city justice, and in 1892 was elected to the bench of 
the county court, retaining the office four years. In 1900 he was 
elected to the state senate of which he was an active working member 
during the ensuing general assembly, while he was chosen as his own 
successor in the election of November, 1902. He is a stalwart advocate 
of the principles of the Republican party, and a voucher of his ability 
and personal popularity was that offered at the time of his first 
election to the senate, since he was the first Republican to have 
secured this preferment in the district for a decade. He was one of the 
organizers of the Lake Madison Chautanqua Association, of which he was 
the first president, holding this office eight consecutive years, and 
being at the present time a member of the directorate of the 
organization. He is vice-president of the Madison State Bank and is the 
owner of residence property in the town of Madison. The Senator is 
identified with the Masonic fraternity, the Knights of Pythias, the 
Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and the Modern Woodmen of 
America. He has taken a specially active interest in the State Normal 
School, in Madison, and both in the senate and in a private way has done 
much to foster the same. It should also be noted in the connection that 
during the general assembly of the legislature of 1902 he received the 
special honor of being elected president pro tem. of the senate, his 
intimate knowledge of parliamentary rules making him a specially capable 
presiding officer. 

	On the 9th of June, 1891, Senator Williamson was united in 
marriage to Miss Stella L. Storms, daughter of Elisha C. and Mary 
(Tuttle) Storms, of Anoka, Minnesota, while she was born in Waukesha 
county, Wisconsin. Of this union have been born four children: Lura M., 
Henry S., Frank E. and J. Horace.