Albert W. Wilmarth Biography


	This biography appears on pages 1696-1697 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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	A photo of Albert W. Wilmarth faces page 1696.


	ALBERT W. WILMARTH, who is actively engaged in the practice of his 
profession in Huron, the official center of Beadle county, is one of the 
able and influential members of the bar of the commonwealth, has served 
as a member of the state legislature and as a citizen commands 
unequivocal confidence and regard. 

	Mr. Wilmarth is a native of the old Keystone state, having been 
born in Harford, Susqtlehanna county, Pennsylvania, on the 15th of 
February, 1856, and being a son of George P. and Martha (Payne) 
Wilmarth, who were likewise born and reared in that county, the latter 
being a daughter of Oliver Payne, who was born in Massachusetts, while 
Walter Wilmarth, the paternal grandfather, was born in Connecticut, both 
families having been identified with the annals of our national history 
from the early colonial epoch. Grandfather Wilmarth was numbered among 
the pioneers of Susquehanna county, Pennsylvania, where he engaged in 
farming, which vocation was also followed by the father of the subject, 
who became an influential citizen of that locality. 

	Albert W. Wilmarth secured his early education in the town of 
Harford, where he completed a course in the high school, and after 
leaving school he entered the office of Judge J. Brewster McCollum, of 
Montrose, Pennsylvania, who was afterward chief justice of the supreme 
court of that state, and under the able direction of this honored 
preceptor carried forward his study of the law for several years, being 
admitted to the bar of his native state in 1879. He was thereafter 
engaged in the active work of his profession in Montrose, Pennsylvania, 
until 1883, when he came to South Dakota and located in Huron, where he 
established himself in practice and where he has gained high prestige 
and marked precedence as a skilled trial lawyer and discriminating 
counsel, being especially well read in the learning of the law and 
having a judicial and analytical mind which enables him to grasp the 
cases presented to him for consideration and to readily apply the legal 
principles relevant thereto. In 1892 he was elected to the office of 
city attorney, in which he served six consecutive year, retiring in 
1898. In the following year he was chosen to represent his county in the 
state legislature, where he made a most enviable record as an active and 
able working member of the house, being assigned to various important 
committees and championing many measures which have proved of 
inestimable benefit to the state since enactment. He was re-elected in 
1901 and during the next general assembly was equally prominent hl the 
legislative body. He was the chief promoter of the referendum bill, 
which was presented by him and ably upheld on the floor of the house, 
being finally enacted as a law of the state and standing in evidence of 
the progressive policy of the members of the assembly. In politics Mr. 
Wilmarth is a staunch adherent of the Republican party, having. been an 
active worker in its cause and being prominent in its councils in the 
state. He is identified with various fraternal organizations and is 
distinctively popular in professional, business and social circles. 
During Mr. Wilmarth's first term in the legislature he entered into a 
wise coalition with John Pusey, of Hand county, and Wilbur S. Glass, of 
Codington county, and they effectively combined their efforts in the 
support of worthy measures, being thus practically invincible in 
securing the passage of bills which they undertook to put through in the 
house. During both terms Mr. Wilmarth was a recognized leader in the 
house, and during the second term he had the distinction of being 
chairman of the judiciary committee, one of the most important of all 
committees, as is well known. In the Republican state convention of 1904 
Mr. Wilmarth was chosen to make the speech nominating Coe I. Crawford 
for the governorship, and made an eloquent appeal for his candidate, 
winning for himself additional laurels as a public speaker. The press 
reported the incident as follows: 

	The chairman called for nominations for governor. 

	A. W. Wilmarth, of Huron, and Carl Sherwood, of Clark, were on 
their feet instantly. The chair recognized Sherwood who in a flowery 
speech placed in nomination the name of his favorite, Sam Elrod. A 
number of chairmen of delegations seconded the nomination, several of 
them raising a hubbub and calling for "question" in a vain attempt to 
bluff Wilmarth. That gentleman quietly waited till they were all done 
and then in a voice penetrating every corner of the convention hall and 
the ringing eloquence of which held every ear in that vast turbulent 
audience attentive and seemingly spellbound, placed in nomination the 
name of Coe I. Crawford, whom he termed "the plumed knight" of South 
Dakota politics and coupled his name with that of Theodore Roosevelt in 
a striking comparison. After paying a high tribute to Crawford, 
characterizing him as one of the ablest, cleanest and most courageous of 
all South Dakota Republicans, he said: 

	"He takes his platform. He has unfurled his banner like the 
'plumed knight' that he is and he will carry it through the camps of 
enemies until in triumph he places it upon the platform of a Republican 
convention hall. Triumph he must and shall. He has added to the 
Republican platform the primary election plank which guarantees the 
right of every man —he of the rank and file—to express his will. The 
demand is almost universal for Coe I. Crawford." Several times he was 
interrupted by applause and at the close the whole convention hall 
thundered forth its cheers from friend and foe alike until the great 
auditorium rang with round after round of admiring approbation.