Henry O. Anderson Biography


	This biography appears on pages 226-229 in "History of Dakota Territory" 
	by George W. Kingsbury, Vol. IV (1915) and was scanned, 
	OCRed and edited by Maurice Krueger, mkrueger@iw.net.

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				HENRY O. ANDERSON.  

	Henry O. Anderson, one of the pioneers of South Dakota and a 
representative to the early territorial legislature, is the proprietor 
of a well established hardware and furniture store in Sturgis but is 
leaving much of the management of that enterprise to his son. He was 
born in the southern part of Sweden, which is sometimes called the 
granary of that country, on the 15th of November, 1842, and his 
parents, Anders and Elna Anderson, were natives of the same section. 
They have five children, all of whom are now deceased, save Henry O., 
who is the youngest.  

	Henry O. Anderson attended school in his native country, his 
brother being his teacher for several years. At the age of fourteen our 
subject began teaching a rural school but after a year of that work 
decided to become a cabinetmaker and served an apprenticeship of two 
and a half years. At the end of that time he turned his attention to 
farm work, assisting neighboring agriculturists until he was twenty 
years of age, when he went to Norway and perfected his skill as a 
cabinetmaker. He worked at his trade for four years in Norway but in 
the spring of 1866 emigrated to America and made his way to Neenah, 
Wisconsin, where he followed his trade until the fall of 1869. His next 
removal was to Kansas and he entered a claim in that state but on 
account of his health soon went to Charles City, Iowa, working there at 
his trade in the employ of a man for whom he had worked in Wisconsin. 
In the spring of 1870 he removed to Yankton, Dakota, where he found 
work as a carpenter for four years and then engaged in the butcher 
business for about two years. In 1876 he became a resident of Deadwood 
and for a year did carpentering. He then returned to Yankton and 
organized a company which established a sash and door mill at Gayville, 
in the vicinity of Deadwood, then the gold center of the Black Hills. 
He was connected with the making of doors, windows, etc., until 1884 
and then sold his interest in the mill to his partners and came to 
Sturgis, where he engaged in the hardware business with J. G. Wenke, 
who then conducted a store at Central City. This partnership was 
maintained for five years, but at the end of that time Mr. Anderson 
bought out Mr. Wenke and has since conducted the store in Sturgis. In 
1891 he took his son into partnership, the firm name being now Anderson 
& Son. They carry shelf and heavy hardware, a general line of farm 
implements and also a well selected stock of furniture. The store is 
the largest of its kind in Meade county and the large line of goods 
carried, combined with the well known integrity of the firm, insures a 
steady growth in patronage. Mr. Anderson also owns a large ranch forty 
miles from Sturgis, near Rapid City. He has retired to a great extent 
but still supervises the management of the store.  

	Mr. Anderson was married in November, 1867, in Neenah, Wisconsin, 
Miss Enga Mariah Nordgren becoming his wife. She was born in the same 
district in Sweden as Mr. Anderson and they were playmates as children. 
Her parents, Magnus and Hannah Nordgren, never emigrated to this 
country, Mrs. Anderson coming here with a brother. To the union of Mr. 
and Mrs. Anderson have been born two children. Albert M., who resides 
in Sturgis and is a regent of education for the state of South Dakota, 
married Miss Minnie Van Koughnet, by whom he has three children, Earl, 
Harold and Wilma. Edna May is the wife of Harold M. Cooper, a 
manufacturer of Marshalltown, Iowa, by whom she has a daughter, Irma.  

	Mr. Anderson is a republican and served as a member of the 
territorial legislature. For one term he was also mayor of Sturgis and 
his record in that capacity was so satisfactory that he was offered the 
office again but refused. His fraternal connections are with the 
Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Ancient Order of United 
Workmen, and in all the relations of life he guides his conduct by the 
principle of brotherly love upon which all fraternal orders are 
founded. During his many years of residence in this state he has at all 
times been willing to subordinate private interests to the public 
welfare and takes great satisfaction in feeling that he has had a part 
in the development of South Dakota.