Albert M. Anderson Biography


	This biography appears on pages 229-230 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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			ALBERT M. ANDERSON.  

	Business activity at Sturgis finds a worthy representative in 
Albert M. Anderson, a hardware merchant, who in the conduct of his 
business interests carries forward to successful completion whatever he 
undertakes as the result of his unfaltering industry, keen sagacity and 
unabating enterprise. He was born at Neenah, Wisconsin, July 15, 1868, 
a son of Henry O. Anderson, mentioned elsewhere in this work. He 
attended school at Yankton as a kindergarten pupil and later continued 
his education in a log school building at South Bend, near Deadwood. He 
also studied at Gayville and at Central City for one winter and then 
walked from Central City to Deadwood, where he attended school in the 
basement of the Congregational church. He was then out of school until 
1888, when he became a student in the Spearfish Normal school, from 
which he was graduated with the class of 1891.  

	After leaving the normal school he was sent by his father to 
eastern South Dakota to dispose of a band of horses and spent about six 
months in that work. The following year his father admitted him to 
partnership in the hardware business at Sturgis and the association 
between them has since been maintained. They have a well appointed 
store, carrying a large and carefully selected stock of shelf and heavy 
hardware, and their honorable business methods and enterprise secure to 
them a liberal patronage. In connection with his father Mr. Anderson is 
also interested in ranch property and is a director and stockholder in 
the Bear Butte Valley Bank of Sturgis, but the major portion of his 
time and attention are devoted to the hardware trade.  

	On the 27th of September, 1898, Mr. Anderson was united in 
marriage to Miss Minnie Van Koughnet, who was born at Carthage, New 
York, a daughter of John and Ann (Spencer) Van Koughnet. The father's 
birth occurred in the Mohawk valley of New York, May 8, 1827, and the 
mother was born in the Empire state, April 6, 1839. Mr. Van Koughnet 
engaged in farming in the east until 1900, when he removed to Sturgis 
and again turned his attention to agricultural pursuits in that 
locality, remaining upon the farm until 1907, when he purchased a home 
in Sturgis, which he and his wife now occupy. At the present writing he 
is living retired from business, his former activity having brought to 
him capital sufficient to enable him to enjoy a well earned rest. He is 
a member of the Masonic fraternity and is a highly respected resident 
of Sturgis. To him and his wife were born four children: William, a 
farmer residing on the old homestead in New York; Mary, who is with her 
parents; Charles, who is engaged in the drug business at Forest Grove, 
Oregon; and Mrs. Anderson, who by her marriage has become the mother of 
three children: Earl Henry, born September 15, 1901; Harold Oscar, 
October 4, 1905; and Wilma Mildred, November 1, 1909.  

	Mr. Anderson is a Scottish Rite Mason and a member of the Mystic 
Shrine at Deadwood. He is a prominent Odd Fellow and has passed through 
the chairs of that organization a number of times. He is also connected 
with the Ancient Order of United Workmen and his religious belief is 
indicated by his membership in the Presbyterian church. In politics he 
is a republican and has served as a member of the city council of 
Sturgis. The cause of education finds in him a stalwart champion. He 
has served on the school board of Sturgis, acting as its president 
until 1914, and he was president of the Spearfish Normal Alumni 
Association for three years. He has also been regent of education for 
the state of South Dakota since 1908 and does everything in his power 
to advance the standards of public instruction and make the schools of 
both the lower and more advanced grades of greater efficiency in 
preparation for life's practical and responsible duties.