William Bartlett Biography


	This biography appears on pages 400-406 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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				WILLIAM BARTLETT.  

	William Bartlett, of Edgemont, gives by far the greater part of 
his time and energy to the management of the sulphur spring owned by 
the city of Edgemont, which he and Robert Calder have leased under a 
franchise and around which there promises to grow up a well known 
health resort. He also owns a great deal of property in Lead, Edgemont 
and elsewhere and is a business man who has long been accustomed to 
direct enterprises of importance. He has an enviable reputation in the 
city as a builder and contractor and has erected some of the finest 
structures in various South Dakota cities.  

	A native of Bristol, Gloucestershire, England, he was born on the 
10th of July, 1847, of the marriage of George and Sarah (Pointing) 
Bartlett. The father, who owned a large transfer business in Bristol 
and operated a number of vans, passed away when our subject was but 
fourteen months of age but was survived for many years by his widow.  

	When William Bartlett attended school in Bristol, England, there 
were no free schools and each week he took the money to pay his 
tuition. When thirteen years of age he began working for others and for 
something over a year he was page to the Bishop of Bath and Wells. In 
the meantime his mother had married a second time and her husband, a 
general contractor and builder, insisted that our subject should learn 
the carpenter's trade. He therefore devoted several years to the 
mastery of the trade and thereafter continued in business with his 
stepfather until 1870, when as a young man of twenty-three years he 
concluded to try his fortune in the United States and left his native 
land. After residing in Chicago for a short time he went to Madison, 
Wisconsin, where he secured the contract for the building of the Park 
Hotel. He remained there a year and then, having a contract for a 
building at Newton, Jasper county, Iowa, he went there and later 
removed to Avoca, that state. He next established a chain of brick 
yards, two at Avoca, one at Orland and one at Walnut. For about 
thirteen years he resided at Avoca and was very successful in the 
management of his business affairs.  

	At the end of that time Mr. Bartlett sold out and came to South 
Dakota, taking up government land in Hand county, where he resided 
until 1892. His energy, foresight and excellent management enabled him 
to succeed as well in ranching as he had in other lines of work. In 
1892 he left the family living upon the ranch and went to Fargo, North 
Dakota, to engage in the rebuilding of that city after its destruction 
by fire. He secured many contracts and continued there for about two 
years. In the meantime he took contracts in a number of other places 
building the high school in Mitchell, South Dakota, and a number of 
important buildings in Minnesota and in 1875 he erected the first 
courthouse at Sioux City, Iowa. He was also the contractor for a number 
of structures at Marshall, Minnesota, and upon finishing his work there 
he received a telegram to go to Yankton to meet those who had charge of 
the letting of the contract on the high-school building at Lead, this 
state, and he made a bid. He secured the contract and erected the 
building, also the Smead Hotel and the First National Bank of that city 
and, moreover, superintended the construction of the recreation 
building there and of the library. For about nineteen years the family 
home was maintained at Lead and during part of that time he conducted a 
brick yard there. For a year he operated the Smead Hotel and proved 
very successful in its management. About 1907 be arrived in Edgemont 
and purchased the business of the Paine Lumber Company of that place, 
which he turned over to the direction of his son. Our subject next 
erected the store building which is now occupied by another son. 
Although he became closely identified with business interests of 
Edgemont in 1907 it was not until 1910 that he took up his residence 
there, having continued to live in Lead during the intervening period. 
He erected and owns the opera house, which is a credit to Edgemont, and 
since his first arrival in the city he has done much to secure its 
rapid development.  

	Mr. Bartlett was one of the first to recognize the value of the 
deep artesian well which is owned by the city of Edgemont, and he and 
Robert Calder are exploiting it under a fifteen year franchise. The 
water has been analyzed by an expert chemist and has been pronounced to 
be superior to other mineral waters for the treatment of many chronic 
diseases by eminent medical authority, and Mr. Bartlett and Mr. Calder 
are preparing to accommodate the many patients who desire to take 
treatments there. Six bathrooms and cooling rooms, eight by ten feet 
each, are already built and decorated and are adequately furnished and 
equipped. The front part of the building is used as a reading and 
writing room, and the lessees of the spring intend doing everything 
possible to add to the comfort of their patients and make the spring 
rank with the very best in the country as a health resort. Although up 
to the present time there have been but poor facilities for taking 
treatment, many people have already found that the spring water has 
cured them of chronic disorders and it already has a reputation as a 
therapeutic agency. Now that the building and equipment necessary to 
utilize the water to the best advantage have been added it is but a 
matter of time before the spring will be well known throughout the 
state and throughout this whole section of the country and many 
patients will come to profit from its curative properties. In 
developing the possibilities latent in the splendid artesian well of 
sulphur water of great medicinal value at Edgemont, Mr. Bartlett and 
Mr. Calder are performing a great service for the city as well as 
adding to their own individual prosperity Mr. Bartlett's wide 
experience in varied lines of business combined with his characteristic 
initiative and aggressiveness, make him an especially valuable man for 
the place and he has already demonstrated his ability to carry the 
project through to success.  

	r. Bartlett is a member of the firm of Phillips & Bartlett, 
general contractors and brick manufacturers, well known throughout the 
state. He is also interested in the electric light plant at Sturgis, 
South Dakota, his partners in the ownership of the concern being Mr. 
Philips and Mr. Allison. He is also a stockholder in the First National 
Bank of Lead and a director in the Smead Hotel at Lead. He also has 
other extensive property interests in that city and owns much valuable 
read estate in Edgemont. He erected the Masonic temples at Deadwood and 
at Spearfish and since removing to Edgemont has built a number of the 
more important structures there. In addition to his extensive and 
varied interests already mentioned he has important mining properties 
in the Black Hills, including his holdings at Rockford, South Dakota, 
and likewise his interest in mines in the Rocky Mountains  

	r. Bartlett was married in February, 1865, to Miss Emma Laura 
Ashman. She was born in Edford, England, a daughter of Richard and Ann 
Elizabeth (Webb) Ashman, who were lifelong residents of England. The 
father was a lumber dealer and was quite successful in his business 
undertakings. Mr. and Mrs. Bartlett have four children. Hubert William 
who resides at Edgemont and is engaged in the hardware business, 
married Miss Grace Johnson, of Redfield, this state. John Frederick, 
who resides upon eight hundred acres of land in Hand county, is 
carrying on stock-raising very successfully. He married Miss Susie 
Kenyon, of that county. Anna Elizabeth, the widow of Samuel Bushong, 
resides upon eight hundred acres of land in Hand county and operates 
the ranch herself. Her husband died in 1911, at Rochester, Minnesota, 
where he had undergone an operation. Arthur Edward, who is a resident 
of Edgemont and is engaged in the lumber business, married Analbert 
Kenyon, a sister of the wife of his brother, John Frederick.  

	Mr. Bartlett is a republican and while he has taken a good 
citizen's interest in politics he has always been too busy with his 
private affairs to think of accepting office. His religious faith is 
that of the Episcopal church and fraternally he is connected with the 
Masonic order and the Elks. In the former organization he belongs to 
the various bodies from the blue lodge to the Shrine, and he is a life 
member of the Elks. He is prominent in fraternal circles of his part of 
the state and is always ready to do anything in his power to further 
the interests of the organizations to which he belongs. His son Hubert 
is past grand high priest in the Masonic order.  

	In whatever community Mr. Bartlett has resided he has become a 
prime factor in its growth and development, and he has many friends 
throughout the west who admire his seemingly limitless energy and 
unshakable resolution and hold him in warm regard for his large 
heartedness and capacity for friendship. He is a man to whom any 
pettiness is utterly foreign and the same power of seeing things in 
large that has been such an important factor in his success in the 
business world has made his advice in regard to matters of public 
concern of great value and Edgemont is fortunate in that he has 
identified his interests with those of the city. Since he has borne a 
large part in the development of the sulphur springs belonging to the 
city it is a foregone conclusion that their medicinal properties will 
become widely known and that they will attract many people to the city 
and will aid in promoting the interests of the community along business 
and commercial lines.