Peter Byrne Biography


	This biography appears on pages 508-509 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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				PETER BYRNE. 

	One of the most successful self-made men of South Dakota is Peter 
Byrne, an extensive landowner and influential banker of Bon Homme 
county. He was born in southern Ireland, July 7, 1846, of the marriage 
of Edward and Margaret (Landy) Byrne, who were also natives of that 
section, where the family lived for many generations. In 1851 Edward 
and Margaret Byrne emigrated with their family, which numbered five 
children, to America, making the voyage on a sailing vessel which made 
quite good time for those days. They embarked at Dublin and landed at 
New York and then went by rail to Chicago, which was then the western 
railroad terminus. From that city they traveled by wagon to Dubuque, 
Iowa, and as the roads were very muddy the journey was a tedious and 
unpleasant one. On the 1st of July, 1851, they reached Dubuque and the 
father bought eighty acres of land five miles west of that city.

	On that farm Peter Byrne was reared to manhood and there learned 
the blacksmith's trade, which he was at length compelled to abandon, as 
he strained the wrist of his right hand--his hammer hand. In the spring 
of 1869 he came to South Dakota, reaching Yankton on the 7th of April. 
Sioux City was at that time the end of the railroad and from that point 
Mr. Byrne walked to the home of a friend near Vermillion, whence he 
went to Yankton by stage. He worked there for a year and then removed 
to Bon Homme county, filing on a preemption claim, which he proved up 
in due time. He also secured a tract as a timber claim east of Tyndall, 
but never made use of his homestead right, as by the time he was ready 
to do so he already owned more land than was allowed a claimant under 
that law. When he arrived in Bon Homme county he had a little capital, 
but the expenses of the first year or so of his residence in this new 
country, when his claim was not yet productive, used up his savings and 
he again started with no capital. During the early days he turned his 
hand to any honest work that he could find to do and one of his 
experiences was that of rafting cottonwood lumber across the Missouri 
river at Yankton for George W. Kingsbury who was then building a new 
office for the Press and Dakotan. The good nature that the editor 
manifested when the raft was stranded won the admiration and friendship 
of Mr. Byrne and the two men have remained fast friends since. Mr. 
Byrne began immediately to improve his land and as opportunity offered 
increased his acreage, but he did not confine his energies to 
agricultural operations, as he saw a profit in lumber and established a 
sawmill on the river bank at Old Bon Homme, rafting logs from the 
island and along the river bank for a considerable distance when the 
nearby supply was exhausted. He early turned his attention to 
stockraising and feeding and for years his annual shipments of cattle 
and hogs were much larger than those of the average stockraiser. He 
also set up a forge on his own farm and did his own repairing and 
sometimes work for neighbors. As the years passed Mr. Byrne purchased 
more and more land and is now the owner of nearly three thousand acres 
in this state and two thousand in Montana. He retired to Old Bon Homme 
some time ago and leased most of his land to long-time tenants, 
retaining only enough on the home farm to provide him sufficient work 
to keep him in good condition. 

	Mr. Byrne is interested in a number of local enterprises and is 
vice president of the Security Bank at Tyndall, of which he is an 
extensive stockholder. He is one of the substantial men of his county 
and has considerable influence in financial circles there, due not only 
to his wealth but also to his business acumen and practical wisdom. _

	Mr. Byrne was married in 1874 at Old Bon Homme to Miss Annie E. 
Lindley, a native of England, who with her parents emigrated to 
Wisconsin in 1870. The following year she accompanied her mother to Bon 
Homme, which has remained her home since. To Mr. and Mrs. Byrne have 
been born three children. Frank now owns and operates a farm a few 
miles west of Old Bon Homme. Alberta, after graduating from the high 
school at Yankton, attended the State Normal School at Springfield for 
two years and the State Normal at Aberdeen for the same length of time 
and will in the near future graduate from Yankton College. Alice is the 
youngest of the family. 

	Mr. Byrne is a democrat and is a communicant of the Catholic 
church, while his wife and daughters are members of the Congregational 
church. He was in much of the terrible blizzard of January 12, 1888, as 
he had one hundred and fifty head of stock exposed to the storm and on 
a faithful horse made his way to the cornstalk field where they were. 
After seeing to the safety of his stock he returned to the house and 
gives the greater part of the credit for his safe arrival there to his 
horse. Like most of the early settlers, Mr. Byrne's residence for the 
first two years was a log house, but at the end of that time he erected 
a more commodious frame dwelling. His place is now one of the best 
farming properties in Bon Homme county and Mr. Byrne derives a good 
income from its operation. He has planted a number of groves which have 
grown rapidly and which give protection from the wind and from the heat 
in the summer months. Although he takes just pride in the material 
prosperity that he has gained through his own efforts, he values even 
more highly the esteem and respect of his fellowmen which are freely 
accorded him.