W. L. Cusick Biography


	This biography appears on pages 1134, 1137 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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				W. L. CUSICK. 

	W. L. Cusick is a prominent and well known farmer of Clay county, 
owning six hundred acres of land, three hundred and sixty of which are 
located in that county, and two hundred and forty in Stanley county. He 
was born upon the farm on section 27, Fairview township, where he still 
lives, in 1875, a son of Nelson W. and Annie (Ledew) Cusick. The father 
was born in New York state and the mother in St. Mary, Iowa, in 1857. 
The father came west when a young man and first located in Michigan, 
but afterward removed to Dakota territory in the early '60s, becoming 
one of the pioneers of Clay county, where he entered a homestead and 
also a preemption claim. In company with Cornelius Andrews and Jonas 
Meckling he platted the town site of Burbank in June, 1873. He farmed 
and raised stock until his death, which occurred in 1889 when he was in 
his sixty-fourth year. He was an excellent business man and was one of 
the wealthy men of the county at the time of his death, owning thirteen 
hundred acres of land situated in Clay, Union and Yankton counties. 
During the Civil war he enlisted in Company A, Volunteer Dakota 
Calvary, under Captain Nelson Miner, which was organized chiefly to 
protect settlers from Indian outbreaks, etc. In political matters he 
adhered to the democratic party but never sought office for himself. In 
1894 his widow joined him in death when in her thirty-sixth year. To 
their union were born six children, three sons and three daughters: W. 
L., of this review; Mollie, the wife of James Hitchcock, of this state; 
William, of Clay county; Carrie, the wife of W. A. Chaussee, of Clay 
county; Lillie, deceased; and John, a resident of Montana. 

	W. L. Cusick was given excellent educational opportunities, as he 
was a student in the University of South Dakota after finishing the 
course in the local schools. When he began his active business career 
he turned his attention to farming and stock-raising, which he still 
follows. He is residing upon the old homestead where his birth occurred 
and owns six hundred acres of land, three hundred and sixty of which 
are in Clay county and the remainder in Stanley county. He is 
progressive, energetic and businesslike in all that he does and his 
extensive interests are well managed and yield him a large annual 
income. 

	In 1897 Mr. Cusick was united in marriage to Miss Emma O. 
Russell, a native of Line coin county, South Dakota, and a daughter of 
C. S. and Catherine A. Russell. Her parents removed to South Dakota 
from Iowa in 1876, and previous to living in the latter state they were 
residents of Wisconsin. The mother was born in Pensylvania and the 
father in Ohio. He passed away in 1900 and was survived by his widow 
for nine years. He was a veteran of the Civil war, having served 
faithfully and gallantly in the Union army, and was familiarly known as 
Uncle Sam in his neighborhood. All of his six children survive and they 
are as follows: W. R., a resident of Lake Andes, South Dakota; Mrs. Ida 
L. Sherman, living in Hotchkiss, Colorado; Mrs. Abbie J. Smith, a 
resident of Berkeley, California; Calvin L., who lives in Vermillion, 
this state; Mrs. Cusick, the next in order of birth; and Mrs. Katie May 
Hopson, who makes her home in Winnifred, South Dakota. To Mr. and Mrs. 
Cusick have been born five children: La Verna whose birth occurred in 
1898 and who is now attending high school; Frank R., born in 1900; Lee 
Wallace, born in 1902; Corinne M., in 1907; and Arthur Burdette, in 
1910. 

	Mr. Cusick is a democrat in his political allegiance but has 
confined his political activity to the exercise of his right of 
suffrage. Fraternally he belongs to the Knights of Pythias, the Modern 
Woodmen of America and the Yeomen, and in his life exemplifies that 
spirit of brotherhood which is the basis of all fraternal 
organizations. He has won at the same time material success and the 
sincere respect and esteem of those who know him, as his integrity and 
honor have been no less marked than his business ability.