George Jonathan Danforth Biography


	This biography appears on page 153 in "History of Dakota Territory" 
	by George W. Kingsbury, Vol. IV (1915) and was scanned, 
	OCRed and edited by Maurice Krueger, mkrueger@iw.net.

	This file may be freely copied by individuals and non-profit 
	organizations for their private use. 

	Any other use, including publication, storage in a retrieval 
	system, or transmission by electronic, mechanical, or other 
	means requires the written approval of the file's author.

	This file is part of the SDGENWEB Archives. If you arrived here inside
	a frame or from a link from somewhere else, our front door is at

	http://usgwarchives.org/sd/sdfiles.htm


			GEORGE JONATHAN DANFORTH.  

	George Jonathan Danforth, a member of the well known firm of 
Wagner & Danforth, prominent and successful attorneys of Sioux Falls, 
was born near Meeme, Manitowoc county, Wisconsin November 21, 1875. He 
is a son of Quincy Aimes and Gertrude (Silbernagel) Danforth, the 
former of whom served for three years and six months in Company C, 
Fourth Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, rising from private to the rank of 
sergeant. The family is an old American one having been founded in this 
country by Nicholas Danforth, who came from England in 1638. The 
grandfather of the subject of this review, Jonathan Danforth, was born 
in Vermont in 1802 and died in 1879, at the age of seventy-seven years.  

	In the acquirement of an education George J. Danforth attended 
the public schools at Meeme and later was a student in the State Normal 
School at Oshkosh, Wisconsin. He afterward enrolled in the law 
department of the University of Wisconsin at Madison and was graduated 
with the degree of LL. B. in 1903. In the same year he came to Sioux 
Falls and began the practice of his profession, in which he has since 
made rapid and steady advancement. In 1913 he became a member of the 
firm of Wagner & Danforth, which controls today a representative 
patronage connecting them with a great deal of important litigation and 
they occupy a prominent place among the leading representatives of the 
bar in the community. In 1909 Mr. Danforth was appointed state's 
attorney and served in that capacity for two years, discharging his 
duties in a capable and conscientious manner. He is a director in the 
Sioux Life and Casualty Company of Sioux Falls and acts also as 
attorney for this corporation. In December, 1914, he was elected 
president of the Minnehaha County Bar Association, which indicates his 
high standing among his professional brethren.  

	In Manitowoc, Wisconsin, August 21, 1907, Mr. Danforth was united 
in marriage to Miss Nora Isabel Tollefson, a daughter of Iver 
Tollefson, a veteran of the Civil war. Mr. and Mrs. Danforth have 
become the parents of three children: George Jonathan, Jr., born July 
7, 1909; Edward Aimes, born June 7, 1912; and Marie Gertrude, born 
August 4, 1914.  

	Mr. Danforth is a member of the Congregational church, in which 
he served as trustee, and is connected fraternally with the Masonic 
blue lodge. He gives his political allegiance to the republican party 
and served for two years as secretary and treasurer of the Sioux Falls 
library board. His interests are, however, largely concentrated upon 
the duties of his profession, in which he has met with that success 
which always rewards unusual merit and ability.