William E. Daniels, M. D. Bioography


	This biography appears on pages 892-895 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 E. DANIELS, M. D. 

	Dr. William E. Daniels, one of the leading and most prominent 
citizens of Madison, where he has been actively engaged in the practice 
of medicine and surgery for the past twenty-seven years, is a physician 
of statewide reputation. His birth occurred in Butler county, Iowa, on 
the 27th of October, 1859, his parents being Richard and Catherine 
(Codner) Daniels, who were born, reared and married in the state of New 
York. The father studied for the ministry and was ordained as a 
preacher of the Methodist Episcopal church However, though he preached 
the gospel during a long and consecrated life, he never accepted a 
regular charge. He removed to Iowa while it was still a territory, some 
time in the '40s, homesteaded eighty acres of land and purchased a 
tract of similar size, devoting his attention to general agricultural 
pursuits with good success. Richard Daniels was the organizer of the 
Butler County Farmers Mutual Cooperative Insurance Company and served 
as its president for a number of years. He died in 1907, at the age of 
eighty-three years, and his wife passed away two years later, when she 
had attained the age of eighty-five. 

	In the acquirement of an education William E. Daniels attended 
the public schools, pursued a high-school course at Cedar Falls and 
continued his studies in Cornell College of Iowa, the largest 
denominational school west of Chicago. In 1882 he took up the study of 
medicine under the preceptorship of Dr. A. O. Strout, of Parkersburg, 
Iowa, and in the fall of 1883 entered the medical department of Drake 
University at Des Moines, graduating from this institution with the 
class of 1885. Subsequently he located in Baxter, Iowa, and in the 
following September entered the Bennett College of Eclectic Medicine 
and Surgery of Chicago, from which he was graduated in March, 1886. 
Taking up his abode at Heron Lake, Minnesota, he there followed his 
profession for about eighteen months and in the fall of 1887 came to 
Madison, South Dakota, where he has been actively and successfully 
engaged in practice throughout the intervening twenty-eight years, 
having won an enviable reputation both as a medical practitioner and as 
a surgeon. He is a member of the State Homeopathic Society of South 
Dakota and in 1903 organized the State Eclectic Society of South 
Dakota, of which he served as president for three years and as 
secretary for a similar period. Dr. Daniels also belongs to the South 
Dakota Medical Society and serves as first vice president of the 
National Ecletic Medical Society. In 1912 he was appointed a member of 
the state board of medical examiners by Governor Vessey and the 
following year was reappointed to that office and to the state board of 
health by Governor Byrne, serving as its president. He is also a factor 
in financial circles as vice president of the First National Bank of 
Madison and has long been numbered among the leading and influential 
residents of the city. 

	On the 27th of October, 1887, Dr. Daniels was united in marriage 
to Miss Ida A. Grimm, of Mount Vernon, Iowa, by whom he had four 
children, two of whom survive, namely: Mabel A., who is a graduate of 
the Madison high school and is now a member of the freshman class at 
Cornell University; and Esli Hayes, a public-school student. Mrs. 
Daniels is a graduate of the Conservatory of Music of Cornell 
University and for a number of years past has taught music, having 
great love for the art. Both Dr. and Mrs. Daniels are popular in the 
social circles of their community and are highly regarded. 

	Dr. Daniels is identified fraternally with the Independent Order 
of Odd Fellows, belonging to Madison Lodge, No. 20. He was one of the 
organizers of the Madison lodge of the Modern Woodmen of America, for a 
number of years served as its consul and was sent as a delegate to the 
head camp ill the convention of 1902. His religious faith is indicated 
by his membership in the Methodist Episcopal church, in which he has 
held office ever since coming to Madison. For about fifteen years he 
served as superintendent of the Sunday school and is now a trustee and 
steward. He has been very active in all church work and is at the head 
of a very large Sunday school class. His influence during his entire 
residence in the community has been a potent factor in the moral growth 
of Lake county. The Doctor has been an extensive traveler, having 
visited many parts of Europe and the Orient, including England, 
Ireland, France, Italy, Turkey (the Dardanelles and Constantinople), 
Greece, Spain and Portugal. He has seen the Holy Land, Damascus, 
Gallilee, Jerusalem, Bethlehem and Ephesus. He has traveled in Asia 
Minor and in Egypt, going up the famous Nile. He is a student with keen 
powers of observation and has utilized his travels and the broad 
culture gained therefrom for the pleasure and instruction of others in 
numerous lectures delivered on various occasions in his home city and 
elsewhere.