John Eisnach Biography


	This biography appears on pages 309-310 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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				JOHN EISNACH.  

	On the roster of county officials in Hamlin county appears the 
name of John Eisnach, who is now serving on the board of commissioners. 
The county on the whole has been signally favored with the class of men 
who have occupied its offices — men who are interested in the welfare 
of the community and who always subordinate personal interest to public 
good. Such is the record of John Eisnach, who in addition to holding 
public office is a blacksmith and dealer in farm implements at 
Estelline. He was born in Washington county, Ohio, January 25, 1856, 
and in the paternal line comes of German descent. His father, Phillip 
Eisnach, was born in Saxony, Germany, and served as a soldier in the 
German army. After his military experience was over he came to the 
United States and for a brief period was a resident of Pennsylvania, in 
which state he met and married Caroline Wagner, who was there born and 
reared. A little later they removed westward to Washington county, 
Ohio, settling on a farm, and as the years went by Mr. Eisnach 
prospered in his undertakings. He had built his second home upon the 
place when the Civil war broke out and, feeling that his first duty was 
to his adopted country, he enlisted for active service in the Union 
army and was killed at the battle of Bull Run. His widow passed away 
about two years ago in West Virginia.  

	John Eisnach was a little lad of but six summers, when his 
father's death occurred. He remained upon the home farm with his mother 
up to his seventeenth year, at which time he was apprenticed to the 
blacksmith's trade in Lowell, Ohio, where he remained as an apprentice 
for two and a half years. He then went to Wheeling, West Virginia, 
where he worked in the rolling mills for three months, when he became a 
victim of the western fever and took a boat down the river to Cairo, 
proceeding from that point up the Mississippi to St. Louis, working on 
the boat in order to pay his passage. When he reached St. Louis the 
captain expressed a wish that he should remain as a member of the crew, 
but this did not suit his plans and he left the boat and for a short 
time worked as a harvest hand in the grain fields of Illinois. 
Subsequently he took a boat up the river to Winona, Minnesota, where he 
worked in the wheat fields and in the winter seasons was employed in 
the pineries, securing work at his trade. He spent two winters in the 
pineries and his employer, being unable to pay him for his work, gave 
him a relinquishment on a homestead in Hamlin county, South Dakota. It 
was this that made him a resident of the state, in which he has since 
been deeply interested and which has found in him a valued citizen.  

	It was in the spring of 1879 that Mr. Eisnach arrived in Dakota 
territory, making his way to his claim, on which he located, there 
residing until the fall of 1882, when the town of Estelline was laid 
out. He then took up his abode in the village, built a little 
blacksmith shop, sixteen by twenty feet, and before he could get the 
roof on he was forced to go to work because of the demand for services 
in his line. This was the first commercial blacksmith shop opened in 
Hamlin county. About 1890 he began in a small way to deal in farm 
implements and in the intervening years has built up one of the largest 
trades in that line in Hamlin county. He has carried farm machinery of 
excellent makes, has been thoroughly reliable in his dealings and has 
put forth every possible effort to accommodate and please his patrons.  

	In 1884 Mr. Eisnach was united in marriage to Miss Marian Dubois, 
who came from Wisconsin, her native state, to South Dakota in the same 
spring that witnessed the arrival of Mr. Eisnach. They became the 
parents of six children, five of whom are yet living: Ernest P., who is 
employed by his father; Wallace T., a grain buyer of Lothair, Montana; 
Bessie, the wife of C. A. Docken, a merchant of Estelline; and Willard 
and Lucille, who are yet at home.  

	Mr. Eisnach is an earnest believer in the principles and platform 
of the republican party, and served as a member of the first town board 
after the incorporation of the town of Estelline. Later he was again 
called to the same position and he has served for several years as a 
member of the school board, while in 1911 he was elected to the board 
of county commissioners and was reelected in 1914. He is the only 
living charter member of Khurm Lodge, No. 96, A. F. & A. M., and he 
belongs to Arlington Chapter, R. A. M. Estelline numbers him among her 
foremost citizens and his life record indicates what may be 
accomplished when energy and determination point out the way. He had no 
special advantages at the outset of his career and, in fact, his youth 
was a period of earnest and unremitting toil, but he was not afraid of 
work and as time passed on his industry overcame difficulties and 
obstacles and he advanced steadily until he is now one of the 
substantial citizens of Hamlin county, controlling a business of large 
and profitable proportions and at the same time figuring prominently in 
control of public affairs.