James D. Elliott Biography


	This biography appears on pages 630-634 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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				JAMES D. ELLIOTT.  

	Through a period of forty-two years James D. Elliott has been a 
resident of South Dakota and in a profession where advancement depends 
solely upon individual merit and ability he has worked his way steadily 
upward until he stands as one of the eminent members of the South 
Dakota bar. In June, 1911, he was appointed United States district 
judge and in the same year removed to Sioux Falls, where he has since 
made his home. He has had other business interests, which indicate his 
ability and which have been features in winning for him his present 
substantial success, but he has disposed of these in order to give 
undivided attention to his judicial duties, which he discharges with a 
most marked sense of conscientious obligation.  

	A native of Illinois, Judge Elliott was born in Mount Sterling, 
Brown county, October 7, 1859, and is the eldest son of William and 
Mary (McPhail) Elliott. The father, a native of England, was born in 
1833 and in his youthful days accompanied his parents to the United 
States, the family home being established in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 
where the grandfather, who is an expert mechanic, served for many years 
as superintendent of the Sligo Iron Works. About 1850 the family 
removed to Brown county, Illinois, where the grandfather purchased land 
and devoted the remainder of his life to farming, dying at an advanced 
age. 

	William Elliott was educated in the schools of Pittsburgh and 
also began the study of law before removing to Illinois, where he 
continued his legal studies and was admitted to the bar. Later he 
removed to Mount Ayr, Iowa, where he entered upon the active practice 
of his profession, but soon after the outbreak of the Civil war he 
enlisted for active service in a Missouri regiment and was on active 
duty throughout the period of hostilities, being mustered out with the 
rank of captain. When the military chapter in his life history was 
ended he returned to Mount Ayr and resumed the practice of law, 
becoming one of the leaders of the Iowa bar, his pronounced ability 
gaining him eminence in the field of his chosen profession. He also 
served as a member of the Iowa legislature and left the impress of his 
ability and individuality upon the statute books of the state. In 1872 
he came to the territory of Dakota, settling in Clay county, where he 
remained until 1883, when he removed to Hurley, Turner county, where he 
continued in the practice of his profession. In 1891 he was elected 
county judge of Turner county and accordingly removed his residence to 
Parker, the county seat. He made an excellent record upon the bench, 
his decisions being characterized by the utmost impartiality and a 
masterful grasp of all the problems presented for solution. He likewise 
served as a member of the constitutional convention and took an active 
part in the work preliminary to the division of the territory and its 
admission into the Union as the two states of North and South Dakota. 
Originally a democrat, his allegiance following the Civil war was 
transferred to the republican party and for many years he has been a 
prominent figure in its councils. His life has indeed been one of far-
reaching influence and benefit in the various states in which he has 
made his home. He belongs to the Grand Army of the Republic and 
progress and patriotism might well be termed the keynote of his 
character.  

	His son, James D. Elliott, spent his boyhood in Iowa and attended 
the schools of Mount Ayr and Panora. After the removal of the family to 
Dakota he continued his studies in the public schools of Vermillion and 
also pursued a two years' special course under Professor Culver, 
superintendent of schools of that place. Ere his education was 
completed he pursued various tasks in order to defray his expenses, and 
after his more specifically literary course was finished he took up the 
profession of teaching, which he followed for three years. In the 
meantime he invested his savings in cattle, which he placed on his 
father's farm with the purpose in view of gaining sufficient funds to 
enable him to pursue a course of study in the University of Michigan. 
However, the memorable flood of 1881 carried away and drowned all his 
stock. A short time afterward he started with a team for the Black 
Hills, where he spent the following summer. In the fall of that year he 
returned home and became a teacher in the public schools of Lakeport, 
Yankton county, and later at Meckling, Clay county. On account of the 
havoc wrought by the flood he felt it necessary to return home and aid 
in retrieving the family fortunes. He entered upon the study of law 
under the direction of Colonel John L. Jolley and in 1883 entered the 
offices of Gamble Brothers of Yankton, with whom he continued his 
reading until his admission to the bar in April, 1884. He remained in 
the offices of Gamble Brothers until October of that year and then went 
to Springfield, Bon Homme county, where he entered upon the active 
practice of law. In 1885 he removed to Tyndall subsequent to the 
removal of the county seat from Springfield, and in 1887 he was elected 
state's attorney, which position he filled acceptably for four years. 
In 1897 he was appointed by President McKinley United States district 
attorney, serving continuously through both the McKinley and Roosevelt 
administrations. He continued as United States district attorney for 
the district of South Dakota for almost ten years, during which time he 
maintained his residence at Tyndall and practiced there, while his 
pretty also extended to other parts of the state.  

	In January, 1910, Mr. Elliott was appointed by the Chicago, 
Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad and the Puget Sound Railroad as solicitor 
for the states of North and South Dakota and made his headquarters at 
Aberdeen. He continued thus, organizing the work, until June, 1911, at 
which time he was appointed United States district judge by President 
Taft and on the 14th of June he qualified for the bench. His labors as 
a jurist have been of the highest class. In the fall of 1911 he removed 
to Sioux Falls. He holds court at Deadwood, Pierre, Sioux Falls and 
Aberdeen- two terms each year, and he has also done special work 
outside of his district through assignment of the presiding judge of 
the circuit On his appointment to the bench he disposed of his various 
other interests, putting aside all business relations of a different 
character in order to devote his time and attention unhampered to his 
judicial duties. His opinions have won high encomiums from the bar, 
from the public and from his fellow members on the bench in other 
sections of the state. Devotedly attached to his profession, systematic 
and methodical in habit, sober and discreet in judgment, calm in 
temper, diligent in research, conscientious in the discharge of every 
duty, courteous and kind in demeanor and inflexibly just on all 
occasions, these qualities have enabled Judge Elliott to take first 
rank among those who have held the highest judicial office in the 
state, and have made him the conservator of that justice wherein is the 
safeguard of individual liberty and happiness and the defense of our 
national institutions. His reported opinions are monuments to his 
profound legal learning and superior ability. more lasting than bronze 
or marble and more honorable than battles fought and won. They show a 
thorough mastery of the questions involved, a rare simplicity of style 
and an admirable terseness and clearness in the statement of the 
principles upon which the opinions rest.  

	Judge Elliott has been a member of the lower house of the state 
legislature, having been called to that office in 1885, and he 
nominated Judge A. G. Edgerton for the office of United States senator 
when South Dakota became a state. He has always been a stalwart 
republican, active and prominent as a leader of the party in this 
state, and in 1896 he served as chairman of the republican state 
committee. He is well known to the party leaders throughout South 
Dakota and his word carries weight in all party councils. Outside of 
his professional activities he had large land and stock-raising 
interests and for several years was the president of the Security Bank 
of Tyndall. He now concentrates his energies entirely, however, upon 
his judicial duties and ranks with the ablest jurists of South Dakota. 
His mind is naturally analytical, logical and inductive in its trend 
and as a lawyer he proved sound, clear-minded and well trained. In his 
practice he prepared for defense as well as attack and was, therefore, 
seldom surprised by a statement of the opposing counsel. In the 
application of a legal principle he was seldom, if ever, at fault and 
there are few who are so careful to conform their practice to the 
highest standards of professional ethics.

	On the 29th of May, 1890, Mr. Elliott was united in marriage to 
Miss Agnes Stilwell, a daughter of Charles H. Stilwell, a leading 
citizen of Tyndall. Their children are Marion A., Douglas S., Hiram 
McPhail and Mary H. Mr. Elliott is prominently known in fraternal 
circles. In Masonry he has taken the degrees of Bon Homme Lodge, No. 
101, A. F. & A. M; Scotland Chapter, R. A. M.; Yankton Commandery, K. 
T.; Yankton Consistory, A. & A. S. R.; and El Riad Temple, A. A O. N. 
M. S. He also has membership with the knights of Pythias and the 
Ancient Order of United Workmen and belongs to Sioux Falls Lodge, No. 
262, B. P. O. E. From the age of thirteen years he has resided in 
Dakota and for forty-two years, therefore, has been an interested 
witness of the growth and development of the state. His own life is 
typical of the progress of the northwest. He passed through the period 
of hardship and difficulties in his own career equivalent to the 
pioneer experiences of the state. Then came the time when he gained a 
financial foothold as the result of his persistent and determined 
efforts, and gradually he has worked his way upward until he is now 
numbered among the men of affluence in Sioux Falls, while his position 
as a leading jurist of South Dakota is a most enviable one.