Auris Finstad Biography


	This biography appears on page 970 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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				AURIS FINSTAD. 

	The neat and systematic arrangement of the drug store of Auris 
Finstad, of Sioux Falls, the excellent line of drugs and druggists, 
sundries which is carried and the enterprising methods of the 
proprietor, have made him one of the wide-awake, alert and energetic 
merchants of a city which is rapidly developing along substantial and 
broadening lines. His surname indicates his Norwegian ancestry. A 
native of the land of the midnight sun, he was born at Stavanger, 
Norway, February 25, 1870, a son of Claus and Goneld Finstad. For six 
years he was a student in the public schools of Norway and in 1883, 
when a youth of thirteen years, came with his parents to the new world, 
the family home being established at Mitchell, in what was then Dakota 
territory. He continued his education in the schools of that city, 
passing through consecutive grades until he completed the high school 
course. At the age of seventeen years he entered the drug store of L. 
O. Gale and there learned the business with which he became familiar in 
principle and detail. In 1891 he removed from Mitchell to Emery, South 
Dakota, where he opened a drug store, conducting the business 
successfully for five years. In 1897 he went to Hetland, this state, 
where he was in a drug store for two years. He afterward spent a year 
in a drug store in Yankton and in 1900 came to Sioux Falls, where he 
entered the employ of R. F. Brown, a druggist, with whom he continued 
for three months. He next purchased a drug store in Arlington, South 
Dakota, which he conducted until March, 1912, and then returned to 
Sioux Falls, where he is now proprietor of one of the best drug stores 
of the city. 

	It was on the 23d of May, 1910, at St. Paul, Minnesota, that Mr. 
Finstad was united in marriage to Miss Matilda Lundin. His parents were 
of the Quaker church and he was reared in that faith. Fraternally he is 
connected with the Knights of Pythias and with the Benevolent 
Protective Order of Elks. His political allegiance is given to the 
republican party and he has been a close student of the questions and 
issues of the day but has no desire for office as a reward for party 
fealty. The industry, perseverance and reliability characteristic of 
the people of his nationality find exemplification in him and 
constitute the salient features in his growing business success.