Joseph Frick Biography


	This biography appears on pages 726-727 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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				JOSEPH FRICK. 

	One of the attractive, well appointed and carefully arranged 
stores of Yankton is that owned by the firm of Frick & Lawrence, 
furniture dealers and undertakers. The senior partner is Joseph Frick, 
whose birth occurred on the James river, not far from Yankton, August 
6, 1860, his parents being Thomas and Mary (Buckhart) Frick. The 
father, a native of Germany, came to America in 1850, settling in 
Clayton county, Iowa, upon a farm. Later he was employed in the lead 
mines at that place. His wife, a native of Baden-Baden, Germany, came 
to the new world with friends and with them went to Iowa, where she 
formed the acquaintance of Thomas Frick, to whom she afterward gave her 
hand in marriage. They remained in that state for nine years and then 
removed to Yankton county, in Dakota territory, in May, 1859, being 
among the first to settle in that district. They secured a homestead 
three miles northeast of Yankton and bore the usual hardships and 
privations of pioneer life while developing the farm. 

	In 1862 Mr. Frick enlisted for service with the United States 
volunteers under General Sully, becoming a member of Captain Miner's 
company. He went all through the succeeding campaigns with his 
regiment, proving himself a valorous defender of the cause which he 
espoused, and was mustered out in 1865. He then returned to the farm 
and resumed its development and improvement. The early years devoted to 
the improvement of the place were attended with the greatest hardships. 
Drouth and grasshoppers caused the failure of all crops, and Indian 
scares made life in that region a very uncertain quantity, keeping the 
settlers in a continuous state of mental excitement. The remoteness, 
too, from towns made it difficult to obtain supplies and there was 
every hardship of pioneer life to be borne. Mr. Frick continued to 
operate the old homestead until his death, at which time he was the 
owner of two hundred and seventy acres of valuable and productive land. 
He had also borne his part in public work and was a member of the 
territorial legislature held in Yankton in 1865. On the 23d of October, 
1888, he lost his wife, and when a few days had passed he, too, was 
called to his final rest, dying on the 1st of November of the same 
year. They were both sixty years of age. In their family were five 
children: Mary, the wife of Joseph Utsch, of Yankton; Joseph, of this 
review; Frank B., who is a resident of Sioux City, Iowa; John H., who 
made his home in Yankton until he passed away on the 17th of March, 
1894, leaving a widow and two children; and Thomas J., who resides on 
the old homestead. 

	Joseph Frick spent his youthful days on the old home place and 
relates many interesting incidents of pioneer times. During the Indian 
scare of 1862 the family were taken into Yankton, in the famous old 
stockade. He attended the country schools and assisted his father in 
the work of the fields until he reached the age of twenty-two years. He 
then entered the harness shop of Christian Boller, of Yankton, as an 
apprentice, and served in that way for three years, or until 1885. The 
succeeding year he went to Hurley, Turner county, South Dakota, where 
he engaged in the harness and saddlery business, remaining at that 
place until June, 1903. This was a most successful venture. He built up 
a business of extensive and gratifying proportions and enjoyed the 
confidence and goodwill as well as the patronage of the public. In 
fact, he became a very prominent and influential citizen of the 
community, and his party, the democratic, elected him to the office of 
auditor of Turner county, notwithstanding that the county is strongly 
republican, his election indicating his personal popularity and the 
confidence reposed in him. He was elected in 1891, and served for 
twenty-six months. He was also town trustee of Hurley for several 
terms. In June, 1903, he returned to Yankton, where he lived retired 
for two years. He next went to Utica, Yankton county, on the 1st of 
January, 1905, and there engaged in merchandising until the 1st of 
August. On the 1st of January, 1906, he purchased the furniture 
business of C. J. Herrick & Company, of Yankton, in partnership with C. 
L. Lawrence, conducting the business under the firm style of Frick & 
Lawrence. They added an undertaking department and have developed their 
business into one of the largest enterprises of the character in this 
part of the state. Mr. Frick devotes his entire attention to his 
business and Yankton points with pride to his establishment, as it is a 
most thorough and progressive one, in keeping with the modern business 
spirit. 

	On the 11th of May, 1887, Mr. Frick was united in marriage to 
Miss Mary F. Murray, a native of Kentucky, who was reared in Illinois 
and in 1885 came to South Dakota. To them were born six children: May, 
now the wife of Dr. J. L. Delmore, of Roseau, Minnesota; Pearl, a 
teacher in the public schools; Marjorie, who is bookkeeper for the 
Excelsior Mill Company of Yankton; Fay, a student in Yankton College; 
Ruth, who died January 10, 1912; and Hazel, at home. 

	Mr. Frick belongs to the Elks lodge, No. 994, and to Yankton 
Council of the Knights of Columbus, a fact which indicates his Catholic 
faith. He has been active in municipal affairs and has been a member of 
the city commission, being commissioner of water and sewers. He has 
always voted with the democratic party and is a believer in its 
principles. Long residence in his section of the state has made him 
familiar with its history. He can recount many events which have been 
of interest in the development of the state, in many of which he has 
been an active participant. His business interests have ever been of a 
character that has contributed to public progress and he cooperates in 
all that is beneficial to the community.