P. S. Gordon Biography


	This biography appears on pages 321-322 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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				P. S. GORDON.  

	P. S. Gordon, the president of the Home National Bank of Dell 
Rapids, which he assisted in organizing in the spring of 1910 and of 
which institution he has been at the head since January, 1912, has for 
about three decades been a dominant factor in the business and 
financial circles of Minnehaha county. His birth occurred in Lisbon, 
New Hampshire, on the 22d of March, 1852, his parents being George W. 
and Elvira R. (Hodge) Gordon, who came of Scotch ancestry and spent 
their entire lives in the Granite state. Both the Gordons and Hodges 
represented old New England families. George W. Gordon was considered 
one of the wealthy and influential agriculturists of his section.  

	P. S. Gordon was reared at home and in the acquirement of an 
education attended the Lisbon public schools. When a young man of 
twenty he left the parental roof and started out independently, 
spending a number of years in journeying over the United States and 
covering about forty states in his travels. In 1879 he was united in 
marriage to Miss Flora E. Wells, of Lisbon, New Hampshire, an old 
schoolmate and sweetheart, for whom he returned to the place of his 
nativity. He remained in New Hampshire for about five years after his 
marriage and in 1885 came to South Dakota, locating in Dell Rapids. 
Throughout the intervening three decades he has been a leading factor 
in the business and financial life of the community. For about sixteen 
years he was successfully engaged in farming and in the raising of 
thoroughbred stock, breeding Hereford cattle and Shropshire sheep. In 
1902 he disposed of his stock and farm holdings, being the first man in 
his section of the state to sell a farm for as high as fifty dollars 
per acre, which at that time was considered an exorbitant price. 
Subsequently Mr. Gordon took up his abode in Dell Rapids, where he has 
since resided. In the spring of 1910 he was one of the dominant factors 
in the organization of the Home National Bank and was chosen vice 
president of the institution. In January, 1912, he was elected to the 
presidency of the bank and in that important position has since 
demonstrated his capability as an executive and his wisdom in affairs 
of finance. During the past ten years he has also served as president 
of the Dell Rapids Cooperative Lumber Company and, with the aid of an 
able board of directors, has developed the business to a remarkable 
extent, stock shares which were quoted as low as fifteen cents having 
risen in value to two dollars and a quarter.  

	Mr. Gordon lost his wife in 1910, her demise occurring on the 
13th of June of that year. In fraternal circles he is known as an 
exemplary Mason belonging to Dell Rapids Lodge, No. 40, A. F. & A. M., 
and Flandreau Chapter, R. A. M., of Flandreau, South Dakota. A man of 
exceptional executive talent of great activity  and energy and with 
ability to make and keep friends, his name is inseparable associated 
with business and social life as one of the most valued citizens of 
Dell Rapids and Minnehaha county.