Gustav A. Grant Biography


	This biography appears on pages 1176-1179 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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				GUSTAV A. GRANT. 

	Gustav A. Grant, a native of Norway, has found in South Dakota a 
land of opportunity and has wisely taken advantage of the chances here 
afforded to the industrious agriculturist. As a result he is now one of 
the representative men of Minnehaha county. His farm is situated in 
Highland township and his up-to-date methods of agriculture insure him 
bountiful crops. He was born on the 4th of March, 1860, in Norway, a 
son of A. L. and Sophia H. Grant. The father came to the United States 
in 1870 and first located in Chicago, where he worked until the great 
fire of 1871, when he removed to Marseilles, Illinois, remaining there 
for a short time. The family, consisting of the mother and four sons, 
left Norway in 1872, joining the father in this country. In the year 
1874 a removal was made to South Dakota, where the father homesteaded 
the southwest quarter of section 30, Highland township. He also took up 
a tree claim, the southeast quarter of section 24, Logan township, 
which he farmed until 1892, when a brother of the subject of this 
review took charge. The father was a carpenter by trade and did some 
work along that line besides developing his farm holdings. He was one 
of the oldest pioneers of his section of Minnehaha county and often 
related many interesting accounts of the pioneer days He was compelled 
to haul his grain by oxen to Worthington, Minnesota, in order to find a 
market and the trip consumed a week's time. Although he and the other 
pioneer farmers of the state worked under great disadvantages due to 
frontier conditions of life they did not despair, but persevered, and 
the present generation is enjoying the results of their labor. A. L. 
Grant passed away in March, 1910, at the age of eighty-two, having 
survived his wife for three years, her demise occurring February 20, 
1907. 

	Gustav A. Grant attended the schools of Norway in his early youth 
and after arriving in the United States attended the country schools 
and the Marseilles (Ill.) grammar school. He was also a student in the 
seminary located at Red Wing, Minnesota. After leaving school he taught 
until 1892, when he began farming. In 1884 he had purchased a 
relinquishment on section 10 and this he developed and improved, later 
selling it. He now farms the northwest quarter and the north half of 
the northeast quarter of section 19, belonging to his father-in-law. As 
he has prospered he has purchased land, now owning half of section 30 
and also the southwest quarter of section 25, Logan township, all of 
which is valuable and highly improved land. He bought the last 
mentioned farm in 1909 and paid for it the sum of twelve thousand 
dollars. He engages in stock-raising to some extent, having forty-five 
cattle, twelve horses and sixty-five hogs, but his chief dependence is 
upon field crops. Aside from his extensive farming interests he is 
connected with the business and financial life of the county as a 
stockholder and secretary of the Farmers Elevator Company at Sherman, 
as treasurer of the Highland Creamery, of which he was one of the 
organizers and of which he served as secretary for twelve years, as 
director of the Home National Bank of Dell Rapids, and as director and 
president of the Sherman State Bank, having been elected its chief 
executive in January, 1915. 

	Mr. Grant was married September 30, 1891, to Miss Ingeborg Tofte, 
a daughter of O. H. and Sigrid Tofte. Her family came to South Dakota 
in 1874, but they left Norway at the same time that Mr. Grant,s family 
emigrated to the United States. Mr. Tofte built the first frame house 
in Highland township, the lumber being shipped from Chicago and hauled 
by wagon from Vermillion, South Dakota. He passed away June 16, 1907, 
when in his eighty-fifth year, his birth having occurred September 22, 
1822. His wife, who was born June 30, 1821, is still living at the age 
of ninety-four years and makes her home with her son-in-law, Mr. Grant. 
She is quite active and assists with the housework. Mr. Tofte was 
highly esteemed in his community and his widow is honored and respected 
by all with whom she is brought in contact. Mr. and Mrs. Grant have 
become the parents of the following children: Obed, born October 12, 
1896; Serene Josephine, born October 21, 1899; Helen Sophia, born May 
11, 1902; and Hilda Serene, who died in 1894, in infancy. The family 
belong to the Hauge Evangelical Lutheran church of America, and do all 
in their power to further its interests. 

	Mr. Grant is a republican in his political allegiance and has 
served as town clerk since 885. He was township assessor for a year and 
has been on the district school board for many years. He is one of the 
well-to-do and progressive farmers of the county and his well improved 
and modern farm with its convenient residence is in striking contrast 
to the wild land and pioneer dwelling of the homestead of the '70s. In 
those days it was necessary to walk to Dell Rapids for mail, but now it 
is delivered daily at the door. Changes in other lines have been 
correspondingly great and it is a source of pride to Mr. Grant that he 
himself has had a share in bringing about the transformation of South 
Dakota from a frontier region to a prosperous and highly developed 
farming state.