Peter Albert Gushurst Biography


	This biography appears on pages 600-603 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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				PETER ALBERT GUSHURST 

	The name of Peter Albert Gushurst has been closely associated 
with the business progress of Lead and with the development of the rich 
mineral resources of this section of the country. Moreover, he has been 
active in public affairs which have had direct bearing upon the welfare 
and upbuilding of the state. He was born in Rochester, New York, August 
21, 1853, a son of Lazarus Gushurst, who was born in Baden, Germany, 
but was brought to this country by his parents when but four years of 
age. His youthful days were largely passed in and near Rochester and 
after he had attained his majority he entered the service of a railroad 
company there. Still later he engaged in farming. He married Anna 
Lucas, who was born near Metz, Germany, and came as a young girl to the 
new world She died in Rochester. New York, in 1911, at the age of 
eighty-four years, while Mr. Gushurst is still living at the advanced 
age of eighty-eight. 

	P. A. Gushurst was reared in Rochester and pursued his education 
in the public and Christian Brothers schools of that city to the age of 
sixteen years, when he left home, attracted by the opportunities of the 
west. He first made his way to Omaha, Nebraska, where he remained for 
six years, being employed for one year in a grocery store, after which 
be entered the service of the Union Pacific Railway, spending a year in 
the position of timekeeper and afterward devoting four years to work in 
the machine shops. On the 1st of May, 1876, he left Omaha and traveled 
by way of Cheyenne and Fort Laramie over the dangerous trail to the 
Black Hills. He reached Custer on they 24th of May and Deadwood on the 
1st of June, 1876. Since that time he has been actively identified with 
the business development and public interests of the Hills country. He 
began business in Deadwood in a tent, after which he purchased the lot 
on Main street now occupied by the Goldberg grocery store, for which he 
paid seventy-five dollars and a Winchester rifle. He erected thereon 
the frame store building known as the Big Horn store but in August of 
the same year he removed to Lead, where he has since made his home. In 
the latter place he again embarked in merchandising and his interests 
along that line became extensive, his establishment becoming one of the 
foremost in this part of the state. In addition he has been largely 
engaged in mining enterprises and was at one time an owner in the 
Pierce mine, now one of the Homestake properties in Lead, in the 
Liittle Bonanza, the Tornado, Harmony and Double Standard mines now 
owned by Golden Reward Company, and other mining properties in the Bald 
Mountain district. In connection with John Wolzmuth he purchased the 
Squaw Creek mining claims and was the first to ship ore from that 
section of the country for treatment. He is still a stockholder in the 
Homestake Mining Company and has other mining interests. He has been 
uniformly successful in all of his undertakings. Experience and sound 
judgment have enabled him to recognize the value of mining properties 
and the worth of the various business situations which have claimed his 
attention. He has figured prominently in banking circles. For many 
years he was a director in the First National Bank of Deadwood and the 
First National Bank of Lead and of the latter he is now vice president. 
He was chairman of the Lead Town Site Company in the litigation with 
the Homestake Mining Company on the question affecting the validity of 
the title of the city to surface of the ground which it covers, and 
after its amicable settlement was appointed with Ernest May and Cyrus 
H. Enos trustees to deed the property to the citizens.

	His activity along public lines has been of a character that has 
contributed much to the welfare and of the section of the state in 
which he lives. Again arid again he has been called to positions of 
honor and trust. He was elected recorder of the Gold Run Gulch, 
succeeding Thomas Cary, the discoverer of placer gold on that stream; 
was sixth president of the Society of Black Hills Pioneers; was elected 
one of the trustees of Lead at the first citizens meeting held in 1877; 
was elected school treasurer and for six years served as a member of 
the board of education. He became a member of the first council of the 
municipality of Lead and was elected mayor in 1898. He has been 
faithful and progressive as a public official, discharging his duties 
with a sense of conscientious obligation that has made his work of 
marked value and benefit to the community. 

	On the 26th of May, 1878, Mr. Gushurst was united in marriage to 
Miss Josephine Akey, a niece of Mose Manuel, the discoverer of the 
Homestake. She was at that time boarding in the home of C. W. Watson, 
the first foreman of the Homestake mine. That home was one of the old 
residences of the city in pioneer times. It was a log building at No. 
106 Main street and has recently been demolished. It is most frequently 
referred to as the "old hospital" and such it was for many years, but 
its history goes farther back to the time when it was the large and 
attractive residence of C. W. Watson, and therein was celebrated the 
first wedding in Lead, uniting the destinies of Mr. Gushurst and Miss 
Josephine Akey. Her parents, Felix and Felenise Akey, were farming 
people who became pioneer settlers of Minnesota and the mother still 
survives, now making her home in Oregon. Mr. and Mrs. Gushurst became 
the parents of eight children, four of whom are living: Albert, 
Frederick, Edward and Claire Louise. The three sons are graduates of 
Notre Dame University of Indiana and Frederick has pursued a course in 
law, while the two older sons are now actively engaged in the conduct 
of the extensive grocery business owned by the father in Lead. 

	The religious faith of the family is that of the Catholic church 
and fraternally Mr. Gushurst is connected with the Elks. In his 
political views he is a republican, giving stalwart support to the 
party, but he does not seek nor desire public office, although at 
different times his fitness for positions of honor and trust has led to 
his selection for office. He has always felt that there is ample 
opportunity to perform good service for the public as a private citizen 
and in many ways he has cooperated in movements which have had direct 
and important bearing upon the welfare and progress of the community. 
He is familiar with all phases of the development of the western part 
of the state and his efforts have been a potent force in bringing about 
many of the changes which have worked for the commercial, social and 
political advancement.