Walter Scott Harrington Biography


	This biography appears on pages 958-963 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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				WALTER SCOTT HARRINGTON

	Walter Scott Harrington is a farmer of Clay county, where he was 
born April 9, 1873, and is a son of John and Jane D. (Coats) Harrington 
The father was born in Cumberland county, England, and was there reared 
upon his father's farm. He attended the country schools and acquired a 
serviceable education. He remained with his father until he was twenty-
eight years of age, when he left his native land and emigrated to this 
country in 1858. He first settled at Portland, Maine, and farmed in 
that vicinity but subsequently removed to other places and at length 
made his way to Iowa, where he continued to farm. On September 11, 
1867, he became a resident of Clay county, South Dakota, taking up a 
homestead of one hundred and sixty acres, which is the farm now in the 
possession of his widow and which has been the family home for five 
decades. At the time that Mr. Harrington, Sr., settled there there were 
but very few residents in Clay county and he and his family endured all 
of the hardships of pioneer life. They lived upon the place under right 
of preemption for five years and then homesteaded it. During the early 
period of their residence in the state they met with many 
discouragements, not the least of which were the grasshopper plagues, 
the insects being so numerous as to eat up all of the crops planted. 
The father died September 8, 1895, but the mother is still living upon 
the homestead at the age of eighty-four years. She is in excellent 
health and does not use glasses, her eyesight remaining unusually 
strong. Mr. Harrington held various township offices, serving on the 
school board and as justice of the peace. His political support was 
given the republican party. His religious faith was indicated in his 
membership in the Episcopal church and he was a member of the Grange. 

	To him and his wife were born seven children: Isabelle married A. 
S. Wright; of Walnut, Kansas, and both are deceased. Their son, Charles 
H., is still a resident of the Sunflower state but the latter's son, 
John S., is deceased. A. S. Wright served in the territorial 
legislature of Dakota and held various township and county offices. He 
was a farmer by occupation and was highly esteemed in the communities 
where he made his home. During the Civil war he served in the Union 
army and was a loyal member of the Grand Army of the Republic. Jane A. 
married A. H. McDonald, a farmer of Clay county, South Dakota, but has 
passed to her reward. Samuel M. is a farmer of Clay county, as is also 
John T. Cyrus W. is a mining engineer in Valdez, Alaska. E. J. is a 
farmer in Clay county, South Dakota. Walter Scott is the youngest of 
the family. 

	The last named was reared upon the farm where he now makes his 
home and in the acquirement of his education attended the public 
schools of the neighborhood. By the time that he was grown he was an 
experienced agriculturist and since his father's death has assumed 
charge of the homestead. He is alert, energetic and progressive and the 
farm yields good returns. He carries on general farming and raises not 
only excellent crops but also high grade stock. 

	Mr. Harrington was married in 1901, to Miss Susie I. Keister, a 
native of Iowa and a daughter of Simon A. and Terressa (Fuller) 
Keister, the former a native of Iowa and the latter of Pennsylvania. 
Her father is deceased but her mother is living and is now the wife of 
Jesse Shriner, of Vermillion, South Dakota. 

	Mr. Harrington is one of the successful farmers of his county and 
in gaining material success for himself has also aided in the 
agricultural development of his section of the state. A native of South 
Dakota, he is intensely interested in its welfare and has great faith 
in its future.