Silas Matthew Hohf, M. D. Biography


	This biography appears on pages 514-515 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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				SILAS MATTHEW HOHF, M. D. 

	Dr. Silas Matthew Hohf, successfully engaged in the practice of 
medicine and surgery in Yankton, specializes in the latter field and 
has won recognition as one of the ablest surgeons of the city. He has 
offices at the corner of Fourth street and Douglas avenue and the 
demand made upon him is almost continuous. He was born at Hopkins 
Station, Allegan county, Michigan, August 30, 1872, and is a son of 
John and Barbara (Katz) Hohf, both of whom were natives of Germany. 
They went to Michigan at an early day, the father becoming one of the 
pioneers in the section of the state in which he settled. There he 
followed farming and saw the early development of the district in which 
he lived. In 1882 he removed to South Dakota and purchased one hundred 
and sixty acres of land. Again he bent his energies to the cultivation 
of the soil and followed farming until a substantial measure of success 
rewarded his efforts. He afterward sold the old homestead about 1899 
and, removing westward to the coast, took up his abode in Salem, 
Oregon, where he lived retired until his death, which occurred in 1905. 
For more shall fifteen years he had survived his wife, who passed away 
in 1889. They reared a family of ten children, seven sons and three 
daughters: Anna, the wife of W. M. Garnjobst, a resident of Salem, 
Oregon; George, who is now a contractor of Florida; Bernard, who is 
engaged in the lumber business in Beresford, South Dakota; Arnold, who 
is a lumber merchant located at Worthing, South Dakota; S. M., of this 
review; J. A., a physician of Yankton, who is specializing in his 
practice in the treatment of diseases of the eye, ear, nose and throat: 
Lena B., the wife of Walter H. Noble, of Chehalis. Washington; John G., 
a mining engineer living at Everett, Washington; Sarah M., the wife of 
Ed Seeger, a traveling salesman of Topeka, Kansas; and Emanuel, who is 
a student in the Northwestern University Dental College in Chicago. The 
father was a pioneer of two states, Michigan and South Dakota, and 
contributed to their early substantial development. 

	Dr. Silas M. Hohf was a lad of about ten years when brought by 
his parents to South Dakota and upon the old homestead farm in Clay 
county was reared, sharing with the family in all the hardships and 
experiences incident to farm life in a new country. He attended the 
district schools until he reached the age of sixteen and afterward had 
the benefit of instruction in the Normal School at Grand Island, 
Nebraska. He next engaged in teaching in South Dakota, v here he 
remained for three years in order to obtain funds which would enable 
him to continue his studies. He later entered the Illinois Medical 
College of Chicago, where he won his M. D. degree in 1897, and thus 
qualified for practice he returned to Yankton, where he opened an 
office. He was in active practice until 1901, when he again went to 
Chicago and took up the further study of medicine in the Northwestern 
University Medical College, winning his degree of M. D. in that 
institution in 1903. During that period he served as an interne in 
Mercy Hospital of Chicago and gained that broad knowledge and 
experience which only hospital practice can bring. He then returned to 
Yankton and again took up the work of his profession, in which he has 
since continued. He has made a specialty of surgery and ranks with the 
foremost surgeons of the state. He spent six weeks in the Post-Graduate 
College of New York in 1908 and devoted one month to study in the Johns 
Hopkins Medical College at Baltimore, giving special attention to 
surgery in both instances. He belongs to the District Medical Society, 
the South Dakota Medical Association, the American Medical Association, 
the Chicago Medical Society and the Sioux Valley Medical Association, 
and through his identification with all these keeps in close touch with 
the advanced work that is being done by the profession and the most 
modern scientific investigations along the lines of both medical and 
surgical practice. Moreover, Dr. Hohf has business connections of 
importance, being now a director of the Dakota National Bank of Yankton 
and a director of the Yankton Brick & Tile Company, and he and his 
brother, Dr. J. A. Hohf, are now erecting an office building at Fourth 
street and Douglas avenue. 

On the 12th of October, 1898, was celebrated the marriage of Dr. 
Hohf and Carrie Elizabeth Sniffin, a native of New York city. Their 
children, Lillian and Florence, are both now in school. Dr. Hohf has 
been a member of the board of education of Yankton since 1911 and 
believes thoroughly in the employment of good teachers and the adoption 
of progressive educational methods, realizing that in the school system 
of the country is laid the strength of the nation. He belongs to the 
Yankton Commercial Association, of which he is a director, and at all 
times manifests a public-spirited devotion in his relation to county 
and state. Fraternally he is connected with St. Johns Lodge, No. 1, A. 
F. & A. M.; with Mackay Chapter, R. A. M.; De Molay Commandery, No. 3, 
K. T.; Oriental Consistory, No. 1, A. A. S. R. F., in which he has 
attained the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite; and Yelduz 
Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S. He is now serving as master of his lodge and 
he ranks high among his brethren of the fraternity as one who is an 
exemplary representative of the craft. His political allegiance is 
given to the republican party, his support being a matter of personal 
conviction upon political questions and not given with any desire for 
office. He regards his professional pursuits as abundantly worthy of 
his best efforts and his close and discriminating study, his 
persistency and his conscientious work have done much to bring him to 
the goal of success and gain him prominence in his chosen calling.