Thomas Naughton Biography


	This biography appears on pages 1179-1180 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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				THOMAS NAUGHTON. 

	Thomas Naughton is a prominent farmer of Lake county and an early 
pioneer settler of South Dakota. He was born in Nevada, Iowa, June 24, 
1865, and is of Irish lineage. His father, Michael Naughton, was a 
native of County Galway, Ireland, and on crossing the Atlantic to 
America in 1846 landed at Boston, Massachusetts. He soon afterward 
engaged in railway contracting and did extensive work on various 
railways from the Atlantic coast to the Dakotas. He arrived in Dakota 
territory in the early '60s and hauled lumber for some of the first 
frame buildings erected in Yankton. In 1869 he took up his abode upon a 
farm in Union county and there remained an honored and valued citizen 
until 1896, when he retired from active farm work and made an extended 
visit to his native land. When he again came to America he removed to 
the home of his son in Lake county there spending his remaining days, 
his death occurring in 1900 when he had reached the age of eighty-five 
years. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Mary Bodkin was also a 
native of Ireland and died in 1877. Five of their children lived to 
adult age and the three who survive are Thomas, Mark, and Patrick, the 
last named being a resident of Sioux City, Iowa. 

	Thomas Naughton attended the public schools in the various 
localities into which his father's business called the family and 
subsequently pursued a course in the Sioux City Business College. When 
fourteen years of age he became identified with the railway contracting 
business, which he followed through the succeeding eighteen years, and 
in more recent years he has executed several important construction 
contracts. In 1896 he retired from that business to take charge of his 
father's farm in Union county and the following year he removed to 
Chester, Lake county, to assume the management of a farm belonging to 
his father-in-law, Edward Fitzgerald, who was one of the pioneer 
settlers of Union county. Mr. Naughton has since continued in the 
successful operation of this farm, which he devotes to the general 
production of grain and the raising of shorthorn cattle and Duroc hogs. 
He is also a stockholder in the Colton Telephone Company and the 
Chester Creamery Company. In business his judgment is sound, his 
enterprise unfaltering and his determination enables him to carry 
forward to successful completion whatever he undertakes. 

	On the 17th of May, 1896, Mr. Naughton was united in marriage to 
Miss Catherine Elizabeth Fitzgerald, her parents being Edward and Julia 
(Jordan) Fitzgerald, long prominent residents of Union county. Edward 
Fitzgerald passed away in 1910, at the age of sixty-one years, but his 
widow survives and yet makes her home in Union county. To Mr. and Mrs. 
Naughton have been born eleven children, namely: Mary Myrtle; Irene 
Margaret; Julia Ann; Catherine Elizabeth; Michael; Edward; Thomas, who 
is deceased; Helen Theresa; Delia Veronica; Dennis Daniel; and Patrick. 

	In his political views Mr. Naughton is a democrat and broad 
reading keeps him conversant with the questions and issues of the day. 
He has served for several years on the township board and has also been 
a member of the school board. Fraternally he is connected with the 
Improved Order of Red Men and with the Knights of Columbus, the latter 
indicating his religious faith to be that of the Catholic church. He 
belongs to St. Joseph's Catholic church and was one of the liberal 
contributors to the new Huntimer parish church and has been a generous 
supporter of its charitable work. He finds recreation in hunting and 
fishing and is fond of good driving horses. He is a patron of all 
healthful outdoor sports and moreover he is an advocate and active 
supporter of progressive movements for the public good.