Charles Roland Biography This biography appears on pages 1036-1037 in "History of Dakota Territory" by George W. Kingsbury, Vol. IV (1915) and was scanned, OCRed and edited by Maurice Krueger, mkrueger@iw.net. This file may be freely copied by individuals and non-profit organizations for their private use. Any other use, including publication, storage in a retrieval system, or transmission by electronic, mechanical, or other means requires the written approval of the file's author. This file is part of the SDGENWEB Archives. If you arrived here inside a frame or from a link from somewhere else, our front door is at http://usgwarchives.org/sd/sdfiles.htm CHARLES ROLAND. Charles Roland is one of the partners in a hardware store at Hill City and is regarded as an energetic business man whose well formulated plans deserve to be crowned with the success with which he is meeting. He was born in Delaware county, Iowa, March 7, 1858, and is a son of Ira and Sarah (Gibson) Roland, natives of Wales and England respectively. They were married, however, after coming to the new world, whither they emigrated in childhood. The father was reared in the state of New York and in the early '40s removed westward to Iowa, settling in Delaware county, where he secured a homestead claim and engaged in farming, spending his remaining days there. His was a busy and useful life and his death, which occurred in 1875, was a matter of deep regret to many who knew him. His widow still makes her home in Delaware county. Charles Roland is the oldest in a family of five children. He spent his youthful days under the parental roof and supplemented his early education, acquired in the district schools of Delaware county, by study in the Manchester high school or academy. He left home at the age of twenty-three years and went to the Black Hills in the spring of 1883, settling near Deadwood, where he was employed in the Uncle Sam mill for about three years. He was afterward employed in a mine at Bald mountain and prospected in what is now known as Ragged Top. He continued in that business until 1889, when he arrived in Hill City. He was then employed in the tin mines and mills for about two years, after which he went to Dawson, Alaska, and was engaged in prospecting in that country for two years, meeting the usual hardships and experiences of life in the far northwest. He then returned to Hill City and was connected with mining interests there for a time. Later, however, he sold out and in 1900 entered the hardware business in partnership with George W. Coats for the conduct of a general hardware store. They carry a large line of both shelf and heavy hardware and machinery and enjoy a liberal trade which has grown rapidly. The partners also operate a stock ranch near Faith, in Perkins county, comprising two hundred and forty acres of land. Upon their ranch they have range horses and this branch of their business is likewise proving profitable. Mr. Roland also owns land in Texas but devotes the greater part of his time to his mercantile interests in Hill City. In his political views Mr. Roland is a stalwart democrat but has never aspired to office, preferring to concentrate his energies upon his individual interests. He is a member of the Elks lodge at Rapid City and he has many substantial qualities which have won him high regard in a district where character rather than conventionality is the standard by which men are gauged.