Leonard M. Simons Biography


	This biography appears on pages 594-597 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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				LEONARD M. SIMONS. 

	Leonard M. Simons is not only a successful lawyer of Belle 
Fourche but is also connected with the financial interests of that town 
as vice president of the First National Bank. He has been connected 
with state politics in an important capacity, as he served for three 
terms as secretary of the state senate. He is a native of Fulton, New 
York, born January 22, 1874, a son of Perry M. and Helen (Loyale) 
Simons. The father was born near Rome, New York, in 1834, and the 
mother near the boundary line between Canada and New York in 1838. 
Perry M. Simons was in early manhood a farmer but later became a 
general contractor and constructed many pub]ie works. Neither he nor 
his wife ever removed west and both are deceased. They were the parents 
of four children of whom Leonard M. Simons is the third in order of 
birth. 

	The last named acquired his elementary education in the schools 
of New York and after removing west attended Redfield College and the 
University of South Dakota at Vermillion. He began supporting himself 
when very young, paying his own way by selling papers when but ten 
years of age, and one year later he became printer's devil in a 
newspaper office at Fulton, New York. He learned the printer's trade 
there and was connected with the newspaper business until 1890, 
although he was employed during that time in other towns. In that year 
he removed to South Dakota, where he worked at various occupations and 
also attended school. A part of the time he was employed in a law 
office and devoted his spare time to the study of law, finding it so 
much to his liking that, in 1900, he definitely began preparation for a 
legal career, becoming a law student in the office of Sterling & 
Morris. In 1904 he was admitted to the bar and located at Mitchell, 
where he practiced until 1905, in which year he removed to Belle 
Fourche. In the seven years that he has lived there he has secured a 
large and profitable clientage and possesses the respect of his 
professional brethren and the general public He is also a stockholder, 
director and the vice president of the first national Bank, and owns 
considerable farming land in South Dakota. 

	Mr. Simons was married March 17, 1908, to Miss Florence L. 
Dickson, a native of Flandreau, South Dakota. Her parents are Frank and 
Rose (Gridley) Dickson, the latter a native of Wauwatosa, Wisconsin. 
The family moved from Wisconsin to Flandreau, South Dakota, in pioneer 
days and the father engaged in the hardware business at that place. 
Subsequent removals were made to Armour and to Mitchell, where Mr. 
Dickson organized the Mitchell Wholesale Fruit and Grocery Company, of 
which he is now president. Mr. and Mrs. Simons have two daughters, 
Helen Roseltha and Charlotte Louise.

	Mr. Simons is a republican and for three terms was secretary of 
the state senate. His religious allegiance is given to the 
Congregational church and its tenets are the guiding principles of his 
life. He has attained high rank in the Masonic order, having taken all 
of the degrees in the Scottish Rite up to and including the thirty-
second, and also in the York Rite. He is a member of the Mystic Shrine. 
He is an officer in the Rose Croix at Deadwood and belongs to Black 
Hills Consistory, No. 3. He likewise holds membership in Mitchell 
Lodge, No. 1059, B. P. O. E. He takes an active interest in public 
affairs and has participated in a number of movements looking toward 
the advancement of the community. He was one of those responsible for 
issuing the first blue book of the state and edited three editions of 
same. He has left the impress of his individuality upon the development 
of Belle Fourche and it is safe to predict that in the years to come he 
will accomplish yet more.