Albert H. Stites Biography


	This biography appears on pages 840-841 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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				ALBERT H. STITES. 

	Business and political interests of Sioux Falls have been 
influenced in an important way by the activities of Albert H. Stites, 
whose interests have extended to both fields, in each of which he has 
won for himself an important position and an honored name. He is 
regarded as one of the leading druggists of Sioux Falls and, having 
been connected with this business since the beginning of his active 
career, has won the success which comes from practical experience and 
thorough knowledge. 

	He was born in Millerstown, Pennsylvania, March 2, 1858, and 
attended the public schools in that locality, graduating from the high 
school in 1875. Following this he went to Philadelphia and entered a 
drug store as clerk. He was graduated from the Philadelphia College of 
Pharmacy in 1879 and afterward continued in the drug business in that 
city until 1881. In June of that year he came to Sioux Falls and opened 
a drug store in the old Land Office building, which in 1883 was removed 
and the Peck building erected on the same site. During this removal Mr. 
Stites had to conduct business elsewhere, but on the completion of the 
new building he returned to his first location, where he remained until 
October, 1914, when he established his present store in more commodious 
and modern quarters in the new Carpenter Hotel building. From 1885 to 
1889 Frank S. Kimball was associated with Mr. Stites in the drug 
business but since that time he has carried on the enterprise alone. He 
has been very successful and has built up a large and representative 
patronage, for his store is considered one of the finest and most 
modern in the city. Mr. Stites was president of the territorial and 
state pharmaceutical societies for six years and is very well known 
among the druggists of South Dakota. 

	Mr. Stites was married April 14, 1884, to Miss Lizzie M. Law, a 
daughter of John Law of Chicago, Illinois, and they have a son, Samuel 
L. Stites, who was born July 7, 1885. A daughter, Eda G., died in 1907 
at the age of seventeen. On the 14th of April, 1908, Samuel L. Stites 
married Miss Florence Harrison, a daughter of Charles M. Harrison, and 
they have two children, Ruth E. and Frances Ann. 

	Mr. Stites of this review is a member of Minnehaha Lodge, No. 5, 
A. F. & A. M., and in 1896 was master of the same. He is also a member 
of the Country, the Elks and the Dacotah Clubs and is well known in 
social circles of Sioux Falls. He gives his political allegiance to the 
republican party and is prominent and active in public affairs. In 1895 
he was elected county commissioner and assumed the duties of that 
office in the following January. He was elected mayor of the city of 
Sioux Falls in April, 1896, and filled that position until 1898, when 
he was elected to the state senate, in which he served for two terms, 
leaving the impress of his ability and energy upon a great deal of 
important legislation. From 1906 to July 1, 1910, Mr. Stites was 
postmaster of Sioux Falls under appointment by President Roosevelt. He 
is a man whose business reputation is beyond question and whose 
official record has been varied in service and faultless in honor.