John Sutherland Biography


	This biography appears on pages 1170, 1173 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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				JOHN SUTHERLAND. 

	John Sutherland, member of the well known law firm of Sutherland 
& Payne, of Pierre, was born in New Brunswick, Canada, in 1858, a son 
of Andrew and Catharine (McVicar) Sutherland. The latter died on the 
4th of April, 1915, at the advanced age of ninety-one years. Liberal 
educational advantages were afforded our subject. During his early 
youth the family removed to Eau Claire county, Wisconsin, and he 
attended district school No. 2 at Union, in that county. His more 
advanced literary studies were pursued in Chicago University and in 
Brown University of Providence, Rhode Island, in which he won his 
Bachelor of Laws degree as a member of the class of 1880. During the 
following four years he was instructor in Greek and Latin in Wayland 
University of Beaver Dam, Wisconsin. Preparing for the bar, he entered 
upon the active practice of law, to which he has devoted his life. 

	Mr. Sutherland came to Pierre, South Dakota, in August, 1884, and 
as one of the practitioners of the bar of that section of the state has 
made a creditable record. He recognizes the necessity of careful 
preparation and no one more thoroughly prepares his cases or is more 
careful to conform his practice to a high standard of professional 
ethics. He studies closely every cause to which he gives his attention 
and his arguments are strong, logical and convincing. The court records 
bear testimony to his ability and growing efficiency. He controlled the 
abstract business of Pierre for many years and has been prominently and 
successfully identified with real-estate enterprises. His loyalty to 
city and state has been a matter of much favorable comment. For six 
years he served as president of the Pierre board of education and he 
took an active and forceful part in the capital fights of 1889 and 
1890, when he was president of the capital committee. Again in 1904 he 
acted in that capacity in the third fight of 1904. 

	On the 5th of September, 1881, Mr. Sutherland was united in 
marriage at Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, to Miss Laura Paulina Aiken, a 
daughter of Josiah Aiken. To them have been born two children, namely: 
Martha E., who is now the wife of J. M. Coon, a practicing attorney of 
Sioux Falls; and Laura Paulina, who gave her hand in marriage to Dr. R. 
O. Woodruff. 

	The religious faith of the family is that of the Baptist church, 
to which Mr. Sutherland belongs. He holds membership with the Delta 
Kappa Epsilon, a college fraternity, the Knights of Pythias and the 
Ancient Order of United Workmen. He has always been prominent in civic 
and public affairs and in politics is a republican with progressive 
tendencies. In a word, he does not believe in the blind following of 
party leaders but in the steady progression of the organization to meet 
the demands of the time, recognizing ever that the interests of the 
majority and not of the few should govern legislative enactment. At 
different times he has been called to local offices and in 1905 he 
represented his district in the state legislature. He has made a most 
creditable record in office, ever placing the general good before 
partisanship and the public welfare before personal aggrandizement. His 
activity in party organization has been a most important feature of his 
career, as he has always been a foremost figure in republican councils.