Fred Leslie Vilas Biography


	This biography appears on pages 303-304 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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				FRED LESLIE VILAS.  

	Fred Leslie Vilas, a leading and progressive merchant of Pierre, 
has there been engaged in the drug business for the past six years and 
is now the proprietor of one of the most modern and handsomely equipped 
establishments of the kind in the state. His birth occurred in Lake 
City, Minnesota, on the 27th of October, 1881, his parents being Elbert 
E. and Amanda (Jones) Vilas, the former a native of Michigan and the 
latter of Pennsylvania. He was the younger of two sons and was but two 
years of age when in 1883 the family home was established at Clark, 
South Dakota, where he attended the grammar and high schools. When a 
youth of fifteen he began work in a drug store and at the age of 
nineteen, having passed the state board examination, he enjoyed the 
distinction of being the youngest registered pharmacist in South 
Dakota. Soon afterward he embarked in the drug business on his own 
account at Erwin with a total capital of but twenty-seven dollars, 
there remaining for two years. Subsequently he spent two and a half 
years in business at Bryant and then removed to Brookings, where he 
successfully conducted a drug store for three years. In 1909 he located 
at Pierre, purchasing the old pioneer drug business known as the Black 
Hawk Medicine Company, the first drug store in that section of South 
Dakota. Of this establishment he has since remained the proprietor and 
has made it one of the most up-to-date and splendidly equipped stores 
in the state. He carries a complete line of drugs and druggists, 
sundries and has attracted and retained an extensive and gratifying 
patronage.  

	On the 27th of October, 1903, at Plankinton, South Dakota, Mr. 
Vilas was united in marriage to Miss Adelaide Samuels, a daughter of 
John Samuels. They have two children, Loraine and Fred Leslie, Jr. At 
the polls Mr. Vilas supports the men and measures of the democracy but 
is not otherwise active in politics. Fraternally he is identified with 
the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks and the Masons, belonging to 
the commandery and the Mystic Shrine. He is likewise a valued member of 
the Commercial Club, deeply interested in all movements tending toward 
the development and upbuilding of the city. In outdoor sports he finds 
needed recreation as well as pleasure. Mr. Vilas is a self-educated, 
self-made man who has builded the superstructure of his success on the 
sure foundation of character, ability and worth, and he has long been 
numbered among the representative and substantial citizens of the state 
in which practically his entire life has been spent.