Timothy J. Welby Biography This biography appears on pages 1005-1007 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 TIMOTHY J. WELBY. Timothy J. Welby, who is deputy state game warden, has discharged his duties ably and conscientiously, vigorously enforcing the law protecting game and prosecuting offenders. He has been connected with what is now South Dakota since 1867 and has witnessed a change which would have been pronounced impossible if it had been predicted a half century ago. He was born in County Galway, Ireland, on the 26th of March, 1848, a son of Patrick and Catherine (Little) Welby, who died while he was still a child. In 1865, when seventeen years of age, he emigrated to America with the intention of joining his brothers who were located at Louisville, Kentucky. He sailed from Queenstown, Ireland, on the ship Iberia, which reached New York after a three weeks, voyage. He made his way to Louisville and not long after arriving there secured employment on a boat running from that city to New Orleans and thence to St. Louis. He worked on steamers plying the lower Mississippi and Ohio rivers until he took ship on the Imperial, bound for Fort Benton, Montana. While working on that boat he first visited the present state of South Dakota. The boat docked south of Jefferson near the Big Sioux for a supply of wood and Mr. Welby took advantage of this opportunity and went ashore, thus setting foot on Dakota soil in the middle of May, 1867. On the return of the boat late in the fall it was frozen in the ice at Bon Homme on the 7th of November and was abandoned by Captain Smith and the other officers, who took all of the money with them, leaving the employees without pay. The latter went to Yankton and there filed claims against the boat. The federal court decided in their favor and the machinery and bell of the steamer were sold, the proceeds being given to the employee in satisfaction of their claims. The bell of the Imperial was purchased by Judge Brookings, who had it placed on the old capitol building, where it remained until the removal of the capital, when Judge Brookings gave the bell to Dr. Joseph Ward for use in the academy. He subsequently presented the bell to the Central high school, where it is still in use. While waiting for the decision of the federal court Mr. Welby and others secured board with John Owen, at Bon Homme, paying six dollars a week for two meals a day, payment being made after the settlement of their claims on the boat. Subsequently Mr. Welby worked for six weeks for Jacob Ruefner, receiving only his board for his labor, as work was scarce and board expensive during the winter. Later Mr. Welby worked for Judge Brookings, being employed in the latter's sawmill six miles west of Yankton. In July, 1868, he entered the employ of General J. B. S. Todd, with whom he remained for several years. During this time he drove the first wagon across the first government bridge over the James river which was also the first bridge in the territory. Filing on a homestead claim northwest of Mission Hill, he at length took up his residence upon that place. In 1876, during the hard times that followed the prolonged drought and the grasshopper scourge, he again went to work on the river in order to provide for the support of his family. In that year he went as far as Standing Rock on the boat, Fontanelle, and two years later went with Captain Clark on the Benton as far as Fort Sully. He still retained his homestead, however, and when times improved gave his entire attention to the cultivation of his land. He made many improvements upon his place and as the years passed his property increased steadily in value. He continued to follow agricultural pursuits until 1903, when he put aside the active labor of the fields, but still owns the homestead, which comprises one hundred and sixty acres of land, and also holds title to forty acres near Volin and a fifteen acre tract along the north bank of the James river, which he purchased with soldier's script. In 1909 he was appointed county game warden and served in that capacity until 1913 when he was appointed deputy state game warden and has proved an excellent man for the place. Mr. Welby was married in Yankton, by Joseph Ward, at the residence of General Todd, on the 15th of January, 1870, to Miss Caroline Hanson. She was born about sixty miles from Christiania, Norway, and remained in her native land until 1867, when she sailed from Christiania for America on the ship, Noah, which arrived at Quebec, Canada, after a voyage of seven weeks. She made her way to La Crosse, Wisconsin, where there was a Norwegian colony, and the following year joined a party bound for Yankton county, Dakota territory, under the leadership of Iver Bagstad. Their transportation, which amounted to eighteen dollars, was to be paid after it had been earned by labor on reaching Dakota. The journey was made with ox-teams and the progress was so slow that Mrs. Welby and most of the other young people walked the greater part of the way by preference, although they had bound themselves to pay for riding. To Mr. and Mrs. Welby have been born the following children. Mattie is the wife of Sampson Erickson, who is farming two miles west of Gayville. James is farming land which he owns adjoining the homestead Harry is a painter and decorator of Yankton. Tillie gave her hand in marriage to E. V. Cowman, a merchant of Gayville, also serving as postmaster. Alma is now the wife of Clyde McPeake and resides in Spencer, Iowa. Mark is engaged in agricultural pursuits and resides three miles west of Gayville. Mary is the wife of Ambrose Means, of New York, a noted African traveler and hunter and a well known writer. Mrs. Means accompanies her husband on some of his journeys. Emmet is farming the homestead. Mr. Welby is a member of the Congregational church at Mission Hill, although now a resident of Yankton. His wife belongs to the Methodist Episcopal church of Yankton. Mr. Welby is a stalwart republican and in all matters where the interests of the community are involved and where public improvements are under consideration he manifests a sincere devotion to the general welfare, subordinating his private affairs to the advancement of his city and county. He has unbounded faith in the development of South Dakota and takes justifiable pride in the fact that he had a part in laying the foundation for her present and future greatness. When Mr. Welby first came to this state Sioux City was the western outpost of civilization and all beyond was wilderness. At one point above Fort Thompson the steamer Imperial, on which he was employed, was stopped in midchannel to allow a herd of buffalo, crossing the river, to pass on. Although the boat could have forced its way through them, the paddles of its wheels might have been broken off in so doing. The Indians at that time were so hostile that they frequently fired at passing boats and the pilot house was usually encased in boiler iron to protect the helmsman. The few white men who ventured into the territory were obliged to rely upon themselves for everything and if one was injured the only medical or surgical assistance which could be given him was that which his fellows were capable of rendering. On one occasion a man on the boat had his leg broken and badly mashed and, as it was imperative that it be amputated, the steward performed the operation with a meat saw from the kitchen and the man soon recovered. On the return trip down the river there were many passengers, most of them miners with stores of gold, and before civilization was reached the meat supply ran short. While crossing a bar two passengers asked permission to go ashore to try and kill some game, but about three-quarters of all hour after leaving the boat one of the men came running and shouting to the river and jumped in, remaining there with only his face showing until he was taken aboard a yawl sent to his rescue from the boat. He told them they had shot an antelope and the shots attracted Indians who succeeded in shooting the other man with arrows. On the captain being assured the other man was killed, he tied up to the opposite bank to prevent a surprise attack at night and the next day. A party went ashore to investigate and found the mutilated body. The Indians had removed the man's scalp, his eyebrows and his tongue and the body was as full of arrows as it was possible to stick them. The antelope had been left by the Indians, but the white men feared to eat it, as they thought the Indians might have poisoned it. There were many severe storms during the early part of Mr. Welby's residence in the territory and there was one memorable hail storm which lasted for two hours and covered the prairie with hailstones to a depth of twelve inches. In 1876 the grasshoppers destroyed all of the crops and in other years did great damage and there were also a number of bad droughts which caused great loss to the settlers. On the 12th of January, 1888, occurred the worst blizzard in the experience of the white settlers in Dakota, but Mr. Welby braved the storm to take food and hot coffee to the children, who were of necessity detained at school. In company with his neighbor, Torger Nelsen, he made a second trip to the school and they nearly missed the building, so blinding was the storm. They had passed it when they heard voices which guided them to the school in safety. The two men took their children with them on returning from the second trip and all remained at the Welby home during the night. During the first years of her residence in Dakota Mrs. Welby walked to Yankton to market her butter, for which she received from five to seven cents a pound. At the same time corn brought only eleven cents a bushel. It was difficult to secure coffee and, moreover, it was very expensive, and Mr. and Mrs. Welby at times made a substitute for it from parched potato cakes ground and steeped. Mr. Welby recalls with pleasure that he drove the team the Christmas morning that General Todd called for E. Miner and Dr. Ward and told them he was going to present six lots to the Congregational church and for them to select the property. Mr. Welby had revisited his old home land, making a trip to Ireland in 1882, and in 1902 he and his wife went to Norway and visited the scenes of her girlhood. One of the relics of her native land which she prizes highly is a spinning wheel which she inherited from her grandmother and which, in all probability, had been in the family for many generations before it came into the possession of the latter. It is still in perfect condition and Mrs. Welby still uses it. She has a dress which is well preserved that she spun, dyed and wove when a girl living in Norway.