Edgar M. Bennett Biography This biography appears on pages 536-539 in "History of Dakota Territory" by George W. Kingsbury, Vol. V (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 EDGAR M. BENNETT. Edgar M. Bennett, who is now living retired in Sisseton, was for a number of years actively engaged in the practice of law and was recognized as one of the leading attorneys of his section of the state. His birth occurred in Detroit, Michigan, June 10, 1854, and he is a son of Moses and Caroline Adelia (Hall) Bennett, both born near Oswego, New York, the father in 1817 and the mother. in 1819. They were married in Oswego in 1839 by Dr. Lansing. The father was a man of liberal education and was an attorney at Detroit for many years, where he gained a large and representative practice. He won a high reputation as an orator and w as a man of considerable influence. Active in politics, he represented his district in the state senate of Michigan. He was a self-made man and accumulated considerable property. He passed away in 1857 at the early age of forty years, while his wife died in 1895. His father was Aaron Bennett, who was born near Rochester, New York, and her father was Hosea Hall. Her mother was. a granddaughter of Admiral Bisbee and was descended from the family of John Churchill, duke of Marlborough. Mrs. Bennett was a pioneer woman physician, receiving her professional training at the Eclectic School of Medicine at Chicago, and she practiced in Detroit and in the hospitals during the Civil war. Edgar M. Bennett, who is the seventh in order of birth in a family of eight children, received his early education in the public schools of Detroit, Michigan; Woodstock, Illinois; and Monroe, Wisconsin; and studied law under Frank M. Wilson of Red Wing, Minnesota. He was admitted to the bar on the 7th of May, 1877, and began the practice of his profession at Cannon Falls, Minnesota. He only remained there a short time, however, and then removed to Lake City, Minnesota, where he became a clerk in the law office of Stocker & Matchen. In 1878 he went to Minneapolis and in 1880 came to South Dakota, settling at Big Stone City, where he practiced until 1897. In that year he took up his residence at Sisseton, where he remained until 1907, when he removed to Lemmon, this state. He continued to practice there until he sustained a stroke of paralysis and was compelled to retire from active life. He gained high professional standing and built up a large and important clientage, his practice during the last year that he followed his profession amounting to fourteen thousand dollars. He is now living retired in Sisseton. He owns considerable real-estate in Lemmon and in Big Stone City and also holds title to two hundred acres of land in the vicinity of Lemmon and personally looks after his financial interests. Mr. Bennett has always taken a lively interest in everything pertaining to the welfare of South Dakota and a number of years ago realized the good that would accrue to the state from a deep waterway extending from the state to the gulf. He suggested that such a deep water channel should begin at Big Stone and connect with the Mississippi and this plan was favorably received by the people of the state. Although a favorable report was made to the governor, however, no practical steps were taken to secure the execution of the plan. Nevertheless, Mr. Bennett is firmly convinced of the value of such a waterway and hopes that it will some day become a reality. He was chairman of waterways committee and drafted the resolutions memorializing congress to make appropriation for survey of the waterway, one time called the Bennett waterway. In 1875 Mr. Bennett was married to Miss Arminda Morrill, and they have become the parents of five children, four of whom are living, namely: Arthur, the proprietor of a billiard room and restaurant at Sisseton; Edgar M., who is a painter residing in Sisseton; Ruby, the wife of Robert Lewis, the owner of a restaurant in Milbank; and Hazel, who was born in 1891 and is residing in Browns Valley, Minnesota. Mr. Bennett is a Mason, belonging to the lodge and chapter in Milbank, and he is also a member of the Elks Lodge No. 262 of Sioux Falls. He has cast his ballot in support of the republican party since age conferred upon him the right of franchise and has held a number of offices. For two terms he was states attorney of Grant county and he has also served as mayor of Big Stone City. Moreover, he compiled the city charter and drafted many of the ordinances of Big Stone City. While active in his profession his practice was largely that of a trial lawyer and he was very successful in the presentation of his cases before the court, winning a favorable verdict in a large majority of cases. His mental vigor and his keenness of insight, coupled with his thorough knowledge of the law, made him an opponent worthy of the best efforts of any lawyer in his part of the state and the success which he gained was richly deserved.