Raymond D. Burr Biography


	This biography appears on pages 166 in "History of Dakota 
	Territory" by George W. Kingsbury, Vol. V (1915) and was 
	scanned, OCRed and edited by Maurice Krueger, mkrueger@iw.net.

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				RAYMOND D. BURR. 

	Raymond D. Burr, a resident of Montrose, is a well known figure 
in financial circles of his part of the state as president of the 
Montrose Bank. He was born in Trumansburg, New York, on the 5th of 
November, 1877, a son of Elmer C. and Ella M. Burr, farming people who 
are residents of Trumansburg. At the usual age the son entered the 
public schools, passing through consecutive grades until he became a 
high-school pupil. He afterward attended Palmer Institute at Lakemont, 
New York, and when his school days were over took up the profession of 
teaching, which he followed for five years in the state of New York and 
for a similar period in South Dakota, coming to this state in 1903. 
While engaged in teaching he had opportunity to study conditions in the 
state and believed that there was a good field for banking at Montrose. 
Accordingly, in 1908, he entered the Montrose Bank, which was organized 
in 1886. He became its vice president and so continued until 1912, when 
he was elected to the presidency and as such is now guiding the 
institution, which is enjoying a steady and substantial growth and 
which conducts a general banking business. He also deals in 
automobiles, handling the Overland car. He has a side interest in 
chickens, which he greatly enjoys raising. His landed possessions 
include two farms of three hundred acres. 

	On the 2d of June, 1907, Mr. Burr was united in marriage to Miss 
Magna Nelson, a daughter of Ludwig and Marie (Goberg) Nelson, a 
representative of a pioneer family. They have a son, Eugene D., six 
years of age, attending school, and a daughter, Ella Marie, born July 
3, 1915. The parents are members of the Baptist church, and Mr. Burr 
also has membership with the Masons, the Mystic Shrine, the Knights of 
Pythias, and the Modern Woodmen, to the teachings and purposes of which 
organizations he is loyal. His political views accord with the platform 
of the republican party, and he has served as president of the town 
board and as clerk of the school board. He is interested in everything 
pertaining to the welfare and upbuilding of the community in which he 
makes his home and in the advancement of the state at large. When he 
has a leisure moment he enjoys a fishing or hunting trip, but he 
concentrates his efforts upon his business affairs and is constantly 
seeking new methods to enlarge the field of his usefulness and add to 
his legitimate success.