Burt Burton Biography


	This biography appears on pages 785-786 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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				BURT BURTON.  

	Burt Burton is proprietor of the Majestic Moving Picture and Play 
House at Sturgis, where he is also engaged in the real-estate and 
insurance business. He likewise has important ranching interests and in 
the conduct of his business affairs displays unremitting industry. His 
plans are well formulated and he never stops short of success. He was 
born ten miles north of Rapid City, South Dakota, in that part of Meade 
county which was then within the boundaries of Lawrence county, his 
natal day being August 7, 1885. His parents were Joseph W. and Mary 
(Stephens) Burton, the former a native of Indiana and the latter of 
Chicago. The father was engaged in mining until 1881, having come to 
the Black Hills country in 1875. He went to Pike's. Peak during the 
rush following the discovery of gold there, but returned to the Black 
Hills on the first stage that made the trip in 1876. He settled at 
Deadwood and operated there and in that vicinity, engaging in mining 
until 1881, when he took up his abode upon the farm ten miles north of 
Rapid City upon which his son Burt was born. There the father engaged 
in tilling the soil and in raising live stock until the spring of 1894, 
when he removed on to the Belle Fourche river, where he is still 
engaged in the stock business. He has one of the best equipped and 
improved ranches in his part of the state and devotes his entire time 
to raising horses and cattle, in which business he is meeting with a 
well merited measure of success.  

	Burt Burton is the eldest in a family of three children. He 
attended the rural schools of Meade county and afterward completed his 
education in the School of Mines at Rapid City. When nineteen years of 
age he was employed as a range rider and practically followed the life 
of a cowboy until his election to office. In the meantime he 
homesteaded in Meade county and is now the owner of four hundred acres 
of rich meadow lands, upon which he has a number of head of horses 
which he grazes. He sells the hay from the balance of the ranch. In 
July, 1913, he became half owner of the Majestic Moving Picture and 
Play House of Sturgis and a year later became sole owner. He now 
conducts the moving picture show, which is liberally patronized, for he 
brings to the public the finest films put out by standard companies and 
thus provides a high-class entertainment. He is also engaged in the 
real-estate and insurance business and he deals in automobiles, 
representing the Overland cars.  

	On the 25th of November, 1912, Mr. Burton was married to Mrs. 
Agnes Smith, a native of Sturgis and in fact the first white child born 
in that city. Her parents, Max and Anna (Lang) Hoehn, were both natives 
of Germany and became early settlers of South Dakota. Her father acted 
as a clerk in Custer's commissary department but because of illness was 
not present when Custer made his last stand, being unable to accompany 
the expedition, else he would have met the fate of all the others—death 
at the hands of the savages. He was a pioneer resident of Sturgis and 
taught the first school there. After the organization of Meade county 
he held various county offices and engaged in the abstract, real-
estate, loan and insurance business, there continuing until his death, 
which occurred in January, 1911, having held office during the greater 
part of the time for twenty-five years. His was a most creditable 
record, characterized by the utmost fidelity to duty, and he enjoyed 
the highest respect and confidence of those with whom he came in 
contact. His widow survives and yet makes her home in Sturgis.  

	Mrs. Burton is the eldest of four children and has always lived 
in Sturgis, where she has a wide acquaintance and many friends. Mr. 
Burton is well known in Masonic circles in his town and is also a 
member of the Elks lodge at Rapid City. He votes with the republican 
party and has served as auditor of Meade county for four years. He 
likewise filled the office of deputy assessor for two years, of deputy 
clerk for fifteen years and of deputy auditor a short time before 
elected to the higher position. He maintains an unsullied reputation as 
a business man and as a citizen, and warm esteem is entertained for him 
by all who know him throughout his section of the state, in which his 
entire life has been passed.