Benjamin Bussey Biography


	This biography appears on pages 343-344 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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				HON. BENJAMIN BUSSEY. 

	Hon. Benjamin Bussey has served his district acceptably in the 
state legislature and is known in Bon Homme county as a progressive and 
successful farmer. He was born in Dane county, Wisconsin, on the 28th 
of October, 1849, a son of John and Jane (North) Bussey, who were 
natives of Yorkshire, England, and the vicinity of Sheffield, England, 
respectively. In 1843 they emigrated to America, making the voyage on a 
sailing vessel, which was long in crossing the Atlantic, as it 
encountered severe storms. They settled in Dane county, Wisconsin, 
where the father passed away in 1851. The mother survived for many 
years, and, shortly after paying a visit to her children in Bon Homme 
county, died in the Badger state, in 1906 or 1907, when seventy-three 
years of age. 

	Benjamin Bussey was reared in his native county and there became 
familiar with agricultural work. He was married there in 1870 and in 
the following summer drove a team to Calhoun county, Iowa, where for 
several months he engaged in breaking prairie. Later in the fall he 
threshed there, remaining in that county until the close of the season. 
While he was working in Iowa his wife was teaching in Wisconsin. After 
his return to the Badger state he rented land until May, 1874, when he 
shipped his stock and household goods to Yankton, Dakota territory, 
which was then the terminus of the Dakota Southern Railroad. He filed 
on a homestead and a timber claim on sections 1 and 12, Albion 
precinct, Bon Homme county, and those claims constitute his present 
farm. He rented land near Bon Homme village soon after coming to the 
territory and broke the sod as he found time to do so. During 1876 he 
freighted from Yankton to Fort Bennett, as he was able to realize but 
little from his crops owing to the plague of grasshoppers. One of his 
first acts was to plant trees upon his place and he now has a fine 
grove. He later purchased eighty acres more and now owns four hundred 
acres of fertile, well improved land, from which he derives a good 
income annually. He is progressive and energetic and his success 
naturally follows. 

	Mr. Bussey was married, on the 24th of November, 1870, in Emerald 
Grove, Wisconsin, to Miss Annie M. Hammerquist, a native of Wisconsin, 
and a daughter of Charles G. and Amelia (Reuterskiold) Hammerquist, 
natives of Sweden, who about 1845 emigrated to America and settled in 
Dane county, Wisconsin. Mrs. Bussey passed away on the 18th of 
September, 1908, leaving a son, Frank C., who now has full charge of 
the operation of the homestead. He married Miss Elizabeth Koenig, a 
native of Bon Homme county, and a daughter of August and Caroline 
(Minow) Koenig, who are mentioned on another page of this work. Mr. and 
Mrs. Frank C. Bussey have three children, Benjamin, Mamie and Ethel. 

	Benjamin Bussey is a republican and has held a number of offices 
of trust and responsibility. He served as county commissioner, as 
deputy sheriff under Ed Benedict and for two years as a member of the 
lower house of the state legislature. His religious affiliation is with 
the Congregational church and fraternally he is a Mason, belonging to 
the blue lodge at Tyndall and the consistory at Yankton. 

	Mrs. Bussey's reminiscences of pioneer life are most interesting. 
On the morning of the 12th of January, 1888, Mr. Bussey went to Tyndall 
to deliver milk and the great blizzard that has made that date famous 
in South Dakota overtook him before he reached home. He stopped at the 
schoolhouse and got his son and drove in his cutter in the direction of 
his residence. The wind was so strong that it blew the milk cans from 
the sleigh, but the patient horse plodded on and after several hours by 
following the wire fence Mr. Bussey found the road leading towards his 
home. He had to abandon the cutter later and, putting his son on the 
horse, covered with a blanket to keep him warm, led the horse until he 
found the driveway leading to the house, which they reached in safety. 
Although in the early days Mr. Bussey endured the privations of pioneer 
times, he now enjoys not only the necessities and comforts, but many of 
the luxuries of life. He has a fine large residence, which is 
thoroughly modern in its appointments and which is supplied with gas 
from its own plant. A beautiful lawn and a large grove beautify the 
place and large barns and other outbuildings provide amply for the 
shelter of the stock and grain. A grove in front of Mr. Bussey's house 
is a favorite picnic ground and he invariably makes all welcome. His 
agreeable personality and generous spirit have won him many friends and 
the sterling worth of his character has enabled him to retain 
friendship once gained.