Dennis Clifford Biography


	This biography appears on pages 135-136 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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				DENNIS CLIFFORD. 

	South Dakota has proven a splendid agricultural state. Its 
undulating lands are rich and productive, responding readily to the 
care and labor bestowed upon them by the agriculturist. Among those who 
are winning success in the tilling of the soil in Spink county is 
Dennis Clifford, who owns a farm of one hundred and sixty acres in 
Three Rivers township, which he is now improving. Upon this place he 
has lived since 1880, in which year he came to South Dakota from 
Watertown, Wisconsin. It was in the Badger state that he was born, his 
birth occurring at Neenah, Wisconsin, on the 9th of October, 1857, his 
parents being Patrick and Julia (Fleming) Clifford. While the name 
seems to be English the family on both sides is of Irish ancestry. The 
father, who was born in Ireland but came to the United States as a 
young man, died while serving his adopted country in the Civil war. His 
wife who was born in County Kerry, Ireland, near the Lakes of Killarney 
but came to the new world when sixteen years old, long survived him, 
passing away July 2, 1910, and lies buried in Redfield, South Dakota. 

	Dennis Clifford was a public-school pupil during that period 
which he devoted to mastering the branches of learning that are 
regarded as essential to advancement and success in later life. He 
worked for others through the summer months, beginning as soon as he 
was large enough to be of value around a farm and after completing his 
schooling he continued to engage in farm work. On coming to South 
Dakota he took up a tree claim and later a homestead, on which he is 
living today. Not a furrow had been turned or an improvement made when 
the place came into his possession, but he was not afraid of hard work 
and did not hesitate to undertake the task of breaking the sod and 
converting the wild prairie into productive fields. The work of 
plowing, harrowing and planting was at once undertaken and in due 
course of time he gathered good harvests. Year by year he brought still 
more of the farm under cultivation and he now employs the most modern 
methods in the production of splendid crops of wheat and corn and also 
in the raising of stock of all kinds. He has made a study of his 
business and so conducts his work that splendid results obtain. 

	At Sioux Falls, on January 2, 1908, Mr. Clifford was united in 
marriage to Miss Margaret Brennan, a daughter of John and Mary A. 
(Burns) Brennan, of Janesville, Wisconsin, both now deceased, their 
remains being interred in a cemetery at Janesville. Mr. and Mrs. 
Clifford have two children, Margaret F. and Mary Josephine. Theirs is a 
pleasant home, which was erected by Mr. Clifford, and in fact all of 
the improvements upon the property have been made by him. He adheres to 
the Catholic faith and in politics votes independently, supporting men 
and measures rather than party. A residence of thirty-five years in 
Spink county has made him largely familiar with its history, for when 
he took up his abode there the work of progress and development seemed 
scarcely begun. He has since borne his part in bringing about the 
changes which have made it one of the progressive and highly developed 
counties of the state.