George J. and M. A. Crilly Biography


	This biography appears on pages 1061-1062 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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				GEORGE J. AND M. A. CRILLY. 

	A history of the state of South Dakota would be incomplete 
without mention of George J. and M. A. Crilly of Gregory county. The 
former was born in Fort Dodge, Iowa, in 1880, moving with his parents 
James P. and Ella M. (Maher) Crilly, to Dakota when he was one year 
old. They resided near Castalia, where M. A. Crilly was born in 1889. 

	The partnership, Crilly Brothers, was formed early in life and is 
still in existence. It began when the brothers were small boys and 
acquired title to one heifer calf, which they received for six months, 
service rendered a neighboring ranchman. Today they are rated among the 
large live-stock owners of their state, having handled many thousand 
head of cattle since then. At the present time they are operating the 
Dixon Cattle Company, a. hundred thousand dollar corporation whose main 
business is the purchasing each spring of Mexican cattle, which are 
shipped north to be matured on their northern ranches, which are under 
the personal supervision of M. A. Crilly. 

	These gentlemen are true Dakota pioneers, having come here when 
their only neighbors were the Sioux Indians. They received little 
education early in life owing to the fact that there were no schools in 
this unorganized territory, but after reaching manhood they each took a 
course in a business college, which equipped them for the various 
branches of business in which they later engaged. They are practical 
stockmen, having gained their valuable knowledge of the stock business 
by actual experience on the Montana and Wyoming ranges. 

	At the present time M. A. Crilly is president and George J. 
Crilly cashier of the Bonesteel State Bank, an institution purchased by 
them in 1910. The bank's footings, which at that time were twenty-eight 
thousand dollars, have increased to sixty-five thousand dollars under 
the present management. 

	In 1910 M. A. Crilly was married to Anna L. Mathews, a daughter 
of early pioneers of Nebraska. In 1911 George J. Crilly was united in 
marriage to Josephine G. Creagh, a teacher in the Detroit public 
schools. They have two sons, James M and Francis W. 

	George J. and M. A. Crilly are devout members of the Catholic 
church and belong to the Gregory Council of the Knights of Columbus. In 
politics they are democrats. They have traveled extensively, learning 
the lessons that experience teaches. Today they are among the 
representative, progressive and valued citizens of South Dakota.