Harry A. Dixson Biography


	This biography appears on pages 1071-1072 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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				HARRY A. DIXSON. 

	Harry A. Dixson, the president of the First State Bank of Presho, 
South Dakota, is also interested in other business enterprises of his 
section and is recognized as a leader in financial and commercial 
circles of Lyman county. His birth occurred in Seaforth, Canada, May 
20, 1866, and he is a son of Samuel and Carrie A. (Smith) Dixson. The 
father came to the United States from Canada and located in Maquoketa, 
Iowa, where he engaged in the stock business for some time. He 
subsequently removed to Dubuque and for twenty-five years traveled for 
the well known house, Sprague, Warner & Company. He is now engaged in 
the hotel business at Mankato, Minnesota, and is also vice president of 
the State Bank of Presho. To him and his wife have been born seven 
children, of whom our subject is the eldest. 

	Harry A. Dixson received his education in the Sabula (Ia.) 
schools and began his business career by clerking in a store at 
Monticello, Iowa. Later he traveled from Dubuque for M. M. Walker & 
Company for ten years, after which he was in the hotel business in 
Decorah, lowa, for six years. In 1905 he located in Watertown, South 
Dakota, and conducted the Arcade Hotel for about a year, but in 1906 
removed to Presho and not long after arriving there bought the 
controlling interest in the First State Bank, of which he was made 
president. He has filled that important position continuously since and 
the success of the bank is due largely to his knowledge of business 
conditions and his sound judgment. His ability is generally recognized 
and his integrity is unquestioned. In addition to his interest in the 
First State Bank he is a stockholder in the Dupree State Bank and owns 
the Farmers Elevator at Presho. He has a ranch of four hundred and 
eighty acres, controls a thousand acres, which is stocked with three 
thousand sheep, one hundred and fifty cattle and one hundred horses, 
and also has another ranch of similar size, on which he has raised six 
thousand bushels of grain. His various interests return him a handsome 
income. 

	Mr. Dixson was married on the 10th of June, 1896, to Miss Lotta 
A. Francisco, a daughter of Andrew J. and Lena (Ousley) Francisco, of 
Boscobel, Wisconsin. Mr. Dixson gives his political allegiance to the 
progressive republican party and served as a delegate to the state 
convention in 1912. His religious faith is that of the Christian 
Science church and fraternally he is identified with the Independent 
Order of Odd Fellows. He is fond of all outdoor sports, especially 
hunting and fishing, and finds that he can work more efficiently when 
he takes needed recreation. He is heartily in favor of the good roads 
movement and is always ready to do all in his power to promote the 
advancement of the general welfare. He has great faith in the future of 
South Dakota and owes much of his success to the fact that he has 
demonstrated his confidence in the state by making investments within 
its borders.