Robert F. Drennan Biography


	This biography appears on pages 527-529 in "History of Dakota 
	Territory" by George W. Kingsbury, Vol. V (1915) and was 
	scanned, OCRed and edited by Maurice Krueger, mkrueger@iw.net.

	This file may be freely copied by individuals and non-profit 
	organizations for their private use. 

	Any other use, including publication, storage in a retrieval 
	system, or transmission by electronic, mechanical, or other 
	means requires the written approval of the file's author.

	This file is part of the SDGENWEB Archives. If you arrived here inside
	a frame or from a link from somewhere else, our front door is at

	http://usgwarchives.org/sd/sdfiles.htm


				ROBERT F. DRENNAN. 

	Robert F. Drennan, of Ardmore, Fall River county, is conducting 
an extensive real-estate and insurance business. He was born at Valley 
Mills, Bosque county, Texas, March 22, 1869, a son of John A. and Mary 
E. (Willett) Drennan. The father was born in Arkansas on the 20th of 
December, 1844, and the mother in Lafayette county, Missouri, May 18, 
1853 In his early manhood the father went to Texas and there engaged in 
the stock business, which he continued to follow on an extensive scale 
for many years. Then, being convinced that better opportunities for 
expansion in that line were to be found farther west, he went to 
Colorado and located in the vicinity of Trinidad before the railroad 
had even been planned to that point. He raised cattle there in large 
numbers but experienced much trouble and enormous losses because of the 
enmity of the restless Indians and Mexicans. He was a man of unlimited 
courage and inflexible determination, was an expert marksman and was 
the most hated enemy of the lawless characters that infested that 
country. He was assaulted from ambush a number of times and, as his 
favorite saddle horse was a fine large bay animal, which was of far 
better grade than any other to be found in that country he was easily 
identified by the "rustlers," who made attempts upon his life After he 
had been in that region for seven or eight years his horse was shot 
from under him and he was himself twice wounded, but, being a better 
marksman than the three Mexicans who were his assailants, he succeeded 
in killing all of them. The lawless element continued to harass him 
unrelentingly and at last he decided to leave the country and disposed 
of his business at a loss of approximately two hundred thousand 
dollars. Returning to Texas, for a short time he was in the general 
mercantile business and then became a peace officer, serving in that 
capacity for sixteen years, or until his death on the 18th of June, 
1899. He was also a veteran of the Civil war. His widow is now living 
at Snyder, Scurry county, Texas. 

	Robert F. Drennan attended school in San Angelo, Texas, but when 
eight years of age left his father,s home and went to a large cattle 
ranch in western Texas known as the Half Circle Six. He very soon 
became a favorite of the owner and of the cowboys, a fact which his 
father recognized and which prompted him to permit the boy to remain. 
He was employed on that ranch for four years and then returned home and 
attended school for three years. At the end of that time he apprenticed 
himself to the firm of Potter & Edgar, decorators, painters and dealers 
in wallpaper at Ballinger, Texas. He continued with that firm for four 
years and then purchased the business, which he conducted for about 
three years. At the end of that time he removed to Temple, Texas, but a 
year later went to Dallas. He disposed of his painting and decorating 
business in that city and entered the employ of a large installment 
house, the L. W. Price Company, of Kansas City, Missouri, as traveling 
collector, but after remaining with them for some time he resigned his 
position and became connected with H. H. Pennock, of Dallas, a firm 
engaged in the same business. He was placed in charge of their branch 
house at Mobile, Alabama, where he continued until 1898, when he 
enlisted as a musician in the Fourth Texas Volunteer Infantry for 
service in the Spanish-American war. The command was mobilized at Camp 
Mosby, Texas, and was mustered out on the 10th of March, 1899. He 
returned to Mobile, but not long afterward went to Chicago, where he 
followed the painter's trade for a short time. He was then successively 
a resident of Princeton, Seatonville and Spring Valley, Illinois, 
establishing a paint and wallpaper store in the last named place, where 
he remained continuously in business until the 2d of January, 1909. 
Upon that date he disposed of his interests there and came to South 
Dakota, locating at White Lake. After spending a few months there in 
the real estate and insurance business he decided to go farther west 
and on the 6th of August, 1909, arrived in Ardmore, where he has since 
lived. He is one of the prominent operators in the field of real estate 
and insurance and loans in that part of the state and handles and 
controls large tracts of land in South Dakota, Nebraska, Wyoming and 
other states. He was also one of the incorporators of the Ardmore Oil 
Company and served as secretary of that corporation until January, 
1915, when he resigned that office in order to devote his undivided 
attention to his other business interests He is aggressive and wide-
awake; is quick to realize the possibility of future development in any 
section and prompt in taking advantage of the opportunities offered the 
progressive real-estate dealer in a new country. He has built up a 
large business and is one of the substantial men of his part of the 
state. 

	Mr. Drennan has been twice married, his first union being with 
Miss Anna E. Carnigia, a native of Georgia. Their wedding was 
solemnized at Ballinger, Texas, and they became the parents of three 
children: Roy A., born September 7, 1891, who has recently returned 
from the Hawaiian Islands and is now engaged in farming near Ardmore; 
R. Elmore, who was born on the 3d of September, 1893, and died on the 
22d of October, 1894, at Dallas, Texas; and James B., whose birth 
occurred on the 27th of September, 1895, and died February 26, 1900. On 
the 5th of January, 1903, Mr. Drennan was married to Miss Anna C. Koch, 
who was born in La Salle county, Illinois, a daughter of William and 
Bertha (Lobetz) Koch. The father is residing in Bureau county, 
Illinois, where he is engaged in the saddlery business, which he 
learned in Germany. The mother died in the year 1898. Three children 
have been born to Mr. Drennan,s second marriage: Floy, whose birth 
occurred on the 13th of August, 1904, at Spring Valley, Illinois, and 
who is attending school; Fay A., whose birth occurred at White Lake, 
South Dakota, on the 25th of April, 1909; and Leo, whose birth occurred 
on the 21st of March, 1911. 

	Mr. Drennan is a democrat and has always been stanch in his 
allegiance to that party. For one term he served as deputy sheriff of 
Tom Green county, Texas, and while living at Ballinger, was deputy city 
marshal. At one time he was appointed deputy United States marshal and 
detailed to run down a number of criminals, whom he captured in Kansas 
City and returned to Texas. Fraternally he is well known in the Knights 
of Pythias order and on the 19th of January, 1915, he received 
appointment as deputy grand chancellor for the state of Nebraska. He 
holds membership in the lodge of that order at Crawford, Nebraska, of 
which he is past chancellor. He also belongs to the Modern Woodmen of 
America and to the Elks lodge at Rapid City. Since his arrival in 
Ardmore he has been an important factor in the development of that town 
and its locality and is well known in that part of the state. His 
personality is one that commands respect, fearlessness, and integrity, 
the power of initiative being among his dominant characteristics.