William E. Ege Biography


	This biography appears on pages 437-438 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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				WILLIAM E. EGE. 

	The growth and rapid development of western cities has been one 
of the wonders of the age. They have been established and promoted by 
men who have brought with them a knowledge of all the conditions which 
have wrought for progress in the east and this knowledge has been 
applied in the upbuilding of cities which rival, if they do not 
outstrip, their older neighbors. The progressive town of Centerville, 
in Turner county, has as one of its wide-awake and energetic citizens 
William E. Ege, who is the owner and manager of the opera house. 

	He was born in Columbia county, Wisconsin, February 23, 1862, and 
is a descendant of Bernhard Ege, who with his four sons arrived in 
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from Wurtemburg, Germany, September 20, 
1738. The sons established their families in Virginia, Pennsylvania, 
and :New Jersey. Our subject is descended from the Pennsylvania branch. 
He is a son of William S. and Eliza J. Ege, who is the year 1872 
arrived with their family in South Dakota, settling three miles east of 
Centerville on a homestead claim which the father secured from the 
government and on which not a furrow had been turned or an improvement 
made when it came into his possession. He farmed. this until 1877, when 
he opened a general store at the old town of Centerville. When the 
railroad was built through in 1883, necessitating the removal of the 
town to a point upon the line, he took up his abode in the present town 
and was actively and prominently identified with the promotion of its 
interests from that period until his death. He was the first postmaster 
and the first president of the village board and in his death, which 
occurred in May, 1913, the community lost one of its valued citizens. 
He passed away in Los Angeles, California, as did his wife, who died on 
the 23d of December, 1908. 

	William E. Ege attended the public schools of Wisconsin but his 
educational privileges were somewhat limited and most of his life's 
lessons have been learned in the hard school of experience. He came 
with his parents to South Dakota and shared with the family in the 
trials and privations of life on the frontier. He remained with his 
father in the old town and afterward became his partner in business in 
Centerville. Eventually he sold the store and embarked in general 
merchandising, in which he continued for two years, when he disposed of 
his stock. Since that time he has dealt in real estate, handling city 
property, and he is thoroughly conversant with values in this part of 
South Dakota and knows what property is upon the market. He is also the 
owner and manager of the opera house of Centerville and in this 
connection has provided for the city many first-class entertainments, 
He built the first telephone exchange in Centerville in 1900 and 
conducted the same for eight years, when it was sold to a stock 
company. 

	On the 7th of November, 1880, Mr. Ege was united in marriage to 
Miss Catherine Stoner, a daughter of Saul and Anna (Milliken) Stoner, 
natives of Pennsylvania. The children born of this union are as 
follows: Ernest; William; Emma; and Robert, who passed away at the age 
of eighteen years. 

	Mr. Ege casts an independent ballot, voting for men and measures 
rather than party. He has been called to a number of local offices, the 
duties of which he has promptly and conscientiously discharged. In 1895 
he was elected to represent his district in the state legislature. For 
four years he was mayor of Centerville. He was appointed by Governor 
Crawford as telephone commissioner and served for four years and he was 
also county commissioner. He is much interested in South Dakota's 
development. In the early days he did the freighting between the old 
town of Centerville and Vermillion and he has lived to witness many 
changes and improvements as the years have gone by, at all times 
bearing his part in the work of general improvement.