William S. Elder Biography


	This biography appears on pages 277-278 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 S. ELDER. 

	William S. Elder has claimed Deadwood as his residence since 
1887, and he has been closely associated with all the different 
movements for the development of the rich resources of that locality 
and for the upbuilding of his adopted city. He was born near the 
village of Warsaw, in Coshocton county, Ohio, on the 15th day of 
October, 1858, a son of John G. and Jane (Moffatt) Elder. 

	Mr. Elder comes of Scotch-Irish ancestry, his paternal 
grandfather, John Elder, having migrated from Ireland to Virginia in 
the early part of the eighteenth century and thence into Ohio where he 
was one of the earliest settlers of Coshocton county. The Moffatts came 
from Scotland settling first in Massachusetts and later migrating to 
Orange county, New York, where Alexander Moffatt, the grandfather of 
Jane Moffatt, enlisted under Anthony Wayne in the Revolutionary war and 
with several brothers served until its close. 

	William S. Elder attended a country school of Coshocton county, 
Ohio, in his boyhood and afterward the village high school of Warsaw. 
Later he was prepared for college at the Jefferson Academy, 
Cannonsburg, Pennsylvania, and entered Princeton College in 1882, 
graduating with the class of 1886. After leaving college he spent one 
year as a newspaper reporter on the New York Commercial Advertiser, 
(now the New York Globe) and came to the Black Hills (then Dakota 
territory), in 1887. During his first few months residence in the Black 
Hills, Mr. Elder acted as a correspondent for the New York Herald and 
was connected with the local newspapers, but entering the law office of 
Gideon C. Moody in the spring of 1888, he was admitted to the bar of 
Lawrence county in 1889 and began at once the practice of the law. 

	Mr. Elder has given much time to business enterprises outside of 
his profession and has been instrumental in bringing a great deal of 
capital into the Black Hills. The romance of gold mining has had a 
fascination for him, and to the development of the rich mineral 
resources of the district he has given greatly of his time and energy. 

	In politics William S. Elder is emphatically a progressive and 
independent citizen, going where his judgment and conscience lead him 
and affiliating with whatever party organization represents for the 
time being his political convictions and promises best to carry them 
into effect. From 1902 to 1906 he served on the city council of 
Deadwood and was an active and efficient councilman. He was a candidate 
for mayor of Deadwood in 1906 on the independent ticket and lacked but 
a few votes of being elected after a most exciting contest. 

	Mr. Elder was married on the 25th of September, 1893, to Miss 
Maud Eccles, of Tecumsch, Michigan, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. James C. 
Eccles. They have one son, Duncan Eccles, horn September 6, 1898. 

	Mr. Elder is a member of the order of Elks and is a Mason, and is 
much interested in sociological and educational work.