Denzel P. Fargo Biography


	This biography appears on pages 396-397 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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				DENZEL P. FARGO. 

	Denzel P. Fargo is living retired in Doland, where he has made 
his home since 1883. Thirty-two years have come and gone since he 
arrived in Dakota territory in the spring of that year, removing from 
gelding, Michigan. He was born in Ionia county, that state, February 
26, 1844, and is a son of John D. and Lucy C. (Borden) Fargo. The 
father was a farmer and cleared a tract of timber land in Michigan, 
converting the place into productive fields. Thinking to enjoy the 
opportunities of the growing west, he came to South Dakota in 1883, 
filing on land near Groton, Brown county. This he also improved and 
made his home thereon for almost twenty years, passing away on that 
farm in 1902 at the ripe old age of eighty three years. His wife died 
in 1889, at the age of sixty-eight years, and they rest side by side in 
the Groton cemetery. The family comes of English ancestry and was 
founded in America prior to the Revolutionary war. 

	Reared upon the home farm, Denzel P. Fargo obtained his education 
by walking two and a half miles to school through the winter months. In 
the summer seasons he worked in the fields until he attained his 
majority and when eighteen years of age became a student in a 
commercial college, whereby he was equipped for the practical duties of 
the business world combined with the training which he had received 
upon the home farm. He then purchased some land from his father and 
cultivated it until he came to South Dakota in the spring of 1883. He 
built the Fargo House in Doland and also filed upon a homestead, which 
he improved by the erection of buildings and by the development of the 
fields. He conducted the hotel for nine years and in the meantime 
increased his holdings until his landed possessions aggregated about 
one thousand acres. He is a man of excellent business ability, of sound 
judgment and keen discrimination and has contributed in large measure 
to the material upbuilding and improvement of Spink county. He assisted 
in organizing the Electric Light Company, of which he is a director. He 
erected the first hotel in Doland, also built the Fargo office and 
store building and has greatly improved his farm properties, thus 
adding materially to their value and the development of the locality. 

	On the 27th of December, 1865, near Belding, Michigan, Mr. Fargo 
was united in marriage to Miss Sarah C. Divine, her parents being 
Westbrook and Elizabeth Divine, both of whom are deceased and lie 
buried at Belding, Michigan. To our subject and his wife have been born 
four children, as follows: John D., who is an agriculturist by 
occupation and holds the office of postmaster at Redfield, South 
Dakota; Ella B., who gave her hand in marriage to Charles Q. Hartshorn, 
of Longmont, Colorado; Charles M., a resident of Sioux Falls, South 
Dakota; and Ralph, who died on the 12th of December, 1913, when thirty-
seven years of age, and lies buried in the Doland cemetery. 

	Politically Mr. Fargo is a republican and filled the office of 
register of deeds for four years but has never been a politician in the 
sense of office seeking, preferring to concentrate his energies upon 
his business affairs. He is a blue lodge Mason and exemplifies in his 
life the spirit of that organization, which is based upon the 
principles of mutual helpfulness and brotherly kindness. He is a 
resourceful man, ready to meet any emergency, and the wise use which he 
has made of his time and talents has brought him to a position among 
the prosperous citizens of Spink county. Moreover, he has an extensive 
acquaintance and the great majority of his acquaintances are his 
friends.