Percy H. Helm Biography This biography appears on pages 778-779 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 PERCY H. HELM. Percy H. Helm, a prominent attorney of Custer, devoting his time entirely to his practice, is well versed in various departments of the law and is now acting as counsel for a number of corporations. He was born at Prairie Farm, Barron county, Wisconsin, October 11, 1880, a son of John Quincy and Jennie (Schultz) Helm, the former a native of Ohio and the latter of Wisconsin. Early in life the father entered the ministry of the Methodist Episcopal church as a member of the Wisconsin conference, having,, become a resident of that state in early life. About 1883 he removed to Nebraska, settling near Lexington, and in that state continued the work of the ministry. He now resides at University Place, Lincoln, and has retired from active pastoral work, although his interest in the cause of the church will never waver nor abate. Percy H. Helm is the second in a family of seven children. He accompanied the fame fly on their various removals caused by the itinerant methods of the Methodist ministry and thus attended school in various places in Nebraska. At the age of fourteen he became a pupil in the Methodist Episcopal College at Orleans, Nebraska, where he remained for two years. When sixteen years of age he came to the Hills, going to Whitewood, where he worked for an uncle and attended school. On attaining his majority he took up the study of law at Sturgis in connection with H. P. Atwater and after thus reading for two years became a student in the Creighton law school. A year later he successfully passed the required examination and was admitted to the bar. There was much arduous labor, however, before he entered upon his professional career. At fifteen years of age he was working on ranches in Nebraska and Kansas and also had charge of a mail route until he came to the Hills. After attending school at Whitewood, South Dakota, he worked on the Evening Independent at Deadwood for about six months as city collector and afterward spent a fall term in teaching school, at which time he was but seventeen years of age. The following spring and summer he worked on the Independent and taught school the following winter. He afterward worked on the range as a cowboy for three seasons and taught in the winter months. It was subsequent to this time that he entered the law office at Sturgis and after attending law school for a year he returned to the law office in Sturgis, in which he continued for eight months, taking his examination in the fall of 1906. The following spring he arrived in Custer, where he practiced for eighteen months. For about four or five months he was in partnership with Judge Polly of Deadwood and then went to Bison, Perkins county, where he followed his profession for four years. In the fall of 1912 he returned to Custer, where he has practiced continuously since. While he devotes his life to general practice, he is also attorney for the Custer County Bank, the Hill City State Bank, the Hermosa State Bank and the First National Bank of Custer. He likewise has other business interests as manager of the Custer Mutual Telephone Company and is interested in some mining companies. On the 29th of September, 1909. was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Helm and Miss Anna Wilson, who was born in New Jersey, a daughter of James P. Wilson, also a native of that state. The mother died during the infancy of Mrs. Helm and the father never came to the west. Mr. and Mrs. Helm have one child, Herbert James, born January 22, 1911. In his fraternal relations Mr. Helm is an Eagle and a Knight of Pythias. His political allegiance has always been given to the republican party since age conferred upon him the right of franchise and he is the present prosecuting attorney of Custer county, taking the office on the 1st of January, 1915.