Louis S. Hetland Biography


	This biography appears on pages 1096-1097 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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				LOUIS S. HETLAND. 

	The banking interests of South Dakota find a worthy and 
substantial representative in Louis S. Hetland, the president of the 
Minnehaha County Bank of Valley Springs. The city owes much to her 
Norwegian citizenship, for from the land of the Midnight Sun have come 
many who have taken active and helpful part in establishing her 
material prosperity and in promoting her intellectual and moral 
development. Among the sons of Norway now living in Minnehaha county is 
Mr. Hetland of this review. He was born April 21, 1858, and is a son of 
Steen S. and Margaret (Larson) Hetland, both of whom were natives of 
Norway and came to the United States in 1873. They settled at Morris, 
Grundy county, Illinois, where the father engaged in farming, residing 
there for ten years. On the expiration of that decade they came to what 
was then Dakota territory, in 1883, establishing their home upon a farm 
north of Garretson, in Minnehaha county, where the father remained to 
the time of his death, which occurred in 1911, when he was eighty years 
of age. The previous year his wife had passed away at the age of 
eighty-three years. 

	Louis S. Hetland was a youth of fifteen years at the time of the 
emigration to the new world. The greater part of his education was 
acquired in the schools of his native land, but he also attended the 
public schools of Grundy county, Illinois, for a brief period, there 
learning the English language. After his text-books were put aside he 
continued to live at home with his parents, but was employed as a farm 
hand through the summer months until 1880. He then came to South Dakota 
and with a sister settled upon a farm near Garretson, where he remained 
for a year cultivating the land. In 1881 he took up his abode at Valley 
Springs and secured a clerkship in the general store of Larson & 
Zimmerman, continuing with that firm for two years, during a part of 
which time he conducted a branch store for them at Larchwood, Iowa. 
Subsequently he engaged in clerking for A. L. Whaley, a general 
merchant at Valley Springs, in whose employ he continued for two years. 
He was ambitious, however, to engage in business on his own account and 
in 1885 he found it possible to do this, owing to his previous industry 
anal economy. He formed a partnership with John A. Bowman and organized 
the firm of Bowman & Hetland. This partnership was continued for seven 
years, when Mr. Hetland became sole proprietor of the business, 
carrying it on independently until 1908, when he disposed of his stock 
of merchandise in order to concentrate his entire attention upon his 
banking business. In the meantime he had established the Minnehaha 
County Bank, opening its doors for business in 1898. This was a private 
bank, owned entirely by Mr. Hetland, but in the spring 1915 it was 
incorporated as a state bank under the same name, and it does an 
extensive business, drawing its patrons from Valley Springs and the 
surrounding country. The institution is of marked worth to the 
community, giving the citizens of the district a medium of exchange Mr. 
Hetland also owned and operated the Valley Springs Roller Mills for a 
number of years and in connection conducted a grain elevator and coal 
business. In fact, he has been very actively and prominently identified 
with the commercial and industrial development and activity of the 
village for the past thirty-five years and his labors have been a 
substantial element in promoting its progress. 

	Mr. Hetland sustains many other important relations to the public 
and at all times is actuated by a spirit of devotion to the best 
interests of the community. For several years he has been a director of 
the Children's Home of Sioux Falls and has contributed generously to 
its support. He is also a member of the board of trustees of the Sioux 
Falls College and the cause of education finds in him a stalwart 
champion. In fraternal circles, too, Mr. Hetland is well known, being a 
thirty-second degree Mason, with membership in Unity Lodge, A. F. & A. 
M., and the consistory at Sioux Falls. He is also a member of Crystal 
Lodge, go. 29, K. T., and Valley Springs Lodge, No. 143, I. O. O. F;, 
in which he has taken a most active interest. 

	On the 13th of September, 1883, occurred the marriage of Mr. 
Hetland and Miss Neva E. Bunn, of Cooksville, McLean county, Illinois. 
They have become the parents of three children: Lawrence Clark, who was 
formerly cashier of the Sherman State Bank of Sherman, South Dakota, 
but is now assistant cashier in his father's bank; Elmer J., who is 
cashier in the same bank; and Hazel Fern, at home. The family is 
prominent socially and the hospitality of many of the best homes of the 
county is cordially extended to them. 

	Mr. Hetland is a republican in his political views, but has never 
been an aspirant for office. He came to South Dakota in 1880, when a 
young man without capital but possessing determination and energy. 
Though obstacles and difficulties have arisen in his path, he has 
overcome these by persistent, earnest effort and through his own 
exertions has reached a place among the substantial and influential men 
of Minnehaha county. In his vocabulary there is no such word as fail 
and when one avenue of opportunity seems closed he seeks out other 
paths whereby he may reach the desired goal.