George H. Hoffman Biography


	This biography appears on pages 1007-1008 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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				HON. GEORGE H. HOFFMAN. 

	Hon. George H. Hoffman, a leading and influential citizen of 
Selby, has been a resident of Walworth county for more than three 
decades and has been long and prominently identified with ranching and 
farming interests there, as well as taking an active part in public 
affairs. His birth occurred in Adams county, Pennsylvania, near the 
Gettysburg battlefield near the village of Mummasburg, where his father 
was engaged as a teacher in the public schools. He was a son of George 
R. and Sarah J. (Cramer) Hoffman, both of German parentage and natives 
of Pennsylvania, the latter being born in Little York. that state. John 
Henry Hoffman, the paternal grandfather of our subject, served as a 
soldier of the Revolutionary war. In 1844 George R. Hoffman removed 
with his family to De Kalb county, Indiana, where he bought a farm and 
continued teaching school and also conducted singing classes. 
Subsequently he became county recorder and in that capacity served most 
creditably and acceptably. He passed away in 1871, having long survived 
his wife, who was called to her final rest in the year 1848. They 
became the parents of six children, three sons and three daughters, of 
whom two sons survive. 

	George H. Hoffman, the fourth in order of birth, acquired his 
education in the public schools of Pennsylvania and De Kalb county, 
Indiana, and a seminary near Fort Wayne, Indiana. After putting aside 
his textbooks he began work at the carpenter's trade and subsequently 
devoted his attention to agricultural pursuits until 1863, when he 
enlisted in the Union army as a member of the Thirteenth Indiana 
Volunteer Infantry. Under Generals Butler and Terry he took part in the 
engagements at Deep Bottom, Bermuda Hundreds, Fort Fisher, Fort 
Anderson, Wilmington, Bentonville, Kingston and Mount Olive. When 
hostilities ceased he was mustered out of the service vie at Goldsboro, 
North Carolina, and returned to Indiana, in which state he carried on 
farming until 1884, when he came to Dakota territory with his sons. All 
took up lands in Walworth county and have since been prominently 
identified with the interests of that section of the state. George H. 
Hoffman left the farm in 1909 but with two of his sons still retains 
the ownership and control of a ranch of one thousand acres and also 
four hundred and eighty acres, in his old home in Walworth county. For 
many years he was a breeder of Hereford cattle and his well directed 
activities resulted in the attainment of a gratifying and richly 
merited measure of prosperity. 

	On the 27th of September, 1860, Mr. Hoffman was united in 
marriage to Miss Sarah J. Crouse, a native of Dayton, Ohio, and a 
daughter of Charles F. and Barbara Crouse. In early life she removed 
with her parents from the Buckeye state to Indiana, settling at Fort 
Wayne. By her marriage she became the mother of eleven children, as 
follows: William Elmer, auditor of Selby, Walworth county, South 
Dakota; Franz Sigel, who is a resident of Minneapolis, Minnesota; 
Laura, the wife of C. T. Smithers, now of Minneapolis; George, who is 
deceased; Charles Franklin, of Selby, South Dakota, who is a rural mail 
carrier; Edward C., a resident agriculturist of Walworth county; John 
J., who has passed away; Clara Elizabeth, who gave her hand in marriage 
to Clarence Clark, of Selby; Benjamin H., who lives on the ranch 
property near Lowry; Jessie, the wife of Denslay Carman, of Walworth 
county; and Mabel, who is the wife of Henry Moos, of Walworth county. 
Mr. Hoffman also has eight grandchildren and teas every reason to be 
proud of his splendid family. In November, 1911, he was called upon to 
mourn the loss of his wife and her death was deeply deplored by the 
many who knew and loved her. 

	In politics Mr. Hoffman is a stanch republican who has been 
signally honored in official preferment. He served as state senator for 
Walworth and Campbell counties in the first session of the senate in 
1889, while during the years 1891 and 1892 he held the office of 
lieutenant governor and was acting governor for a time in Governor 
Mellette's administration. Governor Vessey appointed him one of the 
trustees of the State Soldiers, Home and he won reappointment from 
Governor Byrne. Mr. Hoffman has always been a stanch friend and 
champion of the cause of education, served on school boards for many 
years and was instrumental in establishing the first Central school in 
Walworth county. In Grand Army circles he is likewise prominent, 
serving as the first commander of John Managan Post, No. 150, G. A. R., 
of Selby, South Dakota, while for many years he has been post 
quartermaster. Coming to this state thirty-one years ago in limited 
financial circumstances, he has since accumulate a comfortable 
competence and has long been numbered among its most valued. esteemed 
and leading citizens.