Vincent Koftan Biography


	This biography appears on pages 311-312 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


				VINCENT KOFTAN. 

	The Koftan family are numbered among those sturdy citizens of 
South Dakota who claim Bohemia as their native land and Vincent Koftan 
is one of the best known and most highly esteemed agriculturists of Bon 
Homme county. He was born is the village of Pustovyette, Bohemia, 
October 27, 1859. He was in his eighth year when he accompanied the 
other members of the family to America in the spring of 1867. His 
parents were Frank and Josephine (Schwartz) Koftan who, thinking to 
better their lot in the new world, sailed from Bremen for Quebec with 
their family, and after a voyage of more than two months reached their 
destination. They were held in quarantine on the island for three weeks 
because of a rash from which one of the children was suffering, and 
which no doubt was brought about by the poor ship's fare. From Quebec 
the family went by way of Chicago to Aspinwall. Nebraska, and there the 
father purchased two teams and filed on land eight miles north of 
Pawnee City. That farm remained the family home for many years, but 
after his sees, Vincent and Joseph were established in South Dakota 
Frank Koftan sold his farm in Nebraska and removed with the rest of his 
family to this state, securing a fine farm southeast of Tyndall, which 
now. belongs to his son Charles. The father's death occurred on the 
25th of April, 1901, in Tyndall, to place; place he had retired a few 
years previously. His widow survives anti lives in Tyndall. All of 
their eight children are living, namely: Vincent; Joseph, residing in 
Rock county, Nebraska; Barbara, the wife of James Benesh, of Bon Homme 
county; Frank and John. who are both farming in Cleveland township, 
that county; Charles, who is residing on the old home place; Josephine, 
the wife of Anthony Fajfar; and Robert, a prominent attorney of Green 
Bay, Wisconsin. 

	Vincent Koftan well remembers the long voyage to Quebec and the 
journey across the country to Nebraska. He had attended school but a 
short time in Bohemia as he was but seven years of age when the family 
emigrated to the new world and at the time that they settled in Pawnee 
county, Nebraska, the schools were somewhat primitive there and his 
education was therefore limited. In the fall of 1882, in company with 
his brother Joseph, he purchased a quarter section of land in Bon Homme 
county, this state, as they believed that this then new country was 
destined to become a prosperous and populous region. The brothers 
divided their quarter section, Vincent taking the west half. Soon 
afterward they built a small farmhouse on Joseph's tract and there kept 
bachelors' hall until Joseph married, after which our subject continued 
to live with his brother for two or three years. He then built a 
comfortable dwelling for himself of the chalk rock abounding in that 
section and for seven years not only developed his farm, but also did 
the necessary housework He still lives upon that place and its splendid 
condition testifies to his energy and good judgment. When Mr. Koftan 
first began cultivating his farm it was prairie ground upon which only 
grass grew, but one of the first things that he did was to plant a fine 
grove of deciduous trees and many pines and cedars. He has six acres of 
fine orchard, all of which is protected by a heavy windbreak of 
evergreens and other trees. He has made extensive additions to the 
house, erected a number of farm buildings and otherwise added to the 
value of his property. He owns two hundred acres in the home place and 
one hundred and sixty acres north of Tyndall and is one of the well-to-
do agriculturists of his county. 

	Mr. Koftan has considerable inventive genius and has recently 
patented in the United States and some foreign countries, a truck for 
raising automobiles off their tires. Simplicity, ease of operation and 
cheapness of manufacture are some of the good points of the device, 
which is also so made as to lessen the liability of breakage. 

	Mr. Koftan was married three miles west of Tyndall to Miss Elnora 
Abbott, a daughter of William and Sarah A. (Wilman) Abbott, and a 
native of Dane county, Wisconsin, born February 13, 1871. Her father 
was born in England, and in 1868 emigrated to Wisconsin, coming thence 
to South Dakota in 1875. Mrs. Koftan was in school the day of the great 
blizzard and with the rest of the children remained at the schoolhouse 
over night. Mr. and Mrs. Koftan have two daughters, Belle Violet and 
Mattie Louise. They and their mother are members of the Christian 
church and Mr. Koftan is a republican in his political belief. He has 
become thoroughly American and is one of the most esteemed residents of 
his section of the state, where those who know him are his friends.