Capt. A. W. Lavender Biography


	This biography appears on pages 707-709 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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				CAPTAIN A. W. LAVENDER. 

	One meeting Captain A. W. Lavender and knowing him as a most 
successful and enterprising salesman of Yankton would little dream of 
the eventful and oft times thrilling life that he has led, but it is a 
pleasure to all of his friends to find him in a reminiscent mood, when 
he will relate stories of his early life and many interesting seafaring 
experiences He comes of a seafaring family. He was born at Provincetown 
on the point of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, August 22, 1842. It was there 
that the Pilgrims first landed after crossing the Atlantic in the 
Mayflower, but, finding that the Indians in that locality were 
troublesome they made their way across the bay to land at Plymouth 
Rock. The father and seven of his brothers were captains of ocean going 
craft in the days when American clippers were known on every sea, while 
Captain Lavender and three of his brothers and many of his cousins have 
commanded vessels in saint water. The Lavender family is of English 
origin, but was established in South Carolina in colonial days and 
Allen Lavender, the father of Captain A. W. Lavender, was born at 
Charleston. At the time of the Revolutionary war representatives of the 
family remained supporters of the English cause and after the cessation 
of hostilities removed to Nova Scotia, but later a return was made to 
the United States with settlement on Cape Cod. Captain Allen Lavender 
followed the sea all of his life. He married Catherine Hoffman, who was 
of Holland descent and was born in the Mohawk valley of New York. 

	Captain Lavender of this review was actively connected with 
seafaring from the age of eight or nine years, and yet is frank enough 
to confess that he never left port without being seasick for a longer 
or shorter period. From early boyhood he went with fishing fleets to 
the banks of Newfoundland and, working his way upward, was for thirteen 
years in command of vessels. For ten years he represented the same 
firm, sailing out of New York, and he has visited every port of any 
importance on the five continents, in Australia and in the islands of 
the South sea. His many years of life at sea at length affected his 
throat and while at Buenos Aires, South America, his voice was lost 
completely as a result of bronchitis. A sea captain without a voice is 
like a ship without a rudder and so he decided to quit the sea for a 
time. An uncle at Yankton recommended that he try the western climate 
and the 11th of January, 1872, witnessed his arrival in Dakota. Today 
he is one of the most widely known citizens of Yankton. He has been 
identified with many lines of business in this state and has held 
various offices of trust in the service of the national government. 
After reaching Yankton he purchased a grocery business, in which he 
engaged from 1872 until 1879. He then opened a general store in 
connection with his grocery and at the same time established a branch 
store in Scotland. In 1882 he sold his Yankton store, but continued 
business in Scotland until 1890, when he sold out to accept an 
appointment as special agent of seal fisheries for the Federal 
government, serving throughout President Benjamin Harrison's 
administration with headquarters at St. George's island in the Behring 
sea. He kept guard over the seals in the Pribyloff islands, limited the 
killing of the animals and prevented illegal sealing, thus serving 
until June 15, 1893. He did not know until that date that Grover 
Cleveland was a candidate for the presidency and had been elected. He 
was ordered to report at Washington and in September of the same year 
arrived again in Yankton, though he was frequently called upon in 
Washington for information until the following December. 

	On his return to Yankton Captain Lavender purchased cattle. He 
had previously engaged in that business while conducting his store and 
he continued to deal in cattle until the Spanish-American war, when he 
was appointed paymaster in the navy, serving on the flagship 
Cincinnati, most of the time in Cuban waters. The Cincinnati was about 
thirty miles east of Santiago when they heard the guns of battle. At 
full speed she raced along the coast, hoping to get into the battle, 
but arrived only in time, after a chase of eighty or ninety miles, to 
see the last vessel, the Santa Maria, sinking. Captain Lavender was the 
only paymaster chosen from civil life and because he could speak 
Spanish he was sent aboard the Santa Maria to receive the surrender of 
the vessel. He remained in the naval service until January 1, 1899, 
when he resigned and returned to Yankton, since which time he has been 
upon the road for the Excelsior Mill Company, buying produce which he 
ships to larger markets. He is thoroughly familiar with all trade 
conditions in his territory and is one of the best salesmen on the 
road. 

	Captain Lavender was first married in Brooklyn, New York, to Miss 
Mary Edgar, who was born in that city and was of English descent. To 
them eight children were born, four of whom are living. Edgar N., the 
eldest, is interested in mining and ranching at Telluride, Colorado. 
Caroline is the wife of George William Freeman, president of the First 
National Bank at Elk Point, and is a graduate of the State University 
of Vermillion. Webster is with his brother at Telluride, having charge 
of a big ranch. Harry was a member of the class of 1915 in the State 
School of Mines at Golden, Colorado, pursuing courses in mining, civil, 
mechanical and electrical engineering. For his second wife Captain 
Lavender chose Mrs. Deborah Wynn, the widow of James Wynn and the 
mother of Frank Wynn, who is clerk of the court in Yankton county. 

	Captain Lavender has been familiar with the history of Dakota 
from the early territorial days when Indians were hostile and soldiers 
were continually passing to and fro between the forts and army posts. 
He was in Yankton when General Custer arrived there in the midst of a 
three days, snow storm, covering April 12, 13 and 14, 1873. He lived in 
the territory through the period of the grasshopper scourge and the 
hard times caused by drought. During the flood of the spring of 1881 he 
was one of the rescue party and with a launch of a steamer and a crew 
he spent two weeks in constant rescue work, returning to town only when 
assured that all settlers along the bottoms of the Missouri and James 
rivers were safe He rescued two hundred and fourteen at Gayville alone 
and more than that number from farm houses or on barns or hay stacks, 
where they had taken refuge throughout the flooded districts. Many 
there are who owe their lives to Captain Lavender's untiring efforts in 
their behalf and all but one from the flooded districts were brought 
out alive. He was in Chicago with a shipment of cattle on the 12th of 
January, 1888, and therefore missed the fearful blizzard of that date. 
Among his many souvenirs and trophies of the long years which he spent 
at sea is a mass of melted Spanish money from the Santa Maria, which is 
both curious and artistic, resembling antique Chinese carving of 
grotesque figures. He has one mass weighing eleven pounds in the First 
National Bank at Elk Point. His son in Colorado has another of the four 
given him on the Santa Maria and the fourth he presented to a friend in 
Washington. 

	In his political views Captain Lavender has always been a 
stalwart republican and he is well known as a prominent Mason, 
belonging to George Washington Lodge, F. & A. M., in New York city, the 
Royal Arch Chapter at Scotland, the Knight Templar Commandery at 
Yankton and the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic 
Shrine, at Sioux Falls. His ready adaptability to all conditions makes 
him a typical business man of the age, alert and enterprising, applying 
himself closely to business, and yet, in his life history are many 
thrilling experiences scarcely matched by the tales of fiction. He has 
indeed had various chances to learn life's lessons and has been an apt 
pupil.