Biography of Elon Galusha Pettigrew

	This file contains a biography from  "History of Dakota Territory; 
	South Dakota Its History and Its People", Volume V, p. 458 - 461

	Transcribed by Judy Huber, <huberj@btigate.com>.


               ELON GALUSHA PETTIGREW

	Elon Galusha Pettigrew, of Flandreau, one of the venerable pioneer 
citizens of south Dakota, was born in Ludlow, Vermont, December 8, 1831, 
and is therefore in the eighty-fourth year of his age. His parents were 
Parker and Mary Rebecca (Dickinson) Pettigrew. The former died at the age 
of eighty-three. He was the son of Andrew Pettigrew, who died in 1851 at 
the age of eighty-five years, so that it will be seen that the family is 
noted for longevity. Andrew Pettigrew was the son of a Scotchman who at 
an early day came to Massachusetts, whence the family afterward removed to 
Vermont, becoming early settlers of the Green Mountain state.

	Elon G. Pettigrew was reared to manhood in Vermont, spending his 
youthful days upon a farm, his time being divided between the work of 
the fields and the acquirement of an education in the public schools. 
When his textbooks were put aside he engaged in farming for three years 
and when a young man began doing business as a wholesale peddler, handling 
a general line of goods. In this connection he drove over several states 
and into Canada and later in partnership with his brother, J. W. Pettigrew, 
he established a general grocery, flour and grain business at Ludlow, where 
he continued until his removal to the middle west. He made his first trip to 
the west  in the '60s, with Wisconsin as his destination, but soon afterward 
he returned to Vermont. Later he went by rail to Minnesota and on to Marshall, 
taking this journey on the second trip the train made over that route. There 
were only two white families in a distance of eighty miles, between Marshall 
and Watertown. There was no town upon the present site of Sleepy Eye, Minnesota, 
en route to Marshall, but it was made possible for him and others to go to a 
farm house and have a dinner cooked while the train waited. At length he 
proceeded to Marshall and thence by stage to Lake Benton, where there was 
only one log house. From that point he continued on foot a distance of 
twenty-five miles to where the town of Flandreau now stands. In the journey 
he used the sun as a compass. There was no settlement there, but his brother, 
M.D.L. Pettigrew, had preceded him and was living in a sod house. To that 
typical western habitation of the pioneer times. E. G. Pettigrew made his way 
and thus cast in his lot with the early settlers of the country. The Indians 
were on all the hills about and one of them took Mr. Pettigrew on his horse 
and thus crossed the river. In 1878 he filed on a quarter section west of what 
is now the town of Flandreau, after having previously taken a tree claim, and 
thus he made preparations for becoming a permanent resident of that section of 
the country.

	On the 7th of March, 1879, Mr. Pettigrew brought his wife and daughter to 
South Dakota and has since remained in this state. Where his attractive home is 
now found was then a wild, wide prairie, but he broke the sod, planted the seed 
and in due time cultivated and harvested good corps. While in Vermont he married 
on the 7th of May, 1856, to Miss Salome C. Bixby and unto them was born a 
daughter, Jennie, now the widow of Fred Pettigrew. the mother passed away in 
1870 and in 1871, at Cambridge, New York, Mr. Pettigrew was again married, his 
second union being with Mrs. Mary Jane (Rice) Maynard, a widow. Mrs. Pettigrew 
has shared all the trails and hardships of pioneer life. She had never lived 
outside of the city until she came to South Dakota to take up her abode in a 
pioneer cabin, but she readily adapted herself to changed conditions and has 
made a happy home for herself and her husband. In 1879 Mr. Pettigrew erected 
the residence which he now occupies. It is one of the old-time homes, spacious 
and substantial, the blinds for which he purchased in Boston at eighty-five 
cents per pair. The heavy doors, three by seven feet, are molded on both sides 
and were purchased in Boston at a dollar and eighty-five cents each, while the 
interior finishing of black ash and butternut was brought from Vermont. The 
materials in the house is one of the best and the home provides every comfort 
and convenience. Mr. Pettigrew followed a custom unusual at that time by digging 
a cellar under the whole house. The grove of fine trees about his residence has 
been grown from seed which he planted in 1880 and in 1881. At one time he had 
over four hundred acres under the plow, using oxen in the operation of his farm 
and working as many as eight or ten yoke at one time.  An active, busy life has 
been that of Mr. Pettigrew and the wise use which he has made of his time and 
opportunities has gained for him a place among the substantial citizens of his 
county.

	While living in Vermont, Mr. Pettigrew served for two years as a member 
of the state legislature and was afterward chosen one of the directors of the 
state prison at Windsor and served for four years. In his home city, too, he 
filled various officers, the duties of which he discharged with promptness and 
fidelity. At Flandreau, South Dakota, he was alderman for several years, making 
a most creditable record by the prompt, faithful and progressive manner in which 
he discharged his duties. At length, however, he retired, but again in 1915 he 
was called to office by the voter of his fellow townsmen, who wished him once more 
to serve his city as alderman, although he is now past eighty-three years of age. 
This is certainly an unusual record. Most men are supposed to be long past their 
usefulness at that age, but in spirit and interest Mr. Pettigrew seems yet in his 
prime and is giving out the rich stores of his wisdom and experience for the benefit 
of others. In his fraternal relations Mr. Pettigrew is a Mason and he and his wife 
are members of the Eastern Star, while both also hold membership with the Methodist 
Episcopal church of Flandreau. Their many sterling traits of character and their 
kindly, helpful spirit and their fidelity to what they believe to be right have 
been the salient elements which have gained for them a place among the valued and 
prominent residents of the state in which they have lived since early pioneer times.

- George W. Kingsbury
History of Dakota Territory; South Dakota Its History and Its People, Volume 5,
 1915, Chicago:  S. J. Clarke Publishing Company.