James A. Rickert Biography


	This biography appears on pages 720-721 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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				JAMES A. RICKERT.  

	James A. Rickert has many important business connections in 
Sisseton and Roberts county and is generally recognized as one of the 
most successful men in that locality. He is president of the First 
National Bank of Sisseton, owns a great deal of land, is engaged in the 
real-estate business and also deals in farm implements. He possesses 
more than ordinary business acumen and insight and has the 
determination and force of character to carry through to successful 
completion all that he undertakes.  

	A native of Ohio, he was born in Trumbull county, September 21, 
1852, a son of Felix and Eliza (Duffin) Rickert, natives respectively 
of Pennsylvania and Ireland. The father removed to Ohio in young 
manhood and there he worked in coal mines until 1856, when he went to 
Minnesota and homesteaded land. Subsequently he sold that farm but 
purchased another tract and continued to reside in that state until his 
death.  

	James A. Rickert was educated in the common schools and in St. 
Vincent's College of Wheeling, West Virginia, On beginning his 
independent business career he found employment in a wholesale grocery 
at Wheeling but later removed to Minnesota and for a year clerked in a 
general store. Coming to Grant county, South Dakota, he took up a 
homestead and proved up on the place by paying for it in cash In 1882 
he sold it for nine hundred and fifty dollars and then entered the 
employ of the Bank of Milbank, where he remained for a year and a half. 
Subsequently he established a small general store in Corona and was 
very successful in that undertaking.  

	At length, however, Mr. Rickert turned his attention to politics 
and was elected county treasurer, serving in that capacity for four 
years. On the expiration of his term he erected an elevator in Sisseton 
and in 1900 aided in organizing the First National Bank of Sisseton, of 
which he has since served as president and which he has made one of the 
leading financial institutions of Roberts county. He also organized the 
Okanogan Valley Bank of Okanogan, Washington, now the First National 
Bank of Okanogan. He owns stock in a number of other banks, including 
the State Bank of Summit, of which he is a director. In addition to 
serving as president of the First National Bank and president of the 
First Savings & Trust Company of Sisseton, Mr. Rickert is now dealing 
in real estate and is also engaged in the farm implement business. He, 
moreover, owns a large amount of land in Roberts county and supervises 
his agricultural interests.  

	Mr. Rickert was married in 1882 to Miss Frances M. Thomson, a 
native of the state of New York. They have one son, Paul, who was born 
in 1886 and, after graduating from the Pillsbury Academy at Owatonna, 
Minnesota, attended the State University of Minnesota for three years. 
He is a member of the Theta :Delta Chi. He is associated with his 
father in business and is treasurer of the Rickert Opheim Company.  

	Mr. Rickert is a republican in politics and has served on the 
city council, while for one year he held the office of mayor of 
Sisseton. Fraternally he belongs to the Masonic blue lodge, of which he 
has served as secretary for a number of years; the Royal Arch chapter; 
the Knights Templar commandery; and El Riad Temple of the Mystic Shrine 
at Sioux Falls. He is not only one of the most able and successful 
business men of Sisseton but is one of its most public-spirited 
citizens and is willing to do all in his power to further the 
advancement of his community. He is progressive and enterprising and 
would sacrifice personal gain to the general good. He is justly held in 
high esteem and has gained the warm friendship of many.