Adelbert A. Ricks Biography


	This biography appears on pages 1150-1151 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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				ADELBERT A. RICKS. 

	Adelbert A. Ricks, who since 1906 has had charge of the Murdo 
shops of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway, is one of the 
veteran and trusted employee of that corporation and one of the 
substantial and highly respected citizens of Murdo. His birth occurred 
in Boscobel, Wisconsin, on the 25th of March, 1863, his parents being 
Charles W. and Sarah (Barnhart) Ricks. The father, a mason contractor, 
was a native of New York state who removed to Wisconsin in 1856 and 
died at Boscobel in 1881, at the age of forty-six years. He was the son 
of Joseph Ricks, an Englishman by birth, who resided for some years in 
New York following his emigration to the United States, subsequently 
removing with his family to Wisconsin. The mother of our subject was a 
native of Pennsylvania and came of old Holland Dutch ancestors who were 
among the early settlers of the Keystone state. 

	Adelbert A. Ricks, the third in order of birth in a family of 
five children, acquired his education in the public schools of his 
native town. In 1882, when a young man of nineteen years, he secured 
employment in the shops of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway at 
Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, as a blacksmith's helper. A few months 
later he went to North McGregor, Iowa, in the same capacity, and the 
following ten years were devoted to nearly every kind of railway 
roundhouse work. In 1893 he was sent to Calmar, Iowa, as head 
blacksmith and in 1902 was made roundhouse foreman, so continuing until 
1906, when he removed to Murdo, South Dakota, to take charge of the 
shops on the completion of the Milwaukee line to that place. In this 
capacity he has ably served the corporation to the present time. He is 
the owner of valuable farm lands in Lyman and Mellette counties and is 
numbered among the prosperous and esteemed citizens of his community. 

	On the 27th of March, 1885, Mr. Ricks was united in marriage to 
Miss Hannah C. Carlson, a daughter of John Carlson, of Monona, Iowa. 
They have one daughter, Carola Florence, who is a graduate of the State 
Normal School at Spearfish. Mr. and Mrs. Ricks are Congregationalists 
in religious faith and the latter takes an active part in church work, 
is a helpful member of the Ladies Aid Society and also belongs to the 
Eastern Star. In his political views Mr. Ricks is a republican, while 
fraternally he is identified with the Masons, belonging to the blue 
lodge, chapter and commandery, to El Riad Temple of the Mystic Shrine 
at Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and to the Eastern Star. He is also 
connected with the Modern Woodmen of America. In hunting and fishing he 
finds rest and recreation and is fond of outdoor sports. Progressive 
and public-spirited, he is an enthusiastic advocate and champion of 
good roads and good schools, giving his support to every measure 
instituted to promote the interests of his county and commonwealth. The 
solid character of Mr. Ricks' citizenship is indicated by the high 
esteem in which he is held by his fellow townsmen and by his long 
retention and numerous promotions in the service of the Milwaukee 
railway system.