James S. Saults Biography


	This biography appears on pages 383-384 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 S. SAULTS. 

	As mayor of Belle Fourche, James S. Saults gives his best thought 
and much energy to the affairs of the municipality, believing that 
efficiency is just as necessary in the conduct of public interests as 
in the management of private enterprises. He was born in Oskaloosa, 
Iowa, June 8, 1876, his parents being Joseph A. and Margaret (Mitchell) 
Saults. The father was born in Michigan on the 1st of September, 1850, 
and the mother's birth occurred in Ohio, on the 13th of January, 1846. 
Joseph A. Saults accompanied his parents to Iowa when a boy of nine or 
ten years and after reaching maturity he engaged in farming in the 
Hawkeye state. In 1888 he emigrated to western Nebraska and located in 
Cherry county, near Gordon, where he engaged in the stock business, 
raising cattle principally. He is still following that occupation, 
which has proved very profitable. 

	James S. Saults is the eldest in a family of five children and 
was given good educational opportunities, graduating from the high 
school at Gordon, Nebraska, after which he pursued his study in other 
schools. He attended business college in Lincoln, Nebraska; was for two 
years a student in the University of Nebraska; and in 1901 was 
graduated from the College of Pharmacy at Des Moines, Iowa. He assisted 
his father upon the ranch until he was twenty-five years of age and 
then became connected with the drug business in Gordon, Nebraska. After 
two years, or in the fall of 1904, he removed to Belle Fourche, South 
Dakota, and opened a drug store there, which was immediately recognized 
as a valuable addition to the mercantile interests of the city. In 1908 
he sold the business and for two years represented the Paxton Eckman 
Chemical Company of South Omaha on the road. At the expiration of that 
time he purchased his old store and again became a factor in the 
business life of Belle Fourche. On the 14th of September, 1910, he sold 
his drug business for the second time. In 1912 he was elected mayor of 
Belle Fourche under the commission plan of government for a term of 
five years and finds that his official duties demand the greater part 
of his time and energy. He is making an excellent record as chief 
executive of his city and has already instituted a number of needed 
improvements. 

	Mr. Saults was married on the 7th of June, 1904, to Miss Myrtle 
Hickerson, who was born in Milford, Nebraska, and is a daughter of 
William E. and Louise (Lovett) Hickerson, the former born in Illinois 
in 1852 and the latter in Pittsfield, that state, in -1856. Mr. 
Hickerson, who farmed during his active life, went to Nebraska about 
1885 and located near Milford, later removing to Seward, that state. He 
is now living retired. Mr. and Mrs. Saults have three children: Claud, 
born December 9, 1906; Margaret, whose birth occurred on the 13th of 
March, 1912; and Joseph, whose natal day was the 29th of May, 1913. 

	Mr. Saults has supported the republican party since age conferred 
upon him the suffrage and is active in local politics. His fraternal 
connections are with the Masonic order and the Knights of Pythias, and 
he is past chancellor in the latter organization. He is recognized as a 
successful business man, a capable official and one who at all times 
strives to deal justly and honestly with his fellows.