Charles F. Sisson Biography This biography appears on pages 1182, 1185 in "History of Dakota Territory" by George W. Kingsbury, Vol. V (1915) and was scanned, OCRed and edited by Maurice Krueger, mkrueger@iw.net. This file may be freely copied by individuals and non-profit organizations for their private use. Any other use, including publication, storage in a retrieval system, or transmission by electronic, mechanical, or other means requires the written approval of the file's author. This file is part of the SDGENWEB Archives. If you arrived here inside a frame or from a link from somewhere else, our front door is at http://usgwarchives.org/sd/sdfiles.htm CHARLES F. SISSON. Charles F. Sisson, one of the leading agriculturists and representative citizens of Minnehaha county, where he has resided continuously for the past four decades, makes his home on a farm of one hundred and sixty acres on section 23, Benton township, and also owns four hundred and eighty acres in Lyons township. His birth occurred in Wisconsin on the 21st of July, 1848, his parents being Francis O. and Zylphia (Lyman) Sisson, the former a native of Pennsylvania and the latter of Canada. When a child Francis O. Sisson removed with his parents to Ohio and on reaching young manhood went to Wisconsin, where he was married and located on a farm. He was a mechanic and worked at that occupation for a number of years, but in later life turned his attention to general agricultural pursuits. For some years he held the office of county commissioner, making a creditable record in that connection. His demise occurred in Wisconsin, in 1895, when he had attained the age of seventy-six years, while his wife was called to her final rest in 1907 at the age of seventy-seven years. Charles F. Sisson was reared under the parental roof and attended the public schools in the acquirement of an education. In 1873, when a young man of twenty-five years, ho left home and went to Minneapolis, where he spent the following summer, while during the next winter he resided in Rochester, Minnesota. In the spring of 1874, with four companions, he came west to South Dakota, locating in Lyons township, Minnehaha county, and taking up a homestead in the southeast quarter of section 21. At the same time he entered a tree claim in the northeast quarter of section 28 and subsequently purchased the southwest quarter of section 21, so that his farm embraced four hundred and eighty acres. He still owns this property and resided thereon for about twenty-five years. In 1899 he bought his present home farm of one hundred and sixty acres in Benton township and has lived thereon continuously since. In the conduct of his agricultural interests he has won a gratifying measure of success, for his fields are under a high state of cultivation and yield him bountiful harvests. Mr. Sisson has been married twice. In the fall of 1876 he wedded Miss Mary Hartzell, of Rochester, Minnesota, by whom he had ten children, six of whom survive, as follows: Harry E., who is a resident of Colton, South Dakota; Grace, the wife of Graff Jackson, of Benton township, Minnehaha county; Edna; Elmer, who follows farming in Minnehaha county; Lucy, who is employed as a stenographer in Sioux Falls; and Newell, at home. The wife and mother passed away on the 3d of February, 1899, and on June 1, 1905, Mr. Sisson married Miss Agnes D. Hogan, of Bon Homme county, South Dakota. To them have been born four children: Charlenia, George, Clyta and Iwana. In politics Mr. Sisson is a republican. He has served for several terms on both the Lyons and Benton township boards and for several terms acted as clerk of the school board, ever proving an able and faithful public official. His wife is a devout communicant of the Catholic church. His life has been quietly passed, unmarked by any spectacular phases, but loyalty to duty and principle has established him high in public regard and gained for him the warm friendship of all with whom he has been brought in contact.