Orville Stewart Biography


	This biography appears on pages 209-210 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


				ORVILLE STEWART. 

	Among the substantial farmers of Bon Homme county is numbered 
Orville Stewart, who was born in McDonough county, Illinois, on the 9th 
of August, 1876, a son of Samuel and Elizabeth (McKenzie) Stewart, 
natives of Indiana and Illinois respectively. He resided in Illinois 
until 1899, when he removed to Guthrie county, Iowa, and there worked 
at farm labor for about a year. After that he cultivated rented land 
until 1903, when he removed to South Dakota. He rented the McNeill farm 
in Bon Homme county first and later operated other farms in the 
vicinity of Tyndall until March, 1912, when he purchased his present 
farm, which comprises the southeast quarter of section 34, Jefferson 
precinct. The land has excellent natural drainage and as it is fertile 
and is kept in fine condition it produces good crops annually. The 
house, which is large and heated by hot water, has a commanding 
position upon a hill and is protected from the wind by a fine grove. 
There are also large farns, granaries and other outbuildings which 
provide shelter for grain and stock. Mr. Stewart uses the latest 
machinery in his work and is willing to adopt any method that promises 
to make his labor more efficient. 

	Mr. Stewart was married in Guthrie county, Iowa, on the 23d of 
October, 1901, to Miss Sylvia South a daughter of Wellington and Linda 
(McNeill) South, natives of New York and Ohio respectively. In 1882 Mr. 
South removed to Dakota territory and first rented a farm two miles 
east of Springfield but afterward took up his residence in Springfield, 
where he lived retired for two years. He then returned to Guthrie 
county, Iowa. Two of the children born to him and his wife are living 
in Bon Homme county, Mrs. Stewart and Charles, who is farming in 
Jefferson precinct. 

	Mr. South had a narrow escape from death by freezing January 12, 
1888, when the worst blizzard in the history of the northwest occurred. 
He started to deliver a sleighload of hogs to J. H. Sanford, who 
resided on the edge of Tyndall, and was within a quarter of a mile off 
his destination when the blizzard broke in its fury and he found 
himself unable to see owing to the blinding snow. He took the harness 
off from his horses and started with them to find shelter He ran into 
an old threshing machine. which provided some protection against the 
storm for the horses and he himself remained there until three o'clock 
in the morning, when the storm had subsided somewhat and he was enabled 
to reach the residence of a Mr. Jansen, where he was revived. He 
supposed that the hogs that he was bringing to Mr. Sanford had 
perished, but that gentleman had found them in the morning and had 
taken them and the team to a warm shed and all of the animals survived 
the storm.