Capt. Benjamin R. Wagner Biography


	This biography appears on pages 617-618 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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				CAPTAIN BENJAMIN R. WAGNER. 

	Captain Benjamin R. Wagner, of Bon Homme county., was not only 
one of the real pioneers of the state but was also one of the leaders 
in public affairs in the early days. He was born January 30, 1830, in 
Washington county, Maryland, on what became the battle ground of 
Antietam. His parents, John and Catherine (Rice) Wagner, were natives 
of Pennsylvania and the father was a farmer by occupation In 1837 they 
removed with their family to Ogle county, Illinois, and there Benjamin 
R. Wagner grew to manhood. He` was educated in the famous Rock River 
Academy of Mount Morris, Illinois, which was established by Rev. Hitt. 

	In August, 1861, Mr. Wagner enlisted for service in the Union 
army, becoming a member of Company H, Thirty-fourth Illinois Volunteer 
Infantry. On the 8th of April, 1862, he sustained a wound in the thigh 
at Shiloh and was appointed captain by Lincoln in recognition of his 
gallantry. Upon partly recovering from his wound he was transferred to 
the Invalid Corps and Veteran Reserve. Captain Wagner had charge of the 
Confederate soldiers confined at the Rock Island military prison and on 
one occasion took five hundred Confederate prisoners south to exchange 
for Union men and at another time took the same number to Washington. 
He served in the army until the close of the war, being honorably 
discharged April 6, 1866. 

	Upon his return to Illinois Captain Wagner was elected deputy 
sheriff of Ogle county and in 1868 was elected sheriff, winning 
reelection to that office in 1870. He was also highway commissioner of 
Ogle county and during his incumbency in that office the bridge over 
the Rock river at Oregon was built. In the meantime he entered the 
hotel business and for four years the Wagner Hotel at Forreston was 
known as one of the most comfortable hostelries in that part of 
Illinois. On removing to Oregon, the county seat, he became proprietor 
of the American House at that place. In 1874 he removed to South Dakota 
and filed on preemption and homestead claims in Bon Homme county, later 
securing a timber claim adjoining his other land. In September of that 
year his wife and children came to the territory and the home of 
Captain Wagner at once became the center of refinement and culture in 
Bon Homme county. It was in marked contrast to the usual frontier home, 
as there were books, periodicals, flowers and other evidences of 
culture that at that time were scarcely ever seen in this state, as 
most of the settlers were unable to do more than make a living for the 
first few years. 

	Captain Wagner was recognized as a leader almost immediately upon 
his arrival in the territory and served as a member of the territorial 
legislature at Yankton and in the first council of the territory after 
the capital was removed to Bismarck. He was sheriff of Bon Homme 
county, was a member of the board of directors of the insane asylum and 
chairman of the board of regents of the State Agricultural College at 
Brookings, and in many ways exercised a great influence upon the early 
development of South Dakota. 

	On the 29th of May, 1862, Captain Wagner was married at Mount 
Morris, Illinois, to Miss Elizabeth Hitt, a daughter of Rev. Thomas 
Hitt. As soon as the Captain had sufficiently recovered from the wound 
received at Shiloh Mrs. Wagner accompanied him to Rock Island, where, 
as before stated, he was in charge of the Confederate prisoners. They 
extended the hospitality of their home to the officers stationed there 
and it became the center of the social life at that place. To Captain 
and Mrs. Wagner were born three sons and a daughter: Robert R., 
deceased; Howard H.; Walter W.; and Emily Elizabeth, deceased. 

	Howard H. Wagner was reared in Bon Homme county and has served as 
sheriff thereof. He married Miss Lydia M. Peck, of Wisconsin, by whom 
he has five children. The oldest, Marie Elizabeth, graduated very young 
from the Springfield Normal School, attended All Saints School, Dakota 
Wesleyan College and for one summer did special work in the Chicago 
University. Previous to her marriage she taught school and was 
unusually successful in her profession. She was teaching near an 
uncle's home in Montana when Sweet Grass county was set off in the 
readjustment of county lines and was elected the first county 
superintendent of schools. Under her direction the school system was 
well organized and placed upon a high plane of efficiency. She 
subsequently married James E. Murray and her daughter, Elizabeth Emily, 
was the first great-grandchild of Captain and Mrs. Wagner. The other 
children OF Howard Wagner are: Ben Harrison; Nina M., a graduate of the 
Springfield Normal School and now a teacher at Santee, Nebraska; 
Edward, Jr; and Harold. Walter W. Wagner, the third son of Captain and 
Mrs. Wagner, married Clara James, of Ogle county, Illinois, and now 
lives at Wagner, South Dakota. Their three children are: Morris, 
Frances and Walter W., Jr. 

	Captain Wagner passed away in 1898 and his demise was the 
occasion of much sincere regret. He was a member of Grierson Post, G. 
A. R., at Tyndall and found much satisfaction in meeting his comrades 
and in reviving associations of the '60s. 

	After the death of Captain Wagner his widow assumed charge of the 
bachelor household of her brother, M. E. Hitt, and remained with him 
upon his farm until he retired and they removed to Tyndall in 1913. 
During the spring of 1881 Mrs. Wagner and her brothers had a number of 
unpleasant experiences in endeavoring to return to South Dakota from 
Illinois, where they had been called by the illness and death of their 
mother. The unusually heavy floods of that spring had cut off the usual 
means of transportation and it was not only almost impossible to go 
from place to place but all communication by mail or telegraph was also 
suspended. Her brother Martin reached Sioux City, Iowa, before the 
others and went to Yankton on what proved to be the last train until 
July. Thomas M. Hitt, after waiting for twenty days at Sioux City, 
succeeded in getting a train to Marion Junction by way of Sheldon, 
Iowa, from which point he walked to Scotland, this state, the journey 
consuming three days. At the Jim river he was ferried across in a 
skiff, as that was the only boat available. He continued his journey, 
passing through Tyndall April 25th, and upon reaching his home farm, 
found that the family had not received any communication from the 
outside world for weeks. Mrs. Wagner was the last to return and was 
delayed a month at Sioux City. Finally a boat came up the river and she 
secured passage to Yankton for herself and a supply of provisions. At 
that city she took a stage for Springfield and from there was driven 
home. However, before leaving Yankton, she divided her supply of late 
newspapers with the isolated citizens who were very anxious for news. 
It was not until the middle of May that Mrs. Wagner reached home. Such 
hardships as these, however, were not considered unusual, and the 
courage and determination of the pioneers increased as greater 
obstacles to be conquered arose.