Henry P. Will Biography


	This biography appears on pages 154-155 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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				HENRY P. WILL. 

	Henry P. Will, banker and capitalist, is associated with the 
Wessington Springs State Bank as its vice president. He was born in 
Clayton county, Iowa, June 12, 1862, a son of James Will, a native of 
Scotland, who came to the United States in 1858. He settled in 
Massachusetts and in 1862 removed to Clayton county, Iowa, where he 
took up his abode upon a farm, to which he devoted his attention for a 
number of years, but eventually removed to Aurelia, Iowa, where his 
death occurred. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Margaret Gay, was 
a native of Scotland and is also deceased. 

	Henry P. Will is the sixth in a family of thirteen children. His 
educational advantages were limited to the opportunities afforded in 
the district schools and he attended those but a comparatively brief 
time. He remained upon the homestead farm until his twenty-second year, 
and in 1883 he left Iowa on horseback, the horse which he rode being 
almost his sole possession. Traveling northward, he became a resident 
of Jerauld county, Dakota territory, settling on land that is still a 
part of his extensive ranch properties. He was ambitious and 
industrious, and by judicious management and foresight he has added to 
his original quarter section until he is today the owner of eight 
thousand acres of the finest stock and farm lands to be found in 
central South Dakota, having large holdings in Jerauld, Hand, Harding 
and Buffalo counties. His business interests along that line have been 
most carefully and systematically managed. He has developed his farm 
according to progressive, modern methods and has raised stock in large 
numbers. He also became interested in the Wessington Springs State Bank 
in 1907 as a stockholder and director and later was chosen vice 
president. 

	On December 24, 1889, Mr. Will was married to Miss Laura A. 
Hanebuth, a daughter of August E. Hanebuth, a pioneer resident of 
Jerauld county, and to them have been born four children, Lester Kyle, 
Zaida Muriel, Anna Lucile, and Henry Bernard. 

	Mr. Will is a republican where national issues are involved, but 
casts an independent local ballot, regarding only the fitness of the 
candidate for the office which he seeks. His religious belief is that 
of the Methodist church. He is serving as one of the trustees in the 
church in which he has membership, contributes generously to its 
support and liberally aids in the work of its various charities. He is 
truly a self-made man, for he came to this state with no capital save a 
keen business sense and laudable ambition. He felt that it would be a 
wise course to make investment in farm and ranch lands and he has kept 
adding to his holdings, for he realized the state's possibilities and 
has done much to develop the counties in which his properties lie. His 
commendable course may well serve as an example to others, showing what 
may be accomplished when energy, industry and integrity go hand in 
hand.