Milton Wright Biography


	This biography appears on pages 940-941 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


				MILTON WRIGHT. 

	Milton Wright, a prominent and influential citizen of Minnehaha 
county who has been identified with agricultural interests in this 
state for about a third of a century, now owns and operates a farm of 
three hundred and twenty acres comprising the south half of section 30, 
Valley Springs township. His birth occurred in Des Moines county, Iowa, 
on the 25th of April, 1845, his parents being John and Mary (Bridges) 
Wright, the former a native of New York and the latter of Indiana. 
Their marriage was celebrated in the Hawkeye state. It was in 1833 that 
John Wright settled in Iowa, purchasing land from the government in Des 
Moines county for two dollars and a quarter per acre. In that state he 
spent the remainder of his life, passing away at the age of sixty-four 
years, while his wife lived to be almost eighty-four years old. 

	Milton Wright attended the common schools in the acquirement of 
an education and when a young man of twenty-two years wedded Miss Mary 
I. Lefforge. It was in March, 1882, that he came from Iowa to South 
Dakota, purchasing one hundred and sixty acres of his present farm in 
Valley Springs township, Minnehaha county. He operated that tract 
successfully for a number of years and in 1908 extended its boundaries 
by purchasing an adjoining quarter section, so that his holdings now 
comprise the south half of section 30. His undertakings as an 
agriculturist have been attended with a gratifying measure of success 
and he has long been numbered among the substantial, representative and 
respected citizens of his community. 

	To Mr. and Mrs. Wright have been born seven children, four of 
whom survive, as follows: Frank, who follows farming in Valley Springs 
township; John, who is a resident of Larchwood, Lyon county, Iowa; 
Nellie, who is the wife of Albert Stoughton, an agriculturist of Split 
Rock township, Minnehaha county; and Emma C., at home. 

	Mr. Wright is a stanch democrat and has been a factor in local 
politics for years. He served on the school board for more than thirty 
years, held the office of justice of the peace for a number of years 
and has also served on the town board, of which he is a member at the 
present time. Fraternally he is identified with the Masons, which he 
joined in 1875, now belonging to Unity Lodge, No. 130, of Sioux Falls. 
His wife is a devoted and consistent member of the Baptist church. The 
long period of his residence here has made him widely and favorably 
known, for he has always followed the most straightforward business 
methods and the highest and most honorable standards in public and 
private life.