Otto Yaggie Biography


	This biography appears on pages 434-437 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


				OTTO YAGGIE. 

	Otto Yaggie is the owner of about one thousand acres of land in 
the southern part of the state. He makes his home on section 35, 
Mission Hill precinct, Yankton county, and has been identified with the 
territory and its development from pioneer times. He was born in the 
village of Burgaschi, Switzerland, on the 2d of June, 1873, and is a 
representative of one of the best known, most successful and prominent 
families of Yankton county. He has the thrift and energy characteristic 
of his Swiss ancestors. 

	His parents were Anton and Ida (Ackerman) Yaggie, who were born 
in a southern canton of Switzerland. The father died in that country in 
the fall of 1874, leaving four sons, Robert, Joseph, Otto and Jacob. 
The second named never came to America but went to Hungary, where he is 
in charge of a large cheese factory, having followed a pursuit for 
which his native country is famous throughout the world. In the fall of 
1884 the widowed mother left her native land for America, sailing from 
Havre on the Germania and reaching New York city some time in November. 
She had an uncle living near Seymour, Jackson county, Indiana, and with 
him the family found refuge until coming to the west in the following 
spring. The mother, with her three boys, arrived in Yankton July 2, 
1885, and at once they turned their attention to whatever they could 
find to do. For two and a half years they all worked on farms and in 
1887 the mother rented the Solberger farm, now known as the Burgi farm, 
northeast of Yankton, and thus started the three boys on a prosperous 
career as independent farmers in the great and growing west. In 1887 
Mrs. Yaggie's father, Joseph Ackerman, joined her and remained with 
them upon the farm while he lived, but his death occurred about 1888. 
The family occupied that farm until 1894, when they removed to the 
place now owned by Otto Yaggie, having purchased the tract about one 
year before. The farm comprises a quarter section, from which three 
lines of railroad take twenty acres for right of way. In 1897 the 
brothers formed a partnership which continued for four years. At the 
end of that time Jacob removed to Mission Hill, while Robert and Otto 
continued together upon the home place until 1907, during which time 
they purchased about four hundred acres of land. Each has since 
purchased one tract after another until they are substantial 
landowners, widely recognized as prosperous farmers in the community in 
which they make their home. Of the sons coming to America with their 
widowed mother; Robert is the eldest. Otto, the third in order of 
birth, and Jacob, the youngest, were aged but twelve and ten years 
respectively when the family first arrived in Dakota. After the 
dissolution of the partnership between the brothers Otto Yaggie 
purchased the home farm from his mother, who now makes her home in 
Yankton, and to this he has added from time to time until he now owns 
about sixteen hundred acres of rich and valuable land in this state, 
the Red River valley in Minnesota and in the west. His place of 
residence is one of the old farms of the county and the substantial 
brick house, around which good farm buildings cluster, was the refuge 
of many families for a fortnight or more during the never to be 
forgotten flood of April, 1881. 

	Mr. Yaggie was married on the 30th of October, 1906, to Miss 
Annie Zitzelsberger, a native of the village of Kupfam, Bavaria, and a 
daughter of Mathias and Theresa (Huber) Zitzelsberger. There were three 
children born to Mr. and Mrs. Yaggie, Ida Theresa, Anna Marie and Leo 
Lawrence. Mrs. Yaggie drew a claim in the Rosebud land opening which 
she proved up. 

	In politics Mr. Yaggie is a democrat and fraternally is connected 
with the Knights of Columbus, which fact indicates that his religious 
faith is that of the Catholic church. He has vivid recollections of the 
blizzard of January, 1888. His mother was away from home caring for a 
sick family, leaving Otto and his grandfather alone on the farm, for 
one brother was then in town and the other in school. The supply of 
wood became exhausted and Mr. Yaggie and his grandfather went to bed in 
order to keep from freezing. He had previously braved the storm in 
order to feed and water their cow and make her as comfortable as 
possible. He felt his way along the fence to and from the barn, thus 
returning to the house in safety. Mrs. Yaggie was at school that day 
and spent the night at the home of the teacher nearby. The teacher went 
home for dinner and on returning for the children found his face 
covered with ice. He started back with the seven children and, although 
the distance was very short, for an hour and a half he wandered around 
and around in the storm, during which time Mrs. Yaggie, who was then a 
little girl, became very tired. Several times they circled the house, 
as their tracks indicated the next day, before they could find the 
building, for the air was so thick with snow that they could not see a 
few feet ahead. In the spring of 1897 the Jim river flooded the bottoms 
and washed out all three of the railroad tracks. Otto Yaggie 
transferred the mail by boat for the stages until the railroads were 
rebuilt. Those were never to be forgotten days and experiences, and the 
story of almost miraculous escapes on the part of many is scarcely 
matched by any tale of fiction. From pioneer times 'to the present Otto 
Yaggie has witnessed the changes which have occurred as the work of 
development has been carried steadily forward. Watching his 
opportunities to promote his interests, he has steadily advanced along 
business lines and is today one of the most substantial farmers of the 
county.