D. H. Brewster Biography This biography is from "Memorial and biographical record; an illustrated compendium of biography, containing a compendium of local biography, including biographical sketches of prominent old settlers and representative citizens of South Dakota..." Published by G. A. Ogle & Co., Chicago, 1899. Pages 790-791 Scan, OCR and editing by Maurice Krueger,mkrueger@iw.net, 1998. 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 D. H. BREWSTER, the efficient county superintendent of schools in Sanborn county, is a young man of marked ability, who has spent nearly his entire life in this section of the state, and has been prominently identified with its educational interests. He was born in Grundy county, Illinois, in 1873, and his father was also a native of that county, but his mother was born in Indiana, and is of German lineage. On the paternal side the ancestry of the family can be traced back to Elder Brewster, who came to America with the Pilgrims who crossed the Atlantic in the "Mayflower" and founded the little colony on the shores of New England. Professor Brewster spent the first nine years of his life on his father's farm in the Prairie state, and then came with his parents to what is now Sanborn county, South Dakota, the father securing a claim, consisting of a quarter-section of land in the northeastern part of Twin Lake township. A little shanty, 20 x 14 feet, was built, and then the father and sons began the work of developing the land and transforming it into rich and fertile fields. A good residence now stands in the midst of broad acres under cultivation, and the home farm is one of the desirable properties in that section of the county. Our subject assisted in the arduous task of making a good farm, and herded cattle all over the present site of Woonsocket, for not a building then showed where the flourishing town would one day stand. The first structure erected there was used as a saloon, and was located where the roundhouse now stands. The growth of the village was marvelous, springing into existence, as it were, in a night. The first school which Mr. Brewster attended was held, at Letcher, in a small building seated with wooden benches. He experienced the trials consequent upon a Dakota blizzard, when, in January, 1888, the teacher and all the pupils were snowbound in their school all night, being unable to leave the building even to bring in coal. At the age of eighteen he pursued a two-years' course in the high school, and afterward engaged in teaching for three years. In 1895 he entered the Northern Indiana Normal School, and was graduated, in 1897, with the degree of Bachelor of Science. He then returned to this state, and was again engaged in teaching until the fall of 1898, when he was elected county superintendent of Sanborn county, in which capacity he is now acceptably serving. He is a young man of strong mentality and broad intellectual culture, and his deep interest in the cause of education and practical experience in teaching well fit him for the duties which devolve upon him. His long residence in this county, during which he has witnessed almost its entire development, has made him widely known, and his many admirable qualities and genial manner have gained him a large circle of friends.