Capt. Sidney O. Cromack 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 413-414

	Scan, OCR and editing by Maurice Krueger,mkrueger@iw.net, 1998. 

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CAPTAIN SIDNEY O. CROMACK, the efficient postmaster of Willow Lakes, 
South Dakota, and justice of the peace, is one of the early settlers of 
that region. He is an old soldier, and his army record is one of which 
any soldier for the preservation of our Union may well be proud. He is 
one of the prominent men of his locality, and has ever discharged his 
duties fearlessly and with sound judgment. For many years he followed 
farming in Clark county, but of late years on account of failing health 
has resided in the village, and is a well-known resident of his 
community. 

Captain Cromack was born in Bennington, Vermont, July 13, 1840, and was 
the third of a family of four children born to Charles I. and Sarah 
(Burt) Cromack. The first of the family to settle in America was the 
grandfather of our subject, who was a native of England, and after 
emigrating to this country erected the first woolen mills of Colerain, 
Massachusetts. He was one of four brothers. The father of our subject 
was a contractor and builder, and our subject was employed with him 
until the Civil war broke out. He enlisted in Company B, Seventy-
seventh New York Volunteers, September 21, 1861. He enlisted as a 
private and was promoted to sergeant before leaving the state, and 
joined first in the battle of Williamsburg, Virginia. Then followed the 
Seven Days' battle, Antietam, after which he was promoted to the rank 
of sergeant-major; Fredericksburg, after which he was promoted to first 
lieutenant, Company B, said regiment; then came second Fredericksburg, 
Mine Run, Gettysburg, Rappahannock and the battle of the Wilderness. 
During the last day of the latter battle he was made a prisoner and was 
confined in the prison at Macon, Georgia. After six weeks he was 
changed to Savannah, and after another six weeks was sent to 
Charleston. He was moved again after a six weeks' stay to Columbia, 
South Carolina, and finally was sent to Charlotte, North Carolina, from 
which place he was paroled and soon afterward exchanged. He never 
rejoined his regiment, and was mustered out of the service at 
Annapolis, in March, 1865, with the rank of captain. After the close of 
the war he engaged in the grocery and provision business in Bennington, 
Vermont, which he followed almost continuously until 1881, when he went 
to Chicago, and in the fall of the same year went to De Smet, Dakota, 
in search of a suitable location. After looking the lands over around 
De Smet, Watertown and Clark, he filed on section 26 in Lake township, 
on the north shore of Willow Lake, September 12, 1881. This, together 
with land taken by William N. Berry, was the only land owned by 
individuals within a radius of eight miles. He passed the winter of 
1881-8z in De Smet, and in the spring of 1882 went to his farm and made 
necessary improvements, and worked for the Experimental Forest Company. 
His family joined him in 1884, and he settled down to the work on his 
farm. Hard work and constant care of the duties which were incident to 
life in a new country, together with diseases contracted while a 
prisoner of war, undermined his health, and he left the farm in 1894, 
rented his land, and erected a home in the village of Willow Lakes. He 
has since been justice of the peace, and January 1, 1898, was appointed 
postmaster of the Willow Lakes office, since which time he has 
faithfully discharged the duties of that position. 

Captain Cromack was married in 1865 to Miss Caroline A. Titus, a native 
of New York. Two children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Cromack, as 
follows: Fannie J. and Gertrude E., a teacher in the Willow Lakes 
schools for four years. Captain Cromack is a member of the G. A. R. and 
the Masonic fraternity. In political sentiment he is a Republican, 
favors high license, and is opposed to equal suffrage. At the original 
organization of civil townships in Clark county he was elected chairman 
of the board of supervisors of Lake township, which position he held 
until the fall of 1890, when elected county commissioner; was chairman 
of county board two years. In the fall of 1898 he was nominated for 
state senator by the Republican party and made the run, but the fusion 
party being in the majority in his county he was defeated by a small 
majority.