George B. Daly 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 1034-1037

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

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HON. GEORGE B. DALY. Every country has her prominent men who work 
zealously for her interests, and Brown county has many who have given 
their time and attention to the upbuilding of the public status. 
Foremost among this class of citizens stands the gentleman above named. 
He has been a resident of South Dakota since the days of its early 
history, and has ever supported every good measure, and is now a well-
known man, whose honorable bearing has given him a high standing. Mr. 
Daly is a farmer by occupation, and the thorough knowledge which he 
possesses of his calling makes him a man whose counsel is sought and 
advice heeded. His home is on section 17, township 125, range 61, in 
Columbia township, and he engages in diversified farming. 

Our subject was born in Genesee county, Michigan, September 30, 1852, 
and was the fourth in a family of nine children born to John and 
Elizabeth (Beahan) Daly. His parents were of Irish descent, and his 
father was a farmer in Michigan. Until twenty one years of age our 
subject worked on his father's farm and attended school, receiving a 
high-school education. He soon afterward began teaching, and followed 
that vocation four years, during which time, and for several years 
previous, he read law, a profession which had been his aim, and to 
which he turned his attention from the age of fifteen years. He was 
admitted to the bar, at the age of twenty-two years, in 1874, and soon 
after formed a partnership with a prominent attorney, William O. 
Axford, and for six years followed that profession. 

In 1880 he went to Dakota and in the fall of that year went to Red 
River Valley and worked during the harvest, and later at school 
teaching for three terms, working on the farm in South Dakota during 
the summer months. During the winter of 1883-84 he taught the first 
school opened in Columbia village. He returned to his farm and has made 
it one of the garden spots of that region. He has taken much interest 
in experimenting with trees and shrubs, and his evergreen trees around 
his home are the pride of the county. His experiments lead him to the 
conclusion that the green ash and elm are the best South Dakota trees. 

Mr. Daly was married in 1886 to Miss Hannah Sullivan. Six children have 
been born to bless the home of Mr. and Mrs. Daly, as follows: 
Alexander, Francis, Archibald, Jeanette, Adalaide and Georgie. Our 
subject is a member of the State Horticultural Society in which he 
takes much interest. He was a member of the First South Dakota 
Legislature, and was elected to the same office in 1896, serving as a 
representative, and in both sessions he did very effective work. He 
brought the first code into Brown county, and drafted the petition for 
the organization of the county, and was appointed the first probate 
judge. In political faith he is a Populist, and is chairman of the 
county central committee. He advocates equal suffrage, and the state 
control of the liquor traffic. He was an active Alliance man and early 
linked his fortunes with the new party. Every public enterprise to 
which he has lent his influence has resulted to the satisfaction of 
every citizen and he is one of the men which the country so much needs, 
and who is entitled to commendation. An excellent portrait of Mr. Daly 
is presented on another page of this volume.