Samuel H. Elrod 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 786-789 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 SAMUEL H. ELROD. For seventeen years this gentleman has enjoyed a successful and lucrative practice at the bar of Clark county, and as the result of his untiring labors, his ambition, his energy and well- directed efforts he is today the possessor of a handsome competence and a beautiful home in Clark, where he spends his leisure hours, enjoying the society of his family and friends in the midst of all the comforts that go to make life worth the living. His portrait appears in connection with this biography. Mr. Elrod was born in Hendricks county, Indiana, May 1, 1856, and is the oldest of four children born to Jesse F. and Lydia (Pursel) Elrod. In tracing the family back we find the Elrods to be of English origin. Our subject's paternal grandfather was the youngest of seven brothers, residents of North Carolina, but being an anti-slavery man he removed to Indiana in 1836, founding the family in that state. Our subject was reared upon a farm and attended the district schools, but not being satisfied with the knowledge there obtained, he entered Asbury University at the age of twenty, and working his way through that institution he graduated with the class of 1882. He had taken up the study of law while in college and was admitted to the Indiana bar in 1881. In July, 1882, he settled at Clark, South Dakota, where he built a frame house, 12 x 14 feet in dimension, and therein, for five months, kept house for himself and carried on a general law practice and real estate business. Meeting with marked success from the first, he soon adopted a more comfortable style of living and became prominently identified with the affairs of Clark county. In 1883 Mr. Elrod attended the first constitutional convention, held at Sioux Falls, and served on the legislative committee. There he formed a lasting and beneficial friendship with John Gamble. In 1886 he was elected probate judge of Clark county, in 1889 became state's attorney, and in 1892 was again elected to the latter position, which he most creditably and acceptably filled for two terms. He has won an enviable reputation for skill and efficiency in his profession and has been connected with most of the important cases tried in the county, including the celebrated usury cases of Clark county, where he found himself opposed to eastern lawyers of ability. In prosecuting whisky cases he also gained repute, demonstrating the fact that the prohibitory law could be enforced. Among other cases of renown on which he has been retained as counsel was the Sasse case, which, after being appealed, was finally won. The Christenson case was also in Mr. Elrod's hands and resulted in consigning the accused to the penitentiary for life. At the last Republican state convention he was a popular candidate for congressman. Religiously, he is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and socially is a member of the Masonic fraternity, the Ancient Order of United Workmen and the Modern Woodmen of America. Besides his home in Clark, upon which of late many improvements have been made, Mr. Elrod owns a good farm of three hundred and twenty acres near the city, which is all fenced and well improved and which is operated by a tenant who is engaged in general farming and dairying. In 1884, Mr. Elrod led to the marriage altar Miss Mary E. Masten, also a native of Indiana, and to them have been born two children: Barbara and Arthur Mellette. The family is one of prominence in the best social circles in the city.