Howard T. Gerken 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 682, 685 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 HOWARD T. GERKEN, a progressive and intelligent agriculturist who makes his home in township 118, range 67, is one of the pioneer settlers of that region, and has been closely identified with the growth of Faulk county. His fine estate has been gained through honest efforts, and he well deserves his success. He is a gentleman who keeps abreast of the times and is ever ready to adopt an idea when it is in keeping with his sound judgment. Mr. Gerken is a native of Dodge county Wisconsin, and was born August 2, 1857. His father, Detrich Gerken. was a native of Hanover, Germany, but came to America at the age of seven years, and settled in Maryland, and was afterward a pioneer settler of Wisconsin. He was a carpenter by trade, but during the later years of his life he followed farming. The mother of our subject, who bore the maiden name of Emma Smith, was a native of New York state, and the daughter of Henry Smith, a native of England and a blacksmith by occupation. All the sons in the family of eight children, of whom our subject was the second in order of birth, have been pioneers, and lived on the frontier. One of the brothers is at present in the Alaska gold fields. Our subject was reared on the frontier in Wisconsin, and was afforded little schooling during his younger days. The family lived in a log house until he was about nineteen years of age, when he left home and worked at farming and one year in the woods He then entered Elroy Academy, and spent part of his time for five years in that institution, and taught school during the winter months. During the spring and summer of 1883 he worked on the waterworks system of the C. St. P. M. & O. railroad, and after one year took a position as assistant general foreman on the Canadian Pacific railroad, where he worked one year, and for the following year did not engage at steady work. May 9, 1883, he hauled a load of lumber on to the southeast quarter of section 29, township 118, range 67, after dark, and took the land as a homestead. He erected a dwelling, 14 x 24 feet and a sod barn, 16 x 24 feet, and lived thus until his family joined him, June 22, 1885. He had one cow, a yoke of oxen, breaking plow, and a hand corn planter with which to begin farming, and his first crop was sod corn, rutabagas, and some flax. He passed through many exciting experiences from prairie fires, and during the spring of 1893 a fire on a windy day caused him to fight the flames until two o'clock the following morning. He used oxen for his farming the first seven years, but he has made a success of his farm despite his discouragements, and now is the fortunate possessor of six hundred and forty acres, with three hundred under cultivation and the remainder in pasture and hay land. His farm is one of the best watered farms of the country, ten to twenty springs, most all of which are on one half-section of the farm, furnishing an abundance of excellent water. He has added all necessary buildings to the property, and has two machines of each kind for the work of sowing and harvesting his "rain. He engages in diversified farming, wheat, corn and barley being his principal products. He raises cattle to some extent and now has about twenty-eight or thirty head. Our subject was married in April, 1884, to Sarah Tate, a native of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and daughter of Thomas Tate, a farmer by occupation. Mrs. Gerken's parents were born in Ireland, and emigrated to America, where all their children were born and raised. Mr. and Mrs. Gerken are the parents of three children, named as follows: Thomas T., Mary Emma and Gleeva. Mr. Gerken holds membership in the Masonic fraternity, and is a respected member of his community. He is a Democrat in political sentiment and stands firmly for his convictions. He is at present and has also served in past years a member of the county central committee. He is much interested in educational matters and taught four terms of school in Dakota. He has held numerous township offices, and has gained the confidence of the people among whom he has spent so many years, and well deserves his high position.