Arthur J. Glidden 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 479-480

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

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ARTHUR J. GLIDDEN. -No history of Spink county would be complete 
without mention of this enterprising citizen, who is now prominently 
connected with several of the industrial interests of this locality. He 
now resides in the town of Hitchcock, where he is engaged in grain 
dealing, but is also proprietor of one of the most highly improved 
farms in this section of the state, and ships vegetables on an 
extensive scale to the city markets. His reliable business methods 
commend him to the confidence and good will of all, and his success is 
indeed creditable and well deserved. 

Mr. Glidden was born in DeKalb county, Illinois, December 25, 1855. His 
father was one of the pioneers of that locality, where he made his home 
when Chicago, then the terminus of the railroad, and fifty eight miles 
from the farm, was his nearest supply station. The father had formerly 
been a prosperous agriculturist in Orleans county, New York, and after 
his removal to Illinois his well directed efforts soon made him 
financially independent. His wife, who was a native of Orleans county, 
now makes her home with her son, Arthur, the youngest of her four sons, 
none of whom have ever used tobacco or liquor, or have engaged in 
gambling. Truly a remarkable record and one of which they may be justly 
proud. 

Reared on his father's farm Arthur Glidden followed agricultural 
pursuits until eighteen years of age, when he learned the machinist's 
trade in the shops of the Kewaunee Manufacturing Company. He followed 
that business for three years and then returned to the old homestead, 
where he spent the three succeeding years. On the expiration of that 
period he was married and began business on his own account as a dealer 
in stock. He met with a fair degree of success in that venture but 
desiring to go-west he prospected in Spink county, South Dakota, and in 
the spring of 1883 brought his family to Beadle county, locating on 
section 5, Pleasant View township. He purchased an entire section lying 
partly in beadle and partly in Spink county. In March, 1886, he went to 
Arkansas, where for six years he was engaged in the lumber business, 
but on account of ill health he returned to this state. While in the 
south he built up the town of Harlow, Arkansas, there owning several 
mills and a store. On again coming to South Dakota, he took up his 
residence in Hitchcock, and has since rented his farm. For the past 
four years he has engaged in grain dealing, and now handles 
considerable quantities of grain, thus affording a good market for the 
farmers of the neighborhood. His farm, located near the town, is 
watered by a four-and-a-half-inch artesian well which flows about five 
hundred and fifty gallons per minute, sending a column of water forty 
feet into the air above the mouth of the well. The surplus water flows 
into a reservoir of twenty-two acres, and this artificial lake is well 
stocked with rock and black bass and cat fish. About twenty acres of 
the farm are planted to garden vegetables, principally cabbage, 
tomatoes and onions, which he ships to the surrounding cities. 

In February, 1881, Mr. Glidden was united in marriage to Elva A. Lyon, 
a native of DeKalb county, Illinois, and they now have three children, 
Ernest, Maud and Jessie, all at home. Mr. Glidden is a stalwart 
advocate of Republican principles, and also votes for temperance 
measures and for woman's suffrage. He belongs to the Modern Woodmen 
fraternity and is a consistent and faithful member of the Presbyterian 
church. His life has been well spent and over his record there falls no 
shadow of wrong or suspicion of evil.