Bernhard C. Hagman 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 818-819 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 BERNHARD C. HAGMAN, one of the enterprising men of Faulk county, is yet a young man and has a bright future. He has engaged in various business adventures, and in every instance his ability and energetic efforts have been rewarded with success. He is one of the principal sheep growers of the county, and is otherwise engaged in business enterprises, and is the present postmaster of Rockham, South Dakota. He is among the early settlers of that region and is well known and enjoys an excellent reputation. Mr. Hagman was born in Arena, Iowa county, Wisconsin, 1864, and was the son of John J. and E. K. (Wichner) Hagman, the former a native of Switzerland, and the latter of Bavaria. His parents came to America when children, and his father was a wagon maker by trade, which he followed in Arepa, Wisconsin, and afterward engaged in farming near that place. Our subject was the third child in order of birth in a family of eleven children, and at the age of six years accompanied his parents to the farm, where he attended the country schools. At the age of seventeen years he removed with parents to Redfield, South Dakota, and there attended the high school. His father took land close to the town and erected a 12 x 16 shanty until the family joined him, when he built a 12 x 12 addition to the home and sodded the outside. They had practically nothing with which to begin their work, and lived in the original shanty for six or seven years. They had no teams aside from oxen for some time, and gained slowly. Our subject worked out during the summer months and spent the winter at the home, and attended school. In that way he was enabled to assist his parents, giving all of his earnings for the purpose except sufficient to buy his clothing. In 1885 he took a homestead in the northwestern part of Sully county, and put improvements on the place, and afterward let it revert to the government. He clerked for E. L. Jones in Redfield, in the fall of 1886, and in December of that year his employer placed him in charge of his newly established store at Rockham. Our subject purchased the business of Mr. Jones in March, 1887, and engaged in the general merchandise business, in which he continued for several years. He was appointed postmaster at Rockham during Cleveland's administration, and has held the office continuously since. He disposed of his mercantile business in November, 1891, and in the spring of 1894 again engaged in the business, and in May, 1899, sold his stock and took as part payment land in Hand county, fifteen miles from Rockham. He purchased land four and one-half miles from Rockham, in 1895, which he afterward sold. He began buying grain for Kutnewsky Brothers, of Redfield, in the spring of 1893, and continued to purchase for them until 1898, when they disposed of their business to the Sleepy Eye Milling Company of Minnesota, since which time our subject has been buying grain for the Minnesota firm. He took charge of the Chicago & Northwestern railroad station at Rockham in 1896, and was agent there for nearly three years. He has been interested in sheep growing for the past six years, and at present has two hundred and fifty head, and at other times has had as many as eight hundred head. He owns valuable residence property in the town, and rents one of the dwellings. He has traveled through the Indian territory and the southern states, but finds no location which compares favorably with South Dakota. Our subject was married January 1, 1893, to Gertrude M. Bickford, a native of Albert Lea, Minnesota. Mrs. Hagman's father, Hannibal Bickford, was born and raised in Vermont and went to Minnesota in an early day, and lived three years in Freeborn county with the Indians. When Mrs. Hagman was twelve years of age her mother died. She then lived with her uncle and aunt, Mr. and Mrs. Isaac Botsford, of Albert Lea, Minnesota. She is a lady of culture and well educated and is a graduate of the Ladies' College of Albert Lea, being a member of the class of '92. She was a teacher in South Dakota for some time previous to her marriage. Three children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Hagman, as follows: Robert Lee, born October 25, 1893; Bernard Charles, born September 4, 1895; and Margaret Eva, born October 22, 1898. Mr. Hagman is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America. He is a gentleman who keeps abreast of the times and is popular with his associates, and has been called upon to fill various important office, and has served as township treasurer four years and justice of the peace for the past five years. He is a Republican in politics and attends various conventions, taking an active part, and last, but by no means least, Mr. Hagman and his wife are doing, all they can to build up the Master's kingdom in the community where they live.