Capt. Franklin A. Munson 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 1006-1007

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

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CAPT. FRANKLIN A. MUNSON, residing in Huron, South Dakota, who is ably 
filling the position of county auditor of Beadle county, is of Danish 
ancestry. His earliest American ancestor was Capt. Thomas Munson, a 
pioneer of Connecticut. 

Our subject is a. native of Crawford county, Pennsylvania, and was born 
March 9, 1838, the son of Alvah and Lucy (White) Munson. When sixteen 
years of age he went to DeKalb county, IIlinois, and engaged in 
farming. In 1860 he began to work on a railroad, and continued until 
the beginning of the Civil war, when he enlisted for his country's 
cause. A record of his service will be found elsewhere in this review. 
At the close of the war he settled in Sandwich, Illinois, and in 1868 
he was appointed postmaster, which position he held until 1881. In the 
fall of 1882 he filed on government land in Dakota, and farmed several 
years in Dearborn township, but with little success, owing to the fact 
that he had to hire all work done on account of his disability from 
army service. The general merchandise business, in which he engaged, 
did not prove a success, and he went to Huron, after which he became 
interested in the Huron capitol fight and gave his time and money for 
the cause of Huron. Mr. Munson was married, in 1868, to Miss Mary 
Woodward. 

April 19, 1861, Captain Munson enlisted as a private soldier in Company 
C, Tenth Illinois Volunteer, Infantry, afterward known as Company H. He 
was first sent to Missouri, and engaged at New Madrid, thence to Fort 
Pillow, thence to the siege of Corinth, where he served as sergeant, 
after which he was promoted to lieutenant. He was captain at the battle 
of Nashville, and was in the thickest of the fight at Chattanooga and 
Chickamauga, and was with Sherman before Atlanta. At Peach Tree Creek, 
in a skirmish, he was wounded in the left arm by a ball, which resulted 
in the loss of his arm. He was sent home on leave of absence and in 
1865 was a member of the general court martial. He was mustered out 
July 4, 1865. 

Captain Munson has been called upon to represent his locality, on 
several occasions, and has always filled his commission with honor. In 
1890 he was elected to the general assembly, and as a member of the 
legislative body served on the committee on military affairs. In the 
fall of 1898 he was elected auditor of Beadle county, his term of 
office beginning March 1, 1899. He is a Republican and is an active 
worker for Republican principles. He is a prominent member of the G. A. 
R. and is senior vice commander. He is also a member of the Union 
Veterans Union.