James A. North 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 1058-1061

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

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JAMES A. NORTH. This gentleman is the fortunate owner of one of the 
fine estates of Portage township, Brown county, and is well known as an 
agriculturist who is doing an extensive business. His farm consists of 
four hundred acres and the buildings upon it are far above the average 
in their substantial construction and the convenience of their 
arrangement. 

Mr. North was born in McKean county, Pennsylvania, September 22, 1849, 
and was the fifth in a family of six sons born to Peter and Melissa 
(Grow) North, both of whom are deceased. His father was of English 
descent, his great-grandfather being a native of England. The mother of 
our subject was of Irish extraction. When our subject was about eight 
years of age the family removed to Rock county, Wisconsin, remaining 
three years, after which they returned to Pennsylvania. While yet a 
young lad our subject worked in the woods and in the shingle mills, and 
as was common in those times his schooling was neglected and he never 
attended a full term of school during his career. He turned his way 
westward again in 1873, going to Wisconsin and afterward located in 
Iowa, where he worked at farm work for two years and again returned to 
Wisconsin and engaged in farming on rented land in Sauk county. He 
later decided to try his fortune in the New Eldorado of South Dakota, 
and accordingly arrived at Columbia, Brown county, April 20, 1883, and 
squatted on unsurveyed land. His personal effects consisted of a team 
and two cows and fourteen dollars in money, and he began farming on a 
small scale. He soon erected a 12x 18-foot house, and the following May 
his wife joined him in the new home. He broke some land during the 
first season by coupling teams with a neighbor, and in the fall secured 
work for himself and team, and by a little assistance from friends 
managed to get his house comfortable for the winter. He has engaged in 
general farming from the start in Dakota, and breeds Shorthorn, Durham 
and Hereford cattle. His home is located on section 8, township 128, 
range 60, and he is one of the best known farmers of the vicinity. 

Our subject was married in 1875, to Miss Isabel E. Campbell. Mrs. North 
passed away March 1, 1899, leaving a husband and two children, Clarence 
E. and Viva M., to mourn for her. Her life had, been spent for the good 
of others, and she died as she had lived, a devoted wife and mother. 
She was a lady of much worth, and much of the good fortune which has 
fallen to the lot of our subject was traceable to her counsel and the 
share she had taken in the management of their affairs. She went to 
Dakota as a pioneer settler with her husband, and the trials and 
discouragements which beset the early settlers of a country were the 
easier surmounted through her words of cheer and willing efforts. She 
had a host of friends who mourned her death. Our subject is a member of 
the Modern Woodmen of America, and the Masonic fraternity, in the 
latter having taken the Scottish-rite degree. He is interested in the 
welfare of his community and is a member of the township board of 
supervisors. Politically he is a Republican.: He has never sought 
public office, preferring to serve his community otherwise, and he has 
the esteem of his neighbors and the confidence of all with whom he has 
come in contact. We present portraits of Mr. and Mrs. North on another 
page.