Daniel Parkhurst 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 769-770

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

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DANIEL PARKHURST. Among the pioneers to whom Midland township and Hand 
county are indebted for much of their growth and present prosperity is 
the gentleman whose name introduces this article. His pleasant home is 
located on section 22. 

Daniel Parkhurst is a native of Clinton county, New York, and was born 
February 8, 1845. His parents, Lyman and Almyra (Bigelow) Parkhurst, 
were natives of Canada and New York respectively. The father was a 
farmer by occupation, and moved to Wood county, Wisconsin, in 1853, 
where he entered land and remained until his death in 1873. The mother 
died in Huron, South Dakota, in 1892. They were the parents of seven 
children, five sons and two daughters, of whom our subject is the only 
one residing in Hand county. The grandfather of our subject, Delavan 
Parkhurst, was native of Canada, and of French descent. 

Daniel Parkhurst was reared and educated in the states of New York and 
Wisconsin, and in his youth bore his share of the farm labors, 
expending much extra energy upon the stumps and stones of his father's 
farm. At the breaking out of the war he enlisted in 1863, in Company G, 
Second Wisconsin Infantry, which regiment was later consolidated with 
the Sixth Wisconsin, and he became a member of Company H, in the new 
regiment. In this company he served until Lee's surrender at 
Appomattox, and the end of the war. He was in the following battles: 
Weldon's Railroad, Hatcher's Run, Five Forks, and a number of lesser 
engagements and skirmishes leading up to Lee's surrender and the end of 
the war. He participated in the grand review at Washington, and after 
being mustered tout, returned to Wisconsin. There he remained until 
1868, when he went to Yankton, South Dakota, becoming a pioneer of that 
region, and later took up land near that city. 

In 1876 he went to the Black Hills and spent one year, then returned to 
Yankton, and farmed until 1882. In that year he removed to Hand county, 
and took up land in section 22, Midland township, where he has since 
made his home. He owns a valuable tract of land, and farms about one 
hundred acres annually, and devotes his attention largely to the stock 
raising industry. He has been successful in his farming operations, and 
has gathered by his energy and good management a comfortable 
competence. 

Mr. Parkhurst was married in 1873 to Miss Sarah Brooks, a native of 
Wisconsin, and a daughter of Simeon and Ann (Pierce) Brooks, who were 
formerly from Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Parkhurst are the parents of the 
following children: Frederick A., who was a member of Grisby's Cavalry 
in the Spanish war; Cora E.; Nellie M.; Oscar B.; Wealthy B.; Ida M.; 
Daniel E.; Annie E., and Jay J., all living. Their first born, Alfred 
E., was accidentally drowned at the age of three years, in Wisconsin. 
Mr. and Mrs. Parkhurst are members of the Christian church; he holds 
membership in the grand Army of the Republic. In political sentiment he 
is a Populist, and takes an active interest in public affairs,and has 
held many of the local offices at different times. He is a man of 
genial manner, generous disposition, and upright life.