Capt. James Rodenhurst 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 898-899

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

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CAPT. JAMES RODENHURST. It is not often that the quiet life of the 
farmer has attractions for men of varied capacities and world-wide 
experiences and knowledge. Yet in the gentleman whose name introduces 
this article we have an example of a man whose travels, adventures, 
past position and achievements have not robbed his life of the love of 
home and of his fellow men. His estate, situated in Lucas township, 
Potter county, shows evidence of the care and industry bestowed upon 
it, and its valuable improvements and conveniences indicate that its 
management is in the hands of a practical agriculturist. 

The birth place of Mr. Rodenhurst is Shropshire, England, forty-five 
miles from the city of Liverpool, and the date of that event is 1827. 
Richard Rodenhurst, the father of our subject, and in his early manhood 
a member of the Queen's Life Guards, came to America in 1834, with his 
wife and six children. He located in New York, where he died in 1836, 
leaving seven children. 

James Rodenhurst, at the age of eleven years, began work among the 
neighboring farmers for his board and clothing. The first pay he 
received was two dollars per month, and he worked eight months at this 
rate. The next year he received four dollars per month, and all his 
earnings went to his mother to feed and clothe the family. Until he was 
fifteen years of age he worked in New York state and attended the 
common schools. At that age he began the life of a sailor, and when he 
was twenty years old had worked himself up to the position of first 
mate, and five years later was master of a full rigged ship sailing 
between Liverpool and New York. He followed this business for eight 
years more, and in 1860, paid a visit to England, spending the greater 
part of the time in London, and in the spring of 1861 he returned to 
the United States. In October, 1862, he organized Company I, One 
Hundred and Forty-sixth New York Volunteer Infantry, and was brevetted 
captain with pay of lieutenant. After the battle of Fredericksburg, 
which was his first regular battle, he was promoted to full rank and 
pay of captain. After that battle he continued with the Army of the 
Potomac, being in the center grand division till the surrender at 
Appomattox. He never was absent from the ranks more than two days at a 
time, though in the Wilderness fight he was severely wounded in the 
left leg, and forced to go to the hospital, his pluck and nerve soon 
restored him to his company again, and during his two and a half years 
service no soldier in the great army was more active or saw more of 
real service than he. He was mustered out April 23, 1865. 

After the war Captain Rodenhurst returned to New York and began farming 
near Westmoreland, Oneida county. In July of the same year, however, he 
entered the service of the government as a detective. He made a trip to 
Central America, around South America, and up the coast to California, 
Oregon and Washington, returning in 1873, after a trip of three years 
duration. In 1883, Captain Rodenhurst came to South Dakota, first 
stopping at Watertown. He then located pre-emption claim in Lucas 
township, Potter county, comprising the southwest quarter of section 
33. He put up a sod shanty and barn, and lived the life of a bachelor. 
His team was a yoke of oxen, and he used no other kind of team until 
1895. He has now a farm of three hundred and twenty acres of excellent 
land, one hundred acres of which is under a high state of cultivation, 
and he has added many valuable improvements. He devotes his attention 
to grain, cattle and horses, and has made a marked success of 
agriculture. 

Mr. Rodenhurst was first married before the war, but was bereft of his 
wife in 1867. In 1887 he was married to Mrs. Louisa (Luware) Donphere. 
Mrs. Rodenhurst is a native of France, and a daughter of Ellich Luware, 
whom she accompanied to America when a child. She grew to womanhood in 
Vermont. By her former marriage she had four children, all sons, two of 
whom are living in North Dakota, one in St. Paul, and one in Eau Claire 
county, Wisconsin. Mr. Rodenhurst has, during his past life of seventy-
two years, been a most active man, and has seen much of the world, and 
has looked upon the dark side of life as well as upon the bright. Since 
settling in Dakota, in 1883, however, he has only passed beyond the 
limits of Potter county twice. He has taken an influential part in 
public matters of local nature, having been a justice of the peace for 
three years, a member of the board of supervisors several years, and 
has almost continuously held school offices since his residence in 
Potter county. He is a Democrat in political sentiment, has been a 
member of the Masonic fraternity for forty-two years, is a member of 
the I. O. O. F. and of the Grand Army of the Republic.