William W. Rounds 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 486-490

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

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WILLIAM W. ROUNDS. The commercial interests of Spink county have been 
developed by men of more than ordinary business acumen, and it is to 
these men the county is largely indebted for its material progress and 
prosperity. To conduct a business in a newly settled country in a 
manner to bring success and permanent prosperity is a much more 
difficult undertaking than in an old settled country, where the wants 
of patrons are well defined. Perhaps no man has furnished a more 
conspicuous example of natural aptitude and business instinct than he 
whose name heads this article. He is one of the leading hardware 
merchants of Spink county, with headquarters at Conde and a branch 
store at Groton, and enjoys a well established and rapidly increasing 
patronage. His many friends will be pleased to find his portrait in 
connection with this sketch.  

Mr. Rounds is a native of Vermont, born in 1857. His parents were New 
England people of English descent and trace their genealogy to the 
powerful family of which Lord Walworth was a member. Our subject's 
mother was a Tracy. She died in Chicago. The father, who was a farmer 
and also conducted a hotel in Vermont, died in that state. W. W. Rounds 
was the youngest in a family of six children. He left home at the age 
of twelve years and began the battle of life on his own account. He 
became cabin boy on the steamer Adirondack, plying between Rouse's 
Point and Whitehall, and was thus engaged for two years. He then went 
to St. Lawrence county, New York, and was variously occupied for 
several years, working part of the time in a manufacturing 
establishment at Rensselaer's Falls, part of the time on the farm, and 
clerking in a hotel. He went to Chicago in 1877, and was there engaged 
as coachman, worked in the livery business some and made a tour of the 
southern states. In 1882 he determined to try his fortune further west, 
and reached Spink county, landing at Mellette with fifteen cents in 
cash. He took a pre-emption, worked out at anything he could get to do, 
and in the meantime built him a shanty, 8 x 10 feet, of sod, proved 
upon his claim, and sold it in the fall. At that time there were few 
settlers in the county. In 1883 he filed on the southwest quarter of 
section 31, Conde township, and built a board shanty 10 x 14 feet. He 
purchased a yoke of cattle and a plow and broke land and raised a crop, 
living alone in his shanty. In the fall he purchased a threshing 
machine and operated it with success. The railroad was built through 
the township in 1886, and our subject sold his farm to the Western Town 
Lot Company, and upon it the town of Conde was located and its founding 
dates from that year, 1886. The next year our subject built a barn in 
the village and started a livery business. He successfully conducted 
this business for three years, and then, in 1890, traded this business 
for a hardware establishment in Conde. This store had been established 
in 1888 by T. B. Garrett, and had been sold to C. A. Walsh, from whom 
our subject obtained it. The establishment consisted of a building 20 x 
40 feet, with a stock of about four hundred dollars worth of hardware. 
Part of the building was used for living rooms, and there was still 
space enough left to rent as a hall for various gatherings, dances, 
etc. So rapidly was the business developed that in 1891 Mr. Rounds 
moved his family into a separate residence, and in 1892 built an 
addition to his store, extending it in the rear twenty-four feet. In 
1896, having in the meantime added a line of furniture, he was 
compelled to add another extension of thirty-two feet. He now carries a 
general stock of hardware, paints, oils, etc. His main building is 24 x 
96 feet, besides an adjacent building, 24 x 40 feet, which is used for 
storing purposes. He also owns a hardware store at Groton, under the 
management of F. E. Crawford, which was established in 1898, and is 
doing a thriving business. There is not a more enterprising business 
man, nor one with greater commercial interests and activity than Mr. 
Rounds. His attention to the details of his business, his natural 
ability, and his honorable dealings have brought him prosperity and 
friends.  

Mr. Rounds was married in 1884 to Miss Margarette Park. Mrs. Rounds was 
born in Michigan, and her father was an early settler in Dakota. Their 
union has been blessed by the birth of one child, a daughter. In 
political sentiment Mr. Rounds is a Republican and takes a commendable 
interest in political affairs such as becomes a representative citizen 
desirous to promote the ends of good government, local as well as 
national. He was among Spink county's early deputy sheriffs, when that 
position was one requiring a degree of firmness and nerve not known in 
more cultivated localities. He served in that capacity four years. He 
is a Mason in good standing and a member of the Ancient Order of United 
Workmen and the Degree of Honor.