B. F. Ruhlman 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 643-644

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

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B. F. RUHLMAN, a pioneer settler of Faulk county, and one of the few 
early settlers to remain to witness the transformation from a wild 
country to one of thrift and prosperity, is a native of Belvedere, 
Boone county, Illinois, and was born in 1860; His present home is on 
section 17, township 117, range 67, and he is surrounded by every 
comfort afforded by a rural home. 

The father of our subject, Frederick W. Ruhlman, was born in Saxony, 
Germany, and came to America about 1854. He was a cabinet-maker by 
trade, and served three years and eight months in the Civil war. He 
died in 1883, as the result of his imprisonment in Andersonville during 
that terrible struggle. The mother of our subject was a native of 
Germany and came to America with her stepfather about 1856, and married 
our subject's father near Watertown, Wisconsin, the same year. 

B. F. Ruhlman was the fourth in a family of seven children, and was 
reared in Belvedere, Illinois, attending the schools of that city. He 
learned the blacksmith's trade, and upon reaching his majority, left 
home and worked for the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad Company, as 
fireman, one year. He went to Faulk county, South Dakota, in the spring 
of 1883, and took land on the northwest quarter of section 14, township 
117, range 67. He and his partner erected a 6 x 12 shanty on the line 
between their farms, and our subject later erected an 8 x 12-foot 
shanty on his land. He and his partner, Chris Rothenberger, did 
blacksmithing in Redfield for six months in order to get a start, as he 
had -but seventy dollars in money when he left home. In the spring of 
1884 he, with his mother, brother and sister, moved on to the mother's 
place, the southeast quarter of section 15, township 1 17, range 67, 
and our subject erected a shanty and engaged in farming. He worked for 
his parents four years, and his first crop yielded four hundred and 
seventy bushels of wheat and two hundred bushels of oats. He started 
farming for himself in 1888, and in 1889 sold his homestead and took a 
tree claim. which he has since made his home, the southeast quarter of 
section 14, township 117, range 67. His farm comprises two hundred and 
forty acres, and he engages in stock and grain raising, cultivates 
about one hundred and twenty five acres, and has pasture and range, and 
keeps about twenty-five cattle. In 1 890 he lost half his crop by 
prairie fire. His buildings are complete in every particular, and his 
farm is one of tile best in the vicinity. When he located in Faulk 
county all of the settlers had shanties on their claims, but for 
company's sake many of them lived together. He found seven men living 
in one shanty and three in another, and of those ten men he is the only 
one now living in Faulk county. 

Our subject was married in 1889 to Anna Robertson, a native of 
Scotland. Mrs. Ruhlman's father, Andrew Robertson, came to America in 
1886 and settled in Dakota on a farm. Mr. and Mrs. Ruhlman are the 
parents of two sons, as follows: Robertson Frederickson, born April 11, 
1893; and Donald William, born September 15, 1894. Mr. Ruhlman was 
elected county assessor in 1890, and served during 1891-92. He takes an 
active interest in the affairs of his township and county, and is 
respected by a large acquaintance. He is a Republican in political 
faith, and stands firmly for his party principles.