M. A. Schaefer 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 509-510

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

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M. A. SCHAEFER, one of the enterprising merchants of Wessington 
Springs, South Dakota, until recently engaged in agricultural pursuits, 
has built up a large and very extensive business by his own energy and 
enterprise, and gained a most enviable  reputation for his business 
ability and honorable, straightforward dealings.  

Mr. Schaefer is a native of Wisconsin, his birth having occurred in 
Dane county, in 1855. His  parents were both born in Germany and came 
to America about 1830 or 1835. They located in  Dane county, Wisconsin, 
in 1840, among its early settlers, and there the father engaged in  
farming. Our subject was reared under the parental roof, and after 
attending the public schools  until seventeen years of age, became a 
student in the high school of Columbus, Wisconsin. He  also spent two 
terms in a business college. He then learned the carpenter's trade, at 
which he  worked near his home for four years, and later was employed 
as a street car conductor in  Milwaukee, Wisconsin, for three years.  

In 1878, Mr. Schaefer was united in marriage with Miss Maggie Pope, who 
was also born in Dane  county, Wisconsin, of German parents. During her 
childhood the family removed to Minnesota,  where she was reared on a 
farm. Our subject and his wife have become the parents of six children,  
namely: Josie, died in 1887; Gertie, Bert, Ethel, George and Roy. With 
the exception of the eldest,  all were born in South Dakota.  

It was in 1882, that Mr. Shaefer came to what is now Jerauld county, 
but at that time formed a part  of Aurora county, South Dakota, and 
located on the northwest quarter of section 10, Chery  township, as a 
homestead. For about a year he lived in a shanty, 8 x 12 feet, while 
his stock was  sheltered in a sod barn. There was only one building in 
sight when he located here, but within a  year the county had become 
quite thickly settled. He killed three deer in Chery township, and  
antelope and smaller game were very plentiful. Mr. Schaefer brought 
with him to the county twenty head of cattle and one pony, and while 
living on his farm was principally engaged in stock raising, making a 
specialty of Hereford cattle. He still owns that place, consisting of 
three hundred and twenty acres, of which one hundred and forty are 
under a high state of cultivation, and the remainder pasture land. The 
first spring he spent in Dakota, he came very near having all his 
possessions destroyed by the prairie fires, and in the fall of 1887 he 
lost one hundred tons of hay in that way. On the 12th of January, 1888, 
while et the barn, a blizzard came up. He started for the house, but 
became lost and soon found himself at the barn again, where he decided 
to remain until morning. Many were the trying experiences of a similar 
kind that the early settlers were called upon to endure.  

Politically, Mr. Schaefer is a stanch Populist, and a recognized leader 
in his party in the community. In the fall of 1890, he was elected 
county commissioner, was reelected and served two years on his second 
term when elected to the office of county treasurer, in 1894, at which 
time he resigned the former office. He and his family then moved to 
Wessington Springs, where he erected a pleasant residence. He was 
reelected county treasurer in 1896, and served in that position for 
four years with credit to himself and to the entire satisfaction of his 
constituents. While living on his farm he held some township office 
almost continuously, and has been a delegate to several of the county 
and state conventions of his party. On the 10th of June, 1897, he 
established a drug and general mercantile store in Wessington Springs, 
where he brought the stock of R. C. Smith, and now handles principally 
drugs and enjoys a liberal share of the public patronage. As one of the 
oldest settlers of the county, he assisted in its organization, and has 
since taken an active and prominent part in promoting its interests. 
Socially he is a Master Mason and a member of the Modern Woodmen of 
America, in which he carries a two thousand-dollar life insurance.