Nicholas J. Schlachter 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 773-774 Scan, OCR and editing by Maurice Krueger,mkrueger@iw.net, 1998. This file may be freely copied by individuals and non-profit organizations for their private use. Any other use, including publication, storage in a retrieval system, or transmission by electronic, mechanical, or other means requires the written approval of the file's author. This file is part of the SDGENWEB Archives. If you arrived here inside a frame or from a link from somewhere else, our front door is at http://usgwarchives.org/sd/sdfiles.htm NICHOLAS J. SCHLACHTER. Prosperity that comes from honest effort is not combined in its beneficial effect to the one man who has so deservedly won it, but is partaken of by the entire community in a large measure, because an honest man in building his own fortune must in doing so share its blessings with those amongst whom he labors. The gentleman above named is. a prosperous lumber dealer of Gettysburg, and has acquired his property through honesty and good management. His home is. one of comfort and is near his business interests in the city. He is well known and enjoys the respect of his acquaintances. Mr. Schlachter was born in Sheboygan county, Wisconsin, in October, 1866. His father, Thomas Schlachter, was a native of Germany and came to America when about eighteen or twenty-two years of age, and married in New York, Mary Tinley, also a native of Germany who came to America about the same time, becoming his wife. When our subject was but two years of age the family moved to Sheboygan, from the farm near there, and the father engaged in several enterprises, including brewery, distillery and cooper shops. Our subject was the fifth in a family of nine children and was raised in Sheboygan and attended the schools of that city. At the age of fourteen years he worked in the ship yards and learned the carpenter's trade, serving nearly three years. He went to Blunt, Hughes county, South Dakota, in March, 1883, and his parents located on a farm in the northwestern part of Sully county, whereon our subject assisted in erecting a sod shanty, 16 x 26 feet, and sod barns, and remained with his parents on the farm three months. He then worked for the Van Dusen Elevator Company, building elevators and warehouses, and was foreman of a gang of workmen. During the summer of 1883 he helped to build the Beadle county court house, and worked all along the road from Pierre to Huron. He spent the winter months with his parents and the following spring began contracting and building at Fairbanks, Sully county. He spent most of the summer in Fairbanks, and then went to Fort Pierre and put up some of the first buildings erected in the town. He spent the remainder of the summer at Rapid City, and for the winter again went to his home on the farm. During the summer of 1885 he farmed with his father, and in 1887 took a pre-emption and the following spring proved up on his land and took a homestead. He farmed until the fall of 1888, when he moved some of the buildings from Fairbanks to Gettysburg, which he had erected in Fairbanks and on which he had not been able to collect his dues. He at one time had thirty-five men in his employ, while moving the buildings, and also engaged in contracting and building in Gettysburg. In 1889 he located permanently in Gettysburg and followed his trade for himself, and more than half of the buildings of that city are the result of his handiwork. He was also interested with his brother, Jerry Schlachter, in the raising of horses, and they made a success of that line. In September, 1895, our subject shipped one car load of lumber into Gettysburg and started a lumber yard, but in order to be recognized by the wholesale dealers it was necessary for him to have at least five car loads of material as a basis for his business. He had not the capital with which to make such a purchase, and a few of the wholesale dealers risked a fine which was liable to be imposed upon them by the association to which they belonged, and sold him the required amount. After a bitter fight he was recognized as a retail dealer in that commodity and his business success was assured. He used his old carpenter shop as a lumber office and warehouse, and still retained his carpenter work until 1896. He now has the largest lumber yard in the town and does an extensive business, shipping about four hundred car loads of lumber, lime and brick per year. One freight bill amounted to eleven hundred dollars, and he handles more cash than many of the business houses of the county. His dry-room or lumber room is 30 x 300 feet, and he draws trade from Blunt. Pierre. and as far west as one hundred and fifty to two hundred miles and north on the Missouri river. His residence, located across the street from his lumber yard, is a commodious structure, 30 x 38 feet, and affords more than usual comforts. Our subject was married in January, 1894, to Miss Tillie E. Van Wald, a native of Wisconsin Mrs. Schlachter's father, Leon Van Wald, is a farmer and stock raiser and an early settler of Potter county. He is a native of Switzerland, and his parents were a mixture of German and Irish blood. Mrs. Schlachter settled in Dakota with her parents when she was but a young girl. Two sons have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Schlachter, as follows: Guy, born December, 1895, and an infant, unnamed, four months of age. Our subject is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Knights of Pythias, and Modern Woodmen of America. He is at present serving his second term as a member of the town board, and his present office holds until 1902. He is a Republican in political faith, and stands firmly for his convictions. He is a self made man and well merits his success, and the position he holds among the people of Potter county. He was a resident of that region from its ear]y settlement, and even prior to the survey of the county had taken up his residence there.