Henry F. Stabnaw 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 1022, 1023

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

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HON. HENRY F. STABNAW, who is ably operating a fine farm in section 17, 
Portage township, is a man whose intelligence and true worth are well 
known to the residents of Brown county. He owns a tract of two hundred 
and forty acres, and the estate is one on which a remunerative business 
may well be done by one who devotes himself intelligently to his work. 
He is a man of quiet disposition, but in all matters of a public nature 
takes an active interest, and is ever ready to work for the upbuilding 
of the community wherein he resides, and is held in the highest esteem 
by his associates. 

Our subject was born in Sauk county, Wisconsin, July 13, 1860, and was 
the fourth in a family of twelve children born to Seigfried and Augusta 
(Saustro) Stabnaw, both of whom were natives of Germany. He was reared 
on the farm in Wisconsin and worked some at carpenter work, and, in 
March, 1883, went to Columbia, Brown county, and squatted on section 
17, township 128, range 60, his present farm, which was then 
unsurveyed. Eighteen dollars in money was the only resource he was 
possessed of and he was obliged to work out during harvest, threshing, 
to earn his livelihood in his little bachelor's den on his farm, 
returning east for the winter months, and it was not until 1887 that he 
settled on his farm permanently and entered into farming regularly. His 
present farm bears little trace of those ear]y times, and he now has 
commodious and substantial buildings, including a 16 x 24 foot 
residence, barns 26 x 36 feet and 16 x 24 feet, and windmill attached 
to a good well, and other conveniences for lightening the labors of 
farm life. He engages in diversified farming and has met with success 
in every branch of the work. 

Our subject was married in 1887 to Miss Augusta Klienschmidt. Two 
daughters have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Stabnaw, as follows: Eloda and 
Esther. Mr. Stabnaw has filled some of the offices in his township, 
including a member of the township. board and assessor and is earnest 
in his work. In the fall of 1898 he was the popular choice for state 
representative and while a member of the lower house introduced bill 
No. 173. He does not seek public preferment, being contented to pursue 
the even tenor of his way in an unassuming manner, but when the country 
needed his assistance he went into the work entrusted to him with 
earnest spirit and did very effective work while a member of the 
legislative body. He then returned to his farm life and is devoting his 
entire attention to the cultivation of his estate. Limited resources 
did not deter him from persistently working, and the success which is 
his at the present time is but the result of well-directed labor and 
indomitable will, supplemented by the dominant trait of character, 
which is a rich heritage, honesty. He is a striking example of what can 
be accomplished in a new country, without means, and nothing on which 
to depend other than the labor of his head and hand. He has certainly 
been a potent factor in the development of the physical resources of 
Brown county and is deservedly one of the substantial and respected 
citizens of his community. Portraits of Mr. and Mrs. Stabnaw are 
presented on another page of this volume.