J. H. Treat 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 563-564

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

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J. H. TREAT, one of the oldest and most honored citizens of Faulk 
county, was born in Adrian, Michigan, August 6, 1840, and is a son of 
Titus H. and Mary S. (Haggeman) Treat, natives of New York state, where 
their marriage was celebrated. The mother was born August 24, 1814, and 
was a daughter of Joseph Haggeman, who was born in Holland, and came to 
this country at an early day. The paternal grandfather of our subject, 
Daniel Treat, was a distiller, but the father followed the occupation 
of farming throughout life, his home being in Michigan, whither he 
removed in 1832. In his family were six children, of whom our subject 
is the third in order of birth. 

In the common schools, near his boyhood home, J. H. Treat acquired his 
literary education, and upon his father's farm obtained an excellent 
knowledge of agricultural pursuits. As his father was an invalid, he 
remained at home until twenty four years of age, aiding in the 
operation of the place, and for the following four years he engaged in 
farming on his own account in Michigan. He was then employed in the 
railroad shops at Elkhart, Indiana, for thirteen years, after which he 
again followed farming in his native state for three or four years. 

In the spring of 1883 Mr. Treat came to South Dakota and located in the 
central part of Faulk county, where he took up government land, and 
erected thereon a claim shanty, 14x 22 feet, his property at that time 
consisting of a team and wagon and thirty dollars in money. At that 
time all supplies had to be hauled a distance of twenty-eight miles, 
the country roundabout was an unbroken prairie, and when Mr. Treat took 
up his residence here his was the only shanty in sight except one. In 
June, 1883, he was joined by his family, and they began life here in 
true pioneer style. After living in the central part of the county for 
seven years they removed, in 1891, to the northwest quarter of section 
10, township 119, range 68 west, to which our subject moved a house, 24 
x 24 feet, which he had purchased. He now owns a valuable farm of two 
hundred acres, on which is the finest spring in the county. He operates 
two hundred and forty acres, and is engaged in mixed farming, most of 
his land being devoted to the raising of grain. 

In 1877 Mr. Treat married Miss Helen L. Garvin, who was born and reared 
in Knoxville, Tenn., though her father, John Garvin, was a New 
Englander, as were her ancestors as far back as known. By trade Mr. 
Garvin was a cabinet maker, but during his residence in Michigan 
followed farming to some extent. Prior to her marriage Mrs. Treat 
engaged in teaching school for six years in that state and in Indiana. 

The children born to our subject and his wife are Anna C., who is now 
married and living in South Dakota; Theodore M.; Ervin T.; Laura M., 
and Bertha J. 
During a cyclone in June, 1897, Mr. Treat's barn was literally torn to 
pieces and the roof was blown off of his house, into which the rain 
poured steadily for two hours. The family then sought shelter at a 
neighbors. The damage done amounted to two hundred dollars. As one of 
the early settlers of the county, our subject has become a prominent 
member of the Faulk County Pioneer Society, which was organized June 
11, 1893, and served as its first president. He assisted in the 
organization of the county; helped to establish every school in his 
township, seven in all, and has taken a very active and prominent part 
in the development and upbuilding of this section of the state. 
Socially he is connected with the Ancient Order of United Workmen, and 
religiously he and his family are prominent members of the Miron 
Congregational church, of which he is one of the trustees. They all 
take an active part in church work and his son Theodore represented the 
Christian Endeavor Society at the national convention in Detroit. The 
family is well and favorably known and quite prominent socially.