Fred M. Webb 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 578-579 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 FRED M. WEBB, proprietor of "The Leading Store," of Hitchcock, Beadle county, South Dakota, while not a pioneer of this region, deserves a place in any work devoted to the lives of leading men and prominent characters of central South Dakota. To his life, therefore, the following lines are most appropriate. Since 1887 he has been actively engaged in business in Hitchcock. With small capital and a light stock he was, at the beginning of his career here, brought in sharp competition with the old-established firms who had larger capital and carried heavier stocks, but by careful selection of a varied stock he managed ' to meet his competitors successfully. He gradually added to his wares and established himself stronger in the good graces of his patrons until he felt warranted in carrying a stock of clothing, dry goods and notions, and even a line of farm machinery, and so carefully had he gauged the wants of the people that his success has been steadily more apparent. He has in recent years been engaged also in handling beef cattle, and his reputation as a careful buyer and an honest seller has not suffered by his connection in this line. Mr. Webb was born in Green Lake, Ampule county, Wisconsin, July 28, 1860, the second in order of birth of a family of three children born to James and Mary A. (Davis) Webb, both of whom are still living in Wisconsin. Possessed of an active mind, our subject at the age of seventeen years determined to abandon the monotony of farm life. He studied telegraphy and secured a position on the Chicago & Northwestern railway, and was stationed at Green Lake, Wisconsin, for about seven years, and then entered the employ of the Wisconsin Central. Later he went to Syracuse, New York, and accepted a position with the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western. His last work as a telegrapher was at Hitchcock, South Dakota, at which place he resigned his position and entered upon his present business career, which he has pursued with such marked success. In political faith our subject adheres to the doctrines of the Republican party. He is an anti-suffragist and favors high license of the liquor traffic. He is a member in good standing of the Masonic fraternity, and, though a man of genial and sociable nature, he remains unmarried.