Henry S. Williams 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 415-416

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

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HENRY S. WILLIAMS. America owes much of her progress and advancement to 
a position foremost among the nations of the world to her newspapers, 
and in no line has the incidental broadening out of the sphere of 
usefulness been more marked than in this same line of journalism. South 
Dakota has enlisted in its newspaper field men of broad mental grasp, 
cosmopolitan ideas and notable business sagacity. Prominent among these 
men is Henry S. Williams, one of the well-known publishers of the 
"Daily News" of Aberdeen. 

He is a native of Oneida county, New York, born June 9, 1844, on the 
same farm where the birth of his father, Orsamus Williams, also 
occurred. The mother, Abigail (Hulett) Williams, was a native of either 
Oneida or Oswego county, New York. Upon the old homestead the father 
continued to reside until 1864, when he removed to Van Buren county, 
Michigan, and located on a farm, where he died in 1878. The wife and 
mother passed away in 1893. In their family were eight children, 
namely: Mrs. Adelia Nash; Sarah, Nelson and Elon, all three deceased; 
Henry S., our subject; Mrs. Laura Winters; James; and Mrs. Edna 
Castner. Of these children, Nelson was a soldier of the One Hundred and 
Forty-seventh New York Volunteer Infantry during the Civil war, was 
wounded at the battle of the Wilderness, and taken prisoner. For eight 
long months he was confined in Andersonville prison before being 
exchanged, and died a couple of years later from the effects of his 
imprisonment. 

Our subject was reared on the home farm in Oneida county, New York, and 
attended the academy at Whitestown, that state. In 1864 he accompanied 
his parents on their removal to Michigan, and assisted his father in 
opening up and improving the farm. He also taught school, and in this 
way paid his own expenses at Hillsdale College, where he completed the 
scientific course, and was graduated in the class of 1873. As he had to 
make his own way through school, he was older at the time of graduation 
than most young men who receive financial assistance in procuring an 
education. After leaving school Mr. Williams was elected superintendent 
of schools in Van Buren county, Michigan, and in 1876 was also elected 
county clerk for a four years' term. It is needless to say that his 
official duties were always most capably and satisfactorily performed, 
as he has always been found true to every trust reposed in him. While 
living in that state he engaged in farming to some extent, and in 
October, 1880, purchased "The True Northerner," a weekly newspaper, 
which he continued to publish until selling out and coming to Aberdeen, 
South Dakota, in June, 1882. 

Aberdeen was then quite small, containing but a few wooden houses, and 
there were only four or five ladies here when Mrs. Williams joined her 
husband in September. For the first winter they lived in two rooms over 
a store and had to pay fifteen dollars per month for the same. Our 
subject preempted one hundred and sixty acres of land in Brown county, 
and then entered the United States land office in Aberdeen as a clerk, 
in which capacity he was sent to the Watertown land office for the 
tract books and records belonging to the Aberdeen land office, a new 
land district having been formed out of the territory formerly 
contained in the Watertown land district. In the spring of 1883, he 
purchased the "Aberdeen Republican," which he published for about a 
year and then sold it to the present owner. In 1886 he was elected 
county treasurer of Brown county- a position he most creditably filled 
for four years. He purchased the "Daily News" in 1892, but the 
following year sold a half interest in the paper to C. J. McLeod and on 
the 1 5th of July, 1893, organized the "News Printing Company" as it 
now exists. He was vice-president of the First National Bank when it 
sold out March 1, 1899, and is also interested in real estate. 

On the 23d of December, 1875, Mr. Williams was united in marriage with 
Miss Ella L. Durkee, who was born in Paw Paw, Michigan, in 1851, a 
daughter of Elisha and Althine (Kilburn) Durkee, early settlers of that 
place. The father, who was a pioneer attorney of Paw Paw, died there, 
but the mother is still living. Mrs. Williams' maternal grandmother 
died in 1898, at the extreme old age of one hundred and two years. Our 
subject and his wife have two children: Harry S. and Winnie. In 
religious faith, Mrs. Williams is an Episcopalian. 

Mr. Williams is a charter member of the blue lodge and chapter of the 
Masonic order in Aberdeen, and has served as high priest of the latter, 
and as the first grand high Driest of the state of South Dakota. He has 
taken the thirty-second degree in that order and is a member of the 
South Dakota Consistory; Damascus Commandery, No. 10, K. T., in which 
he has served as eminent commander; and the Mystic Shrine at Sioux 
Falls. He also belongs to the Ancient Order of United Workmen, and is 
an active and prominent member of the Republican party in his locality. 
He is now serving as deputy postmaster of Aberdeen. He is, however, 
very popular with his fellow citizens who esteem him highly for his 
sterling worth, and he has a host of warm friends throughout Brown 
county.