Fred Wilson 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 832-835

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

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FRED WILSON, an extensive sheep grower of Beotia township, and one of 
the prosperous land owners of that locality, is among the first 
settlers of Spink county, and as such has been enabled to aid 
materially in transforming the wild lands of that portion of the state 
into the present thriving agricultural district which now charms the 
eye. No member of his community is more deserving of praise for 
energetic efforts expended for the welfare of Spink county than Mr. 
Wilson. His fine estate is located amid pleasing surroundings, and he 
is enjoying his hard earned success in a fitting manner. A portrait of 
Mr. Wilson is shown on another page of this volume. 

Our subject was born in Yorkshire, England, in 1862. His father, John 
Wilson, was a native of Bardsley, England, and his mother, whose maiden 
name was Horner, was a native of England. The paternal grandfather of 
our subject was a day laborer, and the maternal grandfather was a 
farmer. Our subject was reared in his native place, and his educational 
advantages were of a limited nature. When but a small boy he worked for 
four cents per day, keeping crows from the crops, and would lead the 
front in plowing all day for the same amount. At the age of fourteen 
years he left the home and went to work at sixty dollars per year, an 
excellent wage for the time, but he was possessed of a fine physique, 
and strong and could command the highest wages to be had. 

He accompanied his father to America at the age of eighteen years, the 
father returning to his native land after a six months' visit, and our 
subject apprenticed to the carpenter's trade. His employer retired 
after he had been with him one year, and our subject did not complete 
his apprenticeship. He worked at the trade for about four months for 
the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad Company, near Madison, Wisconsin, 
after which he went to Spink county, in 1882, and took government land 
on the northeast quarter of section 4, in Benton township, taking the 
land as a preemption. He built a sod shanty 8 x 12 feet, inside 
measurement, and he and three companions lived in bachelor quarters 
until July, when the companions left our subject alone on the farm. 
When he went to Dakota he had but one horse, bought an interest in a 
breaking plow, and his partner owned two horses, thus completing a 
three horse breaking outfit. They engaged in this work and our subject 
received one-third of the funds thus earned. The first year he broke 
twelve acres on his own land and in the fall proved up on his pre-
emption. He took the northwest quarter as a homestead, and in 1884 
purchased the southwest quarter of section 35, in Beotia township. He 
erected a board shanty on his homestead, where the family lived for 
three or four years, and about ten years since he erected a comfortable 
residence. His shanty was threatened by prairie fire in 1882. His 
buildings are of a substantial construction, and are built with a view 
to the proper care of the crops and stock. He has one sheep barn, 20 x 
54 feet, one 32 x64 feet, a barn 26 x 64 feet, one granary 22 x 24 
feet, 10 feet high, and one 12 x 16 feet, 12 feet high. Wheat has 
yielded thirty bushels per acre, and in 1892 he raised six thousand 
bushels of wheat, twelve hundred bushels of flax, and twenty-four 
hundred bushels of oats. He has engaged principally in wheat and sheep 
raising, and now has three hundred grown sheep, and has also thirteen 
pure bred short horn cattle, and keeps four or five head of other 
breeds. He has six hundred and forty acres of land, plenty of 
machinery, horses, and the other adjuncts of a model farm, including 
three windmills. Two of his three pastures are fenced with a woven wire 
fence, and afford a fine grazing ground. He takes great interest in his 
sheep industry, and has the best bunch of sheep to be found in the 
state. At the state fair his sheep were given the following prizes; of 
class fifty-five, pure bred Cots-wolds: 

Ram, one year old, first and second prize. 
Ram, two years and over, first and second prize. 
Ram lamb, first prize. 
Ewe, two years and over, first and second prize. 
Ewe, one year old, first and second prize. 
Ewe lamb, first and second prize. 

Of the grand sweepstakes the following: 

Best ram, any age or breed and three of his get, first prize. 
Ram, one year old, first prize. 
Ewe lamb, first prize. 

The first week our subject was in Dakota he lived on crackers, the only 
food available, as there were no provisions to buy and nothing to cook 
with. When coming to the farm with their effects the wagon got stuck in 
mud and the goods had to be unloaded and the wagon pried up before 
proceeding to the home. 

Mr. Wilson has been a central figure in the development of the county 
where he has passed so many years, and takes an active interest in 
matters of local import. He has held various local offices and has been 
constable and road supervisor, discharging the duties in an able 
manner, and gaining the confidence of all. In political sentiment he is 
a Populist, and adheres firmly to reform principles.