Biography of Percy R. Crothers

	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, 1898. Page 265.

	Scan and OCR by Joy Fisher, 1997. This file may be copied for non-profit 
	purposes. All other rights reserved. 



HON. PERCY R. CROTHERS, one of the leading farmers and stock raisers, 
and a prominent citizen of Kingsbury county, whose home is situated on 
the northeast quarter of section 19, town 102, R. 53, Badger township, 
was born in Adams county, Wisconsin, June 7, 1861.

	His father, Robert Crothers, was born near Belfast, Ireland, June 
24, 1818. In 1841, he and his mother came to America and located in 
Canada near the Vermont line and later moved to Connecticut, to work 
near Hartford. Six years later he returned to Canada, bought a farm and 
was married in 1850 to Miss Mary Corrigan, a native of Ireland, but 
living in Canada at that time. In 1856 he moved to Adams county 
Wisconsin, where he engaged in farming until 1 880, a and then moved to 
Volga, South Dakota. In the spring of 1881, he moved to Kingsbury 
county and settled on the northeast quarter of section 19, township I 
12, range 53, on which he had filed a homestead claim during the 
previous winter. He died in May, 1894. His wife, the mother of our 
subject, was born near Enniskillen in Ireland in 1 820, the youngest of 
a family of six children born to her parents. Her father was 
subsequently remarried, by which union six children were born. Mrs. 
Crothers came to Canada, in 1842 and made her home with her uncle, 
Thomas Ewing, until her marriage and is now living with her son.

	Percy Crothers, the subject of this sketch, is the youngest of a 
family of six children, four sons and two daughters. He was educated in 
the common schools of Wisconsin and came to South Dakota with his 
parents in 1880. December 29, 1885, he was united in marriage to Miss 
Carrie F. Spildee, of Kingsbury county, South Dakota, and located in 
the northeast quarter of section 30, township 112, range 53. Two years 
later he purchased his father's farm and removed to that which is still 
a part of his estate. Mrs. Crothers is the only child of Mr. and Mrs. 
John 0. Spildee, and was born at Lodi, Wisconsin, August 31, 1861. Her 
parents are natives of Norway, coming to America while young and 
settling near Lodi, Wisconsin, where they were married. They afterward 
removed to Wausau, Wisconsin, where they lived until 1883, when they 
came to Kingsbury county, South Dakota, and located on the southwest 
quarter of section 19, township 112, range 53.

	Since locating on his present farm, Mr. Crothers has placed upon 
it numerous improvements which have greatly increased its value. He has 
a comfortable and commodious home, barn, granary, and a good tubular 
well 370 feet deep, and containing 270 feet of water. He has also been 
an important factor in the organization and development of the township 
in which he lives, and has held several of the township offices. He is 
a strong believer in co-operation and has been instrumental in 
organizing several cooperative societies all of which have been very 
successful; among which are the Denver Mutual Fire Insurance Company, 
of Hetland, South Dakota, organized in June, 1894, and the Farmers 
Cooperative Association of Hetland, South Dakota, organized in March, 1 
896, and doing a business of general merchandising. He has been the 
secretary of the former society since its organization and is auditor 
of the latter company. He helped to organize the Populist party in 
South Dakota in the summer of 1890 and the following fall was elected 
state representative from his district. In the fall of 1892, he again 
received the nomination for this office but was defeated in the 
election by seventy-six votes. In the fall of 1894 he was again elected 
to the house by a large majority. During this session he showed such 
ability as a parliamentarian, together with his well-known loyalty to 
principle, that in the fall of 1896 he was unanimously nominated at the 
Huron state convention, for the office of lieutenant-governor. He was 
defeated by forty-one votes.

	In religious work Mr. Crothers affiliates with the 
Congregationalists and is a man who commands respect wherever he is 
known. He is a member of the National Aid Association and the A. O. U. 
W., in both of which he carries life insurance. He formerly held a 
membership in the Farmers' Alliance and Industrial Union, and for one 
year held the office of vice-president of same. He attended the labor 
conference held at St. Louis, Missouri, February 22, 1892, and also the 
World's Fair at Chicago, in 1893. At the same time he spent a month 
visiting with old friends at his former home in Wisconsin.

	Mr. and Mrs. Crothers are the parents of three children, whose 
names and ages are as follows: Harold M., aged ten years; Ralph L., 
aged eight years; and one child who died June 3, 1897, an infant, 
unnamed.