Biography of Ell Nathan Aldrich

	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. Pages 403-404

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


ELL NATHAN ALDRICH, a successful business man of Brookings, South 
Dakota, was born in Sparta, Wisconsin, October 7, 1868. He is a son of 
Nathan B. and Eleanor J. (Hoyt) Aldrich. Nathan B. Aldrich was born near 
Boston, April 28, 1828, and removed from thence to Bakersfield, Vermont, 
and was married there March 30, 1852, and soon after went to Wisconsin, 
making the journey there by the way of the lakes, crossing to the 
Mississippi river, where he took a boat to La Crosse, which then 
consisted of a single house. From there he drove to Sparta, where a 
single log building answered for tavern, store and postoffice. Here he 
and his brother-in-law built a sawmill and sawed out the lumber for the 
first frame buildings in Sparta, one of which was his residence. He pre-
empted a farm, which he cultivated and improved for a number of years, 
and later operated a dray line in Sparta, and is now a resident of that 
place, where he is living in retirement. N. B. Aldrich enlisted at 
Tomah, Wisconsin, in 1861, in Company D, Twenty-fifth Wisconsin 
Volunteers, and served until the close of the war. He participated in 
the Vicksburg campaign and in Sherman's Atlanta campaign and the 
subsequent march to the sea. When within sixty miles of the coast he was 
obliged to go to the hospital. Although he received no severe wounds 
throughout the conflict, when he reached home his health was almost 
undermined. Mrs. E. J. Aldrich is still living. She was born October 23, 
1826, at Bakersfield, Vermont. Her mother, whose maiden name was Tyler, 
was a first cousin of John Tyler, president of the United States. Mrs. 
Hoyt removed to Sparta with three of her sons at the same time that Mr. 
and Mrs. Aldrich came. The ancestors of both families are supposed to 
have participated in the Revolutionary war.

	E. N. Aldrich, the subject of this sketch, attended the high 
school of Sparta, and completed the course in 1886, when he at once 
entered a drug store, where he was engaged in the capacity of clerk two 
years. He then took charge of a drug store at Waupun, Wisconsin, two 
years, and in 1890 went to Howard, South Dakota, where he was employed 
in a drug store three months. He next came to Brookings and entered the 
store of Mattice & Mattice, and at the end of eight months purchased the 
stock of his employers, and has ever since carried on the business, and 
although he has met with some serious misfortunes, his business has been 
steadily prosperous, and he is now ranked among the substantial men of 
the place.

	Mr. Aldrich was married June 8, 1891, to Miss Frances Avis 
Rivenburg. They are both members of St. Paul's Episcopal church, of 
Brookings, and move in the best circles of society. Mr. Aldrich is a 
Mason, holding membership in the blue lodge, the chapter and commandery. 
He is also a member of the Brookings band, formerly First Regiment band, 
of South Dakota, in which Mr. Aldrich plays the tuba. In the Brookings 
orchestra he plays the double bass. He is also a member of the Brookings 
fire company. For five years Mr. Aldrich served as a member of Company 
I, Third Regiment, of the Wisconsin National Guards. Two years of this 
time he was orderly sergeant of his company.

	Mrs. F. A. Aldrich, wife of our subject, was born in Ripon, 
Wisconsin, and a daughter of Charles P. and Elizabeth J. (Walby) 
Rivenburg. Mr. Rivenburg's mother, whose maiden name was Amelia 
Parmesly, was a daughter of a Revolutionary veteran, and two of her 
brothers served in the Civil war. Seander P. Rivenburg, father of C. P. 
Rivenburg, also had two brothers in the Civil war. The Rivenburg family 
is of Dutch or Holland lineage, several generations having lived in New 
York. Mrs. Aldrich has enjoyed excellent educational advantages. After 
pursuing a scientific course at Ripon college, she was employed for six 
months in teaching at the Chicago Nursery and Half Orphan asylum. Her 
voice has been thoroughly trained, and she has developed extraordinary 
musical and elocutionary ability. She spent one season in a tour with 
Miss Ellen Beach Yaw, through the principal cities of Wisconsin and 
Illinois. Since coming to this state her talent has been highly 
appreciated, and she has taken part frequently in public entertainments 
at different places. She is also a naturally talented artist and has 
taken lessons in china painting. She has executed a number of choice 
pieces of painting on canvas, which excite the admiration of all 
beholders.