Biography of William Herbert Hawley

	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 270.

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



WILLIAM HERBERT HAWLEY is one of the veritable pioneers of Brookings 
county-one of those men who in the early days blazed the way through 
the virgin forest and over the trackless plain, that they might 
establish civilization and open new avenues of commerce and prosperity 
to the world. Mr. Hawley came to South Dakota in the seventies, and 
since that time has lived continuously in Brookings, or rather, about 
where Brookings now stands, for in the early days there was neither 
town nor sight of any. He was born in Faribault, Minnesota, December 
18, 1857, and is the son of Orville B. and Jennie (Leonard) Hawley. 
Orville B. Hawley is a native of Michigan. He removed from Brockport, 
in that state, to Minnesota in 1854, and is one of the oldest settlers 
of Faribault, where he still resides on a farm. Mr. Hawley is now 
seventy-one years of age. His father, Ebbin B. Hawley, was a native of 
New York, and was of remote Irish descent. He became a citizen of 
Faribault in the early days. Mrs. Jennie Hawley, the mother of our 
subject, was born in the Empire State. She died upon the farm near 
Faribault in 1884, soon after passing her forty-seventh year. Mrs. 
Hawley was the mother of four children now living: Ebb B., of Clear 
Lake, South Dakota; William Herbert, the subject of this sketch; 
Nettie, who is now Mrs. W. F. Durland, and lives in Bruce, South 
Dakota, and Charles E., of Estelline, South Dakota. William obtained a 
good education in the public schools of Faribault, and when twenty 
years old began farming for himself. In the spring of 1878 he came to 
Brookings county, and secured homestead and tree claim in Preston 
township. These were indeed early days in South Dakota. Very few white 
people were to be found in the county then, and those who had the 
hardihood to venture into the new land were certain to undergo all the 
perils, tribulations and hardships which are notoriously a part of the 
pioneer's life. The nearest market and railway station was Gary, some 
forty-five miles to the east, and whenever supplies or provisions of 
any kind were required this long journey must needs be undertaken. 
Water was at times scarce, droughts occasionally threatened the crops, 
the grasshopper plague was still a very vivid memory, and taken as a 
whole, the prospects were certainly such as would cause a stout heart 
to quail. Not so with Mr. Hawley, however. He had come to South Dakota, 
and he determined to stay it out, no matter what the consequences. Such 
admirable resolution would almost fructify a desert, and 'tis said, 
“where there's a will there's a way." Hence it is that Mr. Hawley made 
a success of his farm, and that instead of a habitation in the 
wilderness, it became one of the richest and best yielding farms to be 
found in the early times.

	Farming continued to be Mr. Hawley's occupation until 1891, when 
he rented his fine country property and removed to Brookings, having 
been elected sheriff of Brookings county, the November previous. After 
a very satisfactory administration of four years in this office Mr. 
Hawley engaged in the real-estate business in Brookings, handling both 
his own property and that of others. He possesses the only complete set 
of abstract books of Brookings county. They were partially prepared by 
Mrs. Hawley, who is extraordinarily clever in clerical capacities. Mrs. 
Hawley was formerly Miss Lettie M. Whiting, and was married to Mr. 
Hawley in January, 1894.  She is one of the best abstractors in the 
state, showing great ability where careful work and absolute accuracy 
are requisites. Mrs. Hawley was born in Dodge county, Minn., and is the 
adopted daughter of C. E. Couse, a prosperous business man of De Smet, 
South Dakota. Mr. Hawley has been a member of the People's party since 
the inception of the movement, and is very active in political affairs. 
He is now serving a term as justice of the peace in Brookings. Mr. 
Hawley belongs to several secret and benevolent orders, among them the 
Masonic fraternity, in which he has attained to the blue lodge and 
chapter. Mr. Hawley's career has been one plentifully sprinkled with 
both the joys and sorrows of this life, its tribulations and its 
successes, and through all his indomitable pluck, ready resource and 
natural ability have been apparent, and no task has seemed too 
difficult for him and no misfortune too great to surmount.