Faulk County, SD Biographies.....Moulton, C. C. 1835 - 1909
************************************************
Copyright.  All rights reserved.
http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm
http://www.usgwarchives.net/sd/sdfiles.htm
************************************************
File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com January 10, 2005, 12:15 am

Author: C. H. Ellis


    C. C. MOULTON. The records of the lives of our forefathers are of interest

to the modern citizen, not only for their historical value but also for the

inspiration and example they afford, yet we need not look to the past; although

surroundings may differ the essential conditions of human life are ever the

same, and a man can learn from the success of those around him if he will heed

the obvious lessons contained, in their history.



    One of the most successful men in Faulkton, South Dakota, was C. C. Moulton,

and through his entire business career he was looked upon as a model of

integrity and honor, never making a contract that he did not fulfill, and

standing as an example of what determination and force, combined with the

highest degree of business integrity can accomplish for a man of natural ability

and strength of character.



    Mr. Moulton was born in Hartford, Connecticut, December 3rd, 1835, and was

the son of Spencer and Cloe (Willingston) Moulton, the former a native of New

Hampshire and the latter of West Springfield, Massachusetts, where their

marriage was celebrated. Both were of English descent and belonged to families

which were founded in this country prior to the Revolutionary War, in which

struggle some of the ancestors of our subject, on the maternal side, took part.

The father was a paper and powder maker by trade, invented the machine for

sifting powder, used today, and was foreman in a powder mill at East Hartford,

Connecticut, for some years.



    Mr. Moulton was next to the youngest in a family of twelve children and was

principally reared in Springfield, Massachusetts. At the age of eight years he

commenced attending the common schools of Boston, and remained in that city

until twenty-five years of age, which time was devoted to the study of

architecture with different contractors, as he was a natural builder.



    He then went to Springfield where he worked two years in the Wasson car

manufacturing shops, and at the end of that time embarked in business on his own

account, as a contractor and builder, being thus engaged in that city for

twenty-two years. The largest building he constructed was the Barney & Berry

skate factory at Springfield. He made the plans for the reform school in Hampden

county, Massachusetts. In July, 1861, he removed to Minneapolis, Minnesota,

where he erected the Kockendall building owned by H. W. Phelps, at a cost of

sixteen thousand dollars and during his stay there of two years he erected

several other expensive buildings.



    Mr. Moulton was joined by his family in Minneapolis in 1882 and in March of

the following year came to Faulk county, Dakota Territory, to recuperate and

locate his son, W. C. Moulton, on a farm. At that time Faulkton contained but

one store and there was no railroads west of Redfield. All of his goods and

supplies were hauled from Mellette, in Spink county, but in. two weeks from the

time he arrived at that place he had a six room house erected upon the land he

had entered in Faulk county.



    For two years he engaged in agricultural pursuits, and then removed to

Faulkton where he had since made his home, being engaged in loaning money and

looking after his property interests. Mr. Moulton had large interests in land

and houses which together with his money interests required careful attention.



    Out of sixty contractors in Springfield, Massachussetts, he and one other

contractor were the only ones who survived the panic of 1872, and were able to

meet all their obligations. He still owns a block of tenement houses and a store

building in that place, and for the past year the most of his time was spent in

the east visiting and looking after his many interests.



    In 1862 Mr. Moulton married Miss Susan C. Chapin who was born in Warehouse

Point, Connecticut, where her father, Henry Chapin, owned and operated the ferry

between Warehouse Point and Winsor Locks, but later was in the boot and shoe

business at Springfield, Massachusetts, where she was reared. Her early

ancestors were among the Puritans who came to New England in the Mayflower in

1620. She is of the ninth generation, in descent from Governor William Bradford

who was for thirty years governor of the Plymouth Colony.



    Of the children born to Mr. and Mrs. Moulton, only one, W. C. Moulton, is

living. He is married and has one child, and was in the employ of the Great

Northern railroad at Pipestone, Minnesota, for more than twelve years, and is

now located in the pleasant home upon his fine farm near Cresbard in this county.



    Since casting his first vote for John C. Fremont in 1856, Mr. Moulton was a

staunch supporter of the republican party and served as chairman of the first

republican county convention ever held in Faulk county. For two years he was a

member of the board of trustees of the state reform school and in the spring of

1898 was elected mayor of the city of Faulkton, an honor entirely unsolicited on

his part. The reins of city government were never in more capable hands, as he

was a public spirited and progressive citizens, willing to do all in his power

for the public good of the community.



    He was a member of the Masonic order since 1864 and formerly affiliated with

the Knights of Honor and the Knights of Pythias. At the age of eighteen he

united with the Methodist Episcopal church, but since coming to Dakota Territory

he was a. member of the Congregational church. He took an active part in

religious affairs, assisting in building the first church in Faulk county, and

served as superintendent of several Sunday schools. His, estimable wife also

took an active interest in Sunday school and Church work, and on account of

their sterling; worth and many excellences of character, both were held in high

regard. Mrs. Moulton is past department commander of the Woman's Relief Corps of

South Dakota.



    Mr. Moulton died at Springfield, Massachusetts, May 26th, 1909.





Additional Comments:
From:



HISTORY OF

FAULK COUNTY

SOUTH DAKOTA

CAPTAIN C. H. ELLIS



TOGETHER WITH BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF PIONEERS AND PROMINENT CITIZENS



ILLUSTRATED

19O9

File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/sd/faulk/bios/gbs59moulton.txt

This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/sdfiles/

File size: 6.6 Kb