Jerauld County, SD History .....Chap 9, 10; Part Two ************************************************ 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 February 28, 2005, 11:25 pm Chapter 9. The returns having been received from the special election held April 26th, 1884, in the three school townships numbered 13, 14 and 15 (Chery, Media and Anina) the board on the 1st of May resolved itself into a canvassing board. The results in the different townships was: No. 13— Director—C. W. Hill. Clerk—P. B. Davis. Treasurer—Michael Schaefer. Name—Chery, 17; Turtle Valley. 15. The name was in honor of Mr. C. M. Chery, a veteran of the civil war, one of the early settlers of the township and a man respected by all who knew him. No. 14— Director—A. S. Beals. Clerk—E. L. DeLine. Treasurer—Theo. Dean. Name—Center. 12; Emma. 10; Templeton. 2. No. 15— Director—Orzo Kellogg. Clerk—Alonzo Cady. Treasurer—S. S. Moore. Name—No choice. Four votes were cast for "Butler," four for "Prospect" and one for ___. This result placed the duty of naming the township upon the county commissioners. When the matter was brought up the next day Commissioner Melcher remarked, "Four and four make eight and one is nine, let's name it Anina." The naming of townships was again before the board on the 7th of July. The territorial auditor to whom the names had been certified, had for various reasons rejected several and the commissioners were instructed to substitute. They named 106—66 Crow Lake, instead of Custer; 107—66 Pleasant, instead of Pleasant Valley; 106—67 Blaine, instead of Lincoln; 106—67 Logan, instead of Lake; 107—65 Media, instead of Center. Thereafter the townships of the county were referred to by their names instead of numbers in official proceedings. In the summer of 1883 John Lawton settled on the NW quarter of section 20, in Harmony township. With him was his wife and five children. In the fore part of April, 1884, several members of the family were taken ill. The disease soon developed into diphteria. The house was the ordinary claim shanty, everywhere found in those days and the means of caring for the sick were extremely limited. Because of the dangers of spreading the terrible contagion the neighbors shrank from visiting them. Almost alone and unaided the mother saw her husband and children sicken and die. A young man named Anson Beals, living on the NW of section 30, of the same township, with a courage that won the admiration of all, gave his entire time to caring for the stricken family. He cared for the living and buried the dead. When the malady had run its course five new made graves, but a short distance from the shanty, marked the resting place of as many members of the family. May 1st, the matter being brought to the attention of the board of commissioners, Mr. Fischer and Sheriff Spears were appointed a committee to investigate the case and make report. They reported on the 9th that they had inspected the premisses and found that all of the members of the family were dead but two, Mrs. Lawton and one little girl had escaped the disease. They had instructed Anson Beals to burn the building and contents, which had been done. They estimated the property to be worth $50. The board issued a warrant to Mrs. Lawton to compensate her for the loss of the property. At the special session on the 2nd of June, 1884. the board ordered a warrant for $35 drawn "in favor of Anson Beals as a partial recognition of his heroic services in caring for the Lawton family" and on Nov. 14 following the board rebated his tax for that year for the same reason. Neither the warrant nor the rebating taxes was intended as compensation for an act of such unselfish heroism, but only as an expression of the appreciation by the public of what the young man had done. On June 4th the commissioners appointed a board of insanity, composed of H. M. Rice, probate judge; A. M. Mathias, physician, and M. C. Ayers, lawyer. The appointment of this board was occasioned by the mental derangement of Emer Berjelland of Blaine township. Chapter 10. One of the most important sessions in the history of the first board was the one which began on the 7th day of July. In addition to road and bridge matters that occupied so much of their attention, the commissioners had before them the work of equalizing the assessment of the county. The board of equalization was formed on the second day of the session, Mr. Smart continuing as chairman. The first act of the new board was to exempt from taxation the property of Lettie Berjelland, whose husband had become insane. Much of the land was still held under homestead pre-emption or timber culture entries and was not assessable. In the four villages of the county the most of the lots shown by the recorded plats were held by the townsite owners. In Wessington Springs, at the time of assessment, but 60 lots had been sold, the balance being assessed to Scott, Burr, Bowen and Barrett. In Alpena but 30 lots had been sold, the remainder standing in the name of the C. M. & St. P. Ry. In Waterbury 32 lots had been sold, all the others being assessed to E. S. and D. H. Waterbury. Sulphur Spring was all assessed to Burrpee, Miller and Cooley, the townsite company, except five lots that had been sold. The highest assessments in Alpena on town lots were on two lots. $350 each; one being lot 7, block 8, owned by the railway company, and the other lot 14, in block 3, owned by F. W. Whitney. In Wessington Springs the highest assessment on a single lot was $625 on lot 16. block 9, owned by Sarah L. Barrett. Lots 12, 13 and 14 in block 11, owned by L. H. Tarbell, were assessed together at $2300. The highest valuation put by the assessor upon single lots in Waterbury was on lots 17 and 18 in block 3, both owned by H. M. Rice. Two hundred and thirty dollars on the hotel property, lot 8, in block 6, owned by C. A. Conrad and R. A. Wheeler, was the highest real estate assessment in Sulphur Springs. In the various townships of the county the highest valuations were as follows: In Alpena township the following lands were valued at $600 each: Edward Barnes, NE of 14. Fred Gewald, SE of 14. James Gregory, N 1/2 of SE 15. Dan A. McKay, NW of 24. Isaac Pearce, SE of 24. Blaine—NE of 17, $900, tax $27.27, owned by John Ahlers. Franklin—SE of 14, $650, tax $9.95, owned by Andrew Hessdorfer. Viola—NE of 30, $1135, tax $40.07. owned by J. A. Tyner. Wessington Springs—NW of SW W half of NW and NE of NW of 7, $1,000, tax $35.30, owned by Harmon E. Clendening. Dale—21 quarters were assessed at $500 each, the tax was $22.65 per quarter. Anina—SE of 18, $1,000, tax $30.30, owned by Joseph Motl. Media—NE of 7, $2600, tax. $73.58. owned by J. N. Cross. Chery—NE of 19. $563, tax, $14.26, owned by Helen L. Thomas. Crow Lake—N half SW and N half SE of 23. $1500, tax, $22.95, owned by Vauren Dusek. Pleasant—SW of 18, owned by J. M. Maxwell, $950, and NW of 23, by J. E. Sullivan. Tax on each $28.79. Harmony—NW 18, $472, tax $7.21, owned by Robert D. Titcomb. Logan—SW 5, $652, tax $18.45, owned by James H. Young. Crow—SE 28, $723, tax $25.50, owned by F. Merwin. Marlar—SW 25, $510, tax $12.91, owned by J. W. Lamb. The total valuation in the various townships was as follows: Per. Prop. Real Prop. Total Blaine 19,647 18,590 38,237 Viola 22,522 12,825 35,347 Anina 19,013 5,550 24,563 Crow Lake 12,874 23,025 35,899 Logan 11,434 24,527 35,961 Franklin 16,282 10,000 26,682 Wessington Springs 22,733 27,590 50,323 Media 15,574 14,580 30,134 Pleasant 17,929 7,934 25,863 Crow 15,720 11,474 27,194 Alpena 19,753 27,976 47,729 Dale 8,892 13,850 23,742 Chery 18,729 21,437 40,166 Harmony 9,605 8,617 18,252 Marlar 9,702 4,217 13,919 Totals 241,809 232,222 474,031 The assessors' returns showed 1,111 voters in the county. The record shows that in Logan, Crow, Marlar, Harmony and Chery the board reduced the valuation of land owned by non-residents 10 per cent and that owned by residents 20 per cent. On July 12th the board settled with the treasurer and made the following report:: Receipts. Amount received from Ter. Treas. tax on C. M. & St. P. R. $26.71 By J. O. Gray, J. P. fine collected 1.00 Total $27.71 Expenditures. Amt. paid on warrant. No. 1 $6.34 Treas. Fees 1.10 Total $7.44 Balance on hand $20.27 On the first day of Sept., 1884, the board fixed the rate of taxation for the county as follows: Road fund, 2 mills. Bridge fund, 2 mills. County school fund, 2 mills. Ordinary county fund, 6 mills. Total, 12 mills. The Territorial tax had been already levied by the territorial officers. the amount being 3 1/2 mills. Anina township filed a petition on the 2nd of September, asking for civil township government. It was referred and never heard of again. On Sept. loth the board fixed the polling places and appointed the election judges for the first general election in the county. Again there was a complete change in the boundaries of the election precincts. The numbers were dropped and the precincts were designated by the names adopted for the school townships. Each precinct was named from the township in which the election was held. For this election the precincts and officers were as follows: Blaine—and all of Viola lying east of Firesteel creek, at residence of Joseph Steichen. Judges, J. M. Wheeler, C. C. Wright and M. W. Young. Franklin—and all of Wessington Springs, lying east of the Firesteel creek, at residence of Wm. Houmes. Judges, Owen Williams, Wm. J. Houmes and W. P. Pierce. Alpena—At F. W. Whitney's store. Judges, J. O. Gray. Wm. H. Arne and Chas. Eastman. Viola—That part of the township lying west of the Firesteel creek, at home of J. N. Smith. Judges, J. N. Smith, B. F. Gough, Jonas Tyner. Wessington Springs—All that part of the township lying west of the Firesteel creek, also the east one-half of sections 1, 12 and 13 of Media and all that part of Dale township lying west of the Firesteel creek, to be held at the court house (register of deeds office) in Wessington Springs. Judges, Wm. Hawthorne, M. C. Ayers and E. V. Miles. Dale—All that part of Dale and Chery lying east of the Firesteel creek, at residence of A. Mercer. Judges, A. Mercer, E. A. Palmer. O. W. Richardson. Anina—At home of Ozro Kellogg. Judges, A. D. Cady, W. R. Day. Media—All except that part given to Wesington Springs, at home of T. A. McGinnis. Judges, T. A. McGinnis, Geo. Bennett, W. I. Bateman. Chery—All except that part lying east of Firesteel creek, at home of C. W. Hill. Judges, C. W. Hill, J. W. McCullough, C. M. Chery. Crow Lake—At home of L. Deinderfer. Judges, Thos. Henning. John Conley, B. F. Jones. Pleasant—At home of O. E. Gaffin. Judges, O. E. Gaffin, S. Sowerwine, John E. Sullivan. Harmony—At home of I. N. Rich. Judges. I. N. Rich. Wm. Brimner, J. R. Eddy. Logan—Home of H. A. Robinson. Judges, Wm. Niemeyer, A. S. Fordham, J. B. Long. Crow—At office of A. Remington in Waterbury. Judges. Wilber N. Cross, H. E. Merwin, J. E. Herman. Marlar—At home of J. J. Groub. Judges, B. F. Marlar, J. W. Lamb, J. J. Groub. Acting on the advice of the attorney general of the Territory, the board on the 6th day of November fixed the length of the terms of their successors, giving the one receiving the highest number of votes the three year term; next two years and the lowest one year. This gave Mr. J. E. Sullivan the long term and Mr. Fischer the short term. The organization of the county was now complete. Nothing remained for the first board to do. On the 3rd day of January, 1885, the outgoing board settled with the treasurer and made report as follows: Receipts. Taxes collected $622.39 Expenditures. Receipts and warrants redeemed $64.22 Treas. Fees 24.89 Total $89.11 Cash on hand $533.28 Additional Comments: From "A History of Jerauld County; From the Earliest Settlement to January 15, 1909" by N. J. Dunham File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/sd/jerauld/history/other/gms96chap910p.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/sdfiles/ File size: 13.8 Kb