Full Text of "75 Years of Sully County History, 1883 - 1958", pages 185 - 208. This file contains the full text of a part of "75 Years of Sully County History", edited by Mrs. E. L. Thompson. Scanning and OCR by Joy Fisher, http://www.rootsweb.com/~archreg/vols/00001.html#0000031 This file is part of the SDGENWEB Archives. If you arrived here inside a frame or from a link from somewhere else, our front door is at http://www.usgwarchives.net/sd/sdfiles.htm This book was produced by the Onida Watchman and is not copyrighted. Reproduction of all editorial and pictorial matter is explicitly permitted. Sully County In The Beginning It seems highly likely that the first men to ever visit Sully County was the Verendrye Party of 1743, who placed the historic tablet on the hill at what is now Fort Pierre. Fifty years later, Jacques d'Eglise, a Frenchman, working for the Spaniards, who then owned this area, was certainly in Sully County as he worked his way up the Missouri to trade with the Aricara and Mandan Indians. He had with him Pierre Garreau, who having some creditors in St. Louis, Missouri, whom he did not care to further encounter, stayed up the Missouri and undoubtedly Garreau was also, from time to time, in the county. When Lewis and Clark came up the river in 1804, they had enough trouble with the Tetons of Black Buffalo at Fort Pierre to make them very apprehensive of camping on the shore, and so as they passed by Sully County on the 29th and 30th of September and the 1st and 2nd of October, they camped on sand bars in the river, first near Okobojo Island, then in the Little Bend area below the Cheyenne, then over in Dewey County above the Cheyenne and finally near Artichoke Creek. It was the 1873 Legislature that went on a county making spree who, by Section 16 of Chapter 33 of its Session Laws, created Sully and named it for the fort which was located in the county which had been named for Captain Alfred Sully, then a general. Creating a county was about the easiest thing in the world to do and the legislature created so many that year that they almost run out of names. It was not until April 19, 1883, that Sully County was organized. On that day, Nathaniel H. Young, George J. Mille6 and Benjamin P. Hoover met at the home of F. M. Lovell, located on the Southwest quarter of Section 17, Township 113, Range 80 (this was just north of Okobojo Creek and close to the Fort SullY Reservation line and about two and a half miles up the Creek). They elected Millett, chairman; Hoover, temporary clerk, and adjourned to meet at Fort Sully on the 20th. On the 24th, Millett resigned and Young was elected chairman. They did little but meet and adjourn, but on May 14th, they met and elected George J. Millett, Jr. sheriff. That day a man named Agar, probably Charles H.-the record is silent--came in with a petition to name Onida as county seat. Onida did have a post office, Benjamin T. Brier had been appointed postmaster. This was quite a point in Onida's favor on that 14th day of May 1883. Despite the petition, which was duly filed, when they adjourned that meeting it was to meet at Clifton on the 23rd of May. They met at Clifton which they said was located on the W 1/2 SW 1/4 of 9-113-78, and that day they appointed J. A. Nelson, register of deeds; Henry Potter, assessor, and Charles H. Agar, treasurer, and then located the county seat of Sully County on Block 17 of Clifton, the plat for which had been duly registered in the office of the Register of Deeds of Hughes County a few days prior thereto. So finally Sully County was organized. The commissioners were the appointees of Governor Nehemiah H. Ordway who, in many a county had appointed men who would put the county seat where he directed and usually for his benefit, for he was an early bird getting himself, or his son George, in on the ground floor if at all possible. While the township line surveyors had been in the county prior to 1875, the first township to be subdivided into sections and quarter corners established was Township 113, Ranges 78. and 79 where Thomas R. Medary had completed the surveying in October, 1875. The next townships to be subdivided were not until 1881. When the surveyors arrived they found, in a few instances, some "sooners," people already squatting on the land. Late in August, 1882, they found two cabins located on 113-75; one on the SW of 20, and the other on the NE of 29. However, they did not record the names of the owners. In October, 1881, Miles T. Wooley had noted plowed ground on the SW of 35-114-74, the NE of 32, the SE of 29, and the NE of 29. Wooley noted a man named Stevenson living in an abode on the SE of 17. He also noted some sort of a structure, a dugout, shack or something on the NW of 28, SE of 29, SW of 33, SW of 34, SW of 27 and the SE of 35, thus indicating that the southern part of Pleasant Township had quite a few settlers, altho he named but one. Out in Township 114-89, now called Okobojo, H. C. Fellows, the surveyor, found Brennan's Ranch on the NW of 31, south of Okobojo, close to where the little town of Okobojo existed for many years. All this happened between September 25 and 28, 1882. There were a pair of parallel roads running north up to Section 6. This same H. C. Fellows had surveyed Township 114-80 in September, 1881, where Sully Buttes are located, and there had not only located the'main road running NE and the telegraph line north from Fort Sully, but J. B. Vincent on the NW of 36 with some plowing adjacent to his residence. Thus we have Vincent and Stevenson in the county, at least in 1881. Others in the county, who were there when the surveyors arrived, were Claymore, on the SW of 19 in Little Bend, found by George A. Fessenden in July 1884, and probably there for a long time before that; Henderson on the NE of 4; A. Runyan on the NE of 9, and another Runyan on the SW of 10 in 115-82 up in the Little Bend area. Up near Archichoke Buttes, in 11674, H. C. Fellows, when surveying that township in October, 1882, located Vance Pearman near the river in Section 18. Fessenden had noted a building and some plowing in the SW of 34-116-82 in June, 1884, and a man named Rice close to the river on the NW of 32, just about as far up in the bend as a man could go without a boat. The surveyors led a hum-drum life at best and when they could site a dugout, or a bit of plowing they put it right down to the nearest chain and link. If any one was home they took his name and if he knew who lived on some of the other locations, they also recorded that information. These early records, which we have on maps and on micro-film, are very enlightening. They do not furnish evidence of when a man came to the country, but they are about as good evidence that he was in the country on a certain day as can be found. - By Will G. Robinson, state Historian. Attributes and Location Sully County is situated on the east side of the Missouri River in the south central portion of Dakota, and was conceded to be the most beautiful country in this great territory-a distinction of which it may well be proud. It contains some 800,000 acres of as fine agricultural and grazing lands as the sun ever shone upon, only awaiting the plowman and stockgrower to fill their pockets with easily made wealth and their hearts with content. Sully County is better watered than many parts of the West, having the Okobojo Creek, Medicine Creek, Spring Creek, Cow Creek and the Artichoke, besides its western boundary being washed for some forty miles by the mighty Missouri. Also, the great advantage of being located in the rain belt of the great Missouri Valley. Many wells of good water are found, varying from eight to thirty feet. The surface of the country is beautiful to behold, rolling just enough to afford an excellent drainage. The soil is a deep vegetable mould, very rich in the elements which produce wheat, oats corn, flax and many other grains in their highest perfection and greatest abundance. Much of the stock run at large with neither food nor shelter, other than that offered by the prairie and the canopy heaven-Sully County. Beginning of Free Education In the beginning of our national public school system, equal privileges of education for everyone was bitterly contested. That is difficult to understand today with our sincere interest in every phase of education for the children of our nation and community. In 1883, the first man who had the courage to openly address an audience in favor of public schools was arrested and thrown into jail. Persecution was the fate of many of those heroes of the past who dared to speak out for progressive, free education for rich and poor alike. However, a seed was planted, nourished and grew; and how it has grown, until today every locality shows the results and achievements of those early advanced ideas. The early settlers realized that education was essential, along with so many other first needs, and they never hesitated or wasted time in establishing schools for their children. Early Sully County Education When Sully County was organized early in 1883, David Staples, of Llewellyn Park Township, was appointed superintendent of schools at a salary of $150.00 a year. The first school election was on August 15, of that year, to elect township officers and to adopt township names. Superintendent Staples called a meeting of newly elected school officers and interested citizens to meet at Clifton on October 27, to adopt uniform textbooks and discuss other school needs. Many of those first books were whatever the home and community could provide. The first schools in Sully County were at Clifton, organized in November, 1883, with Mrs. V. M. McFall as teacher; Okobojo, January, 1884, with Miss Ethel Colby as teacher, and Onida, in 1884, with Miss Emma Jeffers as teacher. David Hall also started a school in his home for the children of Blaine Township in the spring of 1884. The terms were short, usually three or four months either fall or spring or a short period both seasons. Thus education was on its way in Sully County. After completing organization of the county, a regular election of county officers was held on November 4, 1884. At that time Loren D. Carr, of Buffalo Township, a younger man, was elected county superintendent. Much credit and honor is due Superintendent Staples during the two years that he held office. He assisted. in establishing new schools and finding the most qualified teachers; interpreted new laws, rules and regulations; encouraged districts to organize and build, and assisted in obtaining sufficient supplies and furnishings. All this, he did, with a meager salary, no office, nor suitable record books or expense allowance. He gave his best to educational development in our young country. Staples died April 1, 1888, and was buried in the Okobojo cemetery. Superintendent Carr organized the first Teachers' Institute at Clifton in July, 1885. These meetings were training sessions for the teachers and most valuable in gaining more knowledge of subject matter and learning better teaching methods. In 1886, the institute meetings were held in Onida. [photo - First Schoolhouse in Sully County, 1883. Mrs. V. M. McFall, teacher. [photo - Teachers' Institute, Onida, September, 1888. Left to right - Andrew McFall Mrs. Pratt, Coe Byrum, Unknown, J. Livingstone, C. L. Howard, Jonathan Owen, Unknown, Mrs. F. M. Chamberlain, Mrs. McFall, Millie Beach, Mrs. J. B. Gleason, Mr. Pickert, Flora Graham, Mrs. E. E. Brooking, Delle (Finch) Weed, Wilbur Eakin, Hattie (Hunt) Doner, Maude (Hunt) Anderson. Unknown, Mrs. J. F. Cole, Linnie Cole, Maud (Cole) Garner, J. M. Porter, Lena Greer, Azelia Owen, Unknown, L. D. Carr, Mabel Mills, John Livingstone, Lois (Spencer) Houck, Charlie Meloon, DeEtte Lillibridge, Reno Livingstone, Unknown, Jennie Scott, John McCray, Leon French, Mrs. Mercer and Miss Helm. On roof - H. D. Enoe, C. W. Johnson, Unknown.] J. M. Porter was elected superintendent in 1889. South Dakota became a state that year and adopted a new course of study. It then became Superintendent Porter's responsibility to interpret and introduce this new course of study. Shortage of funds was always a problem and in 1891, when it looked as though there was no money to hold the institute meeting, a request was made to the State Department of Education to allow Sully County's own Mrs. V. M. McFall to conduct the meeting. This was granted, and the following year, when Mrs. McFall became county superintendent, the appointment was given to Porter to conduct the meetings. So by conservative ingenuity, the institute meetings were continued through the years. In 1892, when Mrs. McFall was county superintendent, a new and better course of study was published, and under her guidance and helpfulness, was introduced to the teachers throughout the county. By means of horse and buggy transportation, the various superintendents faithfully visited every school in the county at least once. During Mrs. McFall's term of office, $15.00 per quarter was added as expense allowance towards the cost of maintaining the office in her home. This plan continued until 1911, when the court house was completed. [photo - Mrs. V. M. McFall Sully County's first teacher at Clifton, 1883, and County Superintendent from 1892-1896.] [photo - Teachers' Institute, 1903. Front row, left to right -Arthur Livingstone, Bess Gropengieser, Otto Comstock and Frank Hyde. Second row - Clara Harris, Eda Persson, Sadie (Nystrom) Lein, Blanche Nelson, Kathy Ternmey, unidentified, Elva (Hyde) Nelson, Matilda Peterson, Mr. Ripperton, unidentified, AlvinMulligan and Luther Nelson. Third row-Minnie Livingstone, Francis Barber, Institute Instructor, M. A. Lange (Instructor), Jessie Livingstone, T. L. Mitchell, Mrs. Mitchell and baby and Mrs. V. M. McFall. Fourth row - Robert Courtney, Clara Morford, unidentified, Bessie Buck, Sadie Kane, Ellen Persson, Anna Persson, Florence (Atkinson) Groseclose, Ecaphine Bunch, unidentified, and Jessie (Chamberlain) Hunsley. Back row-Edna Clark, Emma Tagg, Marie Marso, Lulu (Schilling) Parker, Bertha (Adams) Haverly, Blanch (Bagby) Baker, Emma (Nelson) Lister, Mable (Finch) Arneson, Marion (Benson) Trumble, Nelle Castello and Louise (Haverly) Spencer.] Mrs. McFall purchased the horse formerly used by superintendents Carr and Porter as a means of transportation in visiting her county schools. This horse made the trip so many times through the years that Mrs. McFall often said he followed the trails and made various stops with little guidance. He was the pet of the children as well as a most faithful servant. [photo - Horse purchased by Mrs. McFall as a means of transportation.] Minnie A. Porter succeeded Mrs. McFall in 1897, and continued introduction of the grading system as provided in the course of study, and established the eighth grade examination. [photo - Eighth Grade Graduating Class, 1907. Miss Emma Nelson, superintendent. Front row, left to right-Leo Temmey and Bess Gropengieser. Middle row-Florence Jordan, May Gerlack, Ella Maxwell, Gertrude Holmes, Grace Dunlap and Frances Tagg. Back row-Bertha Shaver, Beulah Bagby, Addie Sorenson, Art Livingstone, Gladys Parker, Ernest Currier and Mary Gerlack.] Next in line as superintendent was Miss Emma Nelson in 1901. She made an interesting feature of eighth grade commencement exercises. During her term of office new studies of manual training and agriculture were added to the curriculum. [photo - Minnie Porter] [photo - T. L. Mitchell] T. L. Mitchell followed in 1909. During his administration Onida became an independent district and he became the first principal of Onida High School which was established that year. There were 57 schools in the county by 1909, with an average monthly wage of $48.00, and out of the 650 children of school age, 527 were enrolled. The Beadle Memorial Statue was unveiled as part of the ceremonies during the S.D.E.A. convention held in Pierre during November, 1911. Most of the schoolhouses became community centers for Sunday school, church services, literary socials and community celebrations of all kinds. Many school buildings were lost during these years because of the great fire hazard. After Statehood, the superintendent's salary was changed from $150.00 to $400.00 a year, and has gradually increased. In 1958, the salary was approximately $3400.00, plus benefits of expense accounts. Qualification for superintendency is now a bachelor's degree. At first, teachers salaries range from $20.00 to $35.00 per month. There was a gradual rise until in 1920, a maximum of $175.00 was reached. In 1950, the average salary was $2900.00 per year. The first institutes were held for two weeks and were in the form of a normal training course. In 1919, they met for only three days after school had opened in September. The term of school varied from 20 days to 120 days a year. In 1958, the terms are nine full months, or 180 days. Blaine was the first school in Sully County to receive state aid and gradually all the schools worked toward a qualified standard for state aid which helped to improve the quality of education in the county. [photo - John Schreiber School, 1907. Front row, left to right -John Schreiber, Jr., Dale Davis and Reid Davis. Middle row Arnold Schreiber, Helen Davis, Sybel Davis and Alma Schreiber. Back row -Frank Merrill (teacher), Fern Otto, Dora Westphal, Melvin Todd, Esther Schreiber, Charlie Todd and Sophia Schreiber.] Miss Jessie Livingstone began her term as county superintendent in 1913, and served four years. J. T. Hayes became her successor in 1917, and served two terms and also deputy for his successor, Miss Fern Barber. Hayes again became superintendent in 1923. Rural School Day was started in 1922, and is still an important event among the schools of the county. It is a well organized field and track meet for boys and girls, and provides excellent opportunity to widen friendships among students. The first meet was held at Blaine school on May 5, attended by about 300 patrons, teachers and students. The following schools and their teachers were present: Elk, Miss Martha Schock; Lake, Mr. Tegethoff; Lincoln, Mrs. John Quade; Summit, Miss Lena Shore, pupils of North school; Goodwater, Miss Lois Roach; Clifton, Miss Mildred Hanson and Miss LaVere Hyde; Buffalo, Miss Roivenac; Garner, Miss Elsie Byrum and Mrs. McQuire; Richvalley, Mrs. G. Fisher and pupil of Vetter school; Fairview, Miss Mildred Youngberg; Norfolk, Miss Mae Youngberg; Cora, Floyd Green; Pearl, Miss Melitta Osterkamp, and Blaine, Mrs. Mable Jack and Mrs. Ereka Eller. [photo - Jessie Livingstone] [photo - J. T. Hayes] [photo - Fern Barber] [photo - First Field and Track Meet, Blaine, 1922] The first committee to plan and help organize this event consisted of Mildred (Hanson) Sutton, Margaret (Hyde) Laughery and Elsie (Gustafson) Lein, Superintendent Hayes was the advisor of the committee. It is interesting to note that Joe Mendel took part in the seventh and eighth grade division at that first event, and was high point man for his age group. Superintendent Hayes and Luther Nelson acted as the first judges. Lincoln school won the greatest number of points that day, scoring 16. At one of the Rally Days in later years, 1928, the audience was entertained at a May Day festival, featuring the crowning of the May Queen and a "May Pole" dance, under the supervision of Mrs. Edward Klix. Airplane rides were also an exciting event that day. Rally Day has been a part of Sully County schools for 37 years, and the enthusiasm and eagerness shown each year at this annual event indicates that it is very likely to continue for many years to come. In 1928, Sully County won first on its school exhibits at the State Fair. The following year an exhibit was taken to the S.D.E.A. meeting in Aberdeen and was selected as the outstanding school display and sent to Japan. The students and exhibits sent included: American Doll - Cleo Eller, Patricia Nelson and Phyllis Allison; Penmanship---Elsie Wipf, Maurine Mendel, Albert Wipf, Ida Becker, Valentine Mendel, Ruby Warne and Velma Warne; Free Hand Cutting-Leonard Picolet, Lovena Harry and Kenneth Morgart; Y.C.L. Books-Edward McKeown, Donald Naughton, Vern Garrett, MurielJones and Pearl Robbennolt; Pastel CrayonKarol Hanson, Elvin Todd, Leland Tegland, Maurice Green and Alvin Thomas; Arithmetic Book - Charles Serbousek, Robert Blink, Bernice Serbousek, Velma Rans, Marvin Kennedy and Horton Rans; Loom Work-Wesley Probst, Helen Vetter, Dorothy and Cora Vader; Posters - Velma, Ruby and Walter Warne; Gesso Work-Katie Zeuge and Gustor Schroeder, and Basketry-Edna Unruh, Vance McKenney, Anna Wipf, Clara Wipf and Naomi Dwyer. [photo Henry Groseclose Children. Means of transportation to and from Lewellyn Park School, 1925] [photo - Students of North Troy School, 1930. Mrs. John Sutton, teacher. Left to right - Alvin Heien, Lauretta Heien (on horse), Lyle Merrill, Alma Heien, Vera Wagner (on horse) and Orville Wagner.] [photo - Students of South Troy School, 1943. Front row, left to right-Eugene Byrum, Alice Byrum, Raymond Wagner, Jim Sutton, Jr. and Maynard Wagner. Back row-Beverly Wilcox, Mildred Byrum, Velva Brehe, Mable Byrum and Wayne Teets.] [photo - Students of Wiedeman School, 1940. Front row-left to right-William H. Brandt, Jr., Gertrude Doerr and Raymond Doerr. Middle row-Darrell Mikkelsen, Jeannine Mikkelsen, Doris Brandt and Carolyn Doerr. Back row-Donald Brandt, Mrs. Frances Pierce (teacher) and Avis Brandt.] [photo - Students of North Troy School, 1943. Left to right -Lois Sutton, Ethel Heien, John Sutton, Jr., (Matt), Thelma Sutton and Velma Wagner.] [photo - Byrum School, 1938. Ednamae (Thomas) Day, tea6her. Front row, left to right - Leonetta Schlenker, Bob Spaid and Elliott Byrum. Back row-Phyllis Byrum, Erna Schlenker and Raymond Schlenker.] [photo - Students of Goodwater School touring State House, 1955. Left to right - Gov. Joe Foss, back row -Steve Goddard, Worth Carlson, Wayne Ferries, Sharon Tobin, Barbara Goddard, Sharon Edge and Shirley Edge. Front row Truman Goddard, Carol Edge, Carol Ferries, Gloria Goddard, Jerome Carlson, Sharon Beastrom, Connie Edge, Miss Maxine McGruder (teacher) and Senator Lee Warne.] Many extra curricular activities became an interesting part of rural school life, such as Y.C.L. conventions, spelling contests, music festivals, rural field and track meets and declamation and essay contests which all helped to create happy occasions in the school life of the country student, and at the same time improved school standards. Mrs. Elsie (Gustafson) Lein, daughter of pioneer homesteaders, began serving her term of office as county superintendent in 1933, and continued until 1937, when William Buol was elected to the office. County Superintendent Buol served Sully County faithfully and well from the time he was elected to that office, and is presently serving in that capacity. It is impossible to measure the value of such a dedicated person as Superintendent Buol and those faithful superintendents preceding him who served Sully Count. [photo - Elsie (Gustafson) Lein] [photo - Students of North Buffalo School, 1958. Front row, left to right-Jean Walters and Darlene Thomas. Back row - Edith Clark, Opal Campbell (teacher) and Barbara Thomas.] [photo - Eighth Grade Graduating Class, 1956. Front row - Alice Serbousek, Sharon Cass, Karen Ludwig and Mary Goosen. Middle rowRona Todd, Sandra Pullman, Carolyn Kennedy and Corenne Weischedel. Back row -Bob Pierce, Dennis Lehmkuhl, unidentified, Wayne McGruder, Weldon Stephens, Gary Blackwell, Tom Lindell and Ronnie Terrell.] A County School Board was appointed in the fall of 1955, for the purpose of preparing a master plan for school reorganization. The members of the board were George Lytle, president, Mrs. Ern Wittler, Vernon Garrett, Garrett Reynolds, and Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence Venner. [photo - Students of North Buffalo School Parading on Homecoming Day, 1958] The future for Sully County is represented in its school children of today. These future citizens, without a doubt, will someday be found in all parts of the world; some to build quietly in their own community, and others to do more notable deeds elsewhere. It matters little. What really is important is that each child is very valuable and deserving to be trained and live his life in the best possible way, according to his talents. So may the parents and the schools of the future continue to make improvements in preparing our children for later life.-M. S. CONSERVATION Little Bend Game Preserve In May, 1935, a scout from the federal government was sent to the Little Bend of the Missouri River, part of Sully County, to investigate the possibilities of using Little Bend as an upland game preserve. The scout's impressions were so favorable that his report brought a commission of three appraisers into Sully County in June, of that year. One of these men was Paul Neavill, who was appointed project manager. Mr. Neavill spent several months trying to get options on the land in the Little Bend country, and by March 1, of 1936, the project had developed so far that the government had practically purchased the whole of the Bend for something like $70,000, and a force of approximately 50 men were put to work there. In the meantime, an office had been established in Onida with a force of six people, headed by Neavill. The field force of workers was headed by C. B. Knox as foreman, and Victor Steffen as field superintendent. The development work was completed June 30. The total cost of the 14,149 acres optioned by the government for the development of this project was approximately $95,000. The principal features of development was the growth of more trees, shrubs and grasses to provide suitable feed for game such as grouse, prairie chickens, pheasants, quail, wild turkeys and many more varieties. Predatory animals were destroyed, existing springs developed, four impounding dams constructed, about 800 acres of timber stand improvement, several miles of fire breaks, five miles of boundary fence and some internal fence with cattle guards and an entrance pylon, 15 miles of telephone lines, three miles of road repair, development of one picnic and camping ground, construction of caretaker's house and garage and various cleanup and obliteration work necessary to put the area in a satisfactory condition. With its completion, the supervising, upkeep and administration of the project will be turned over to the South Dakota State Game and Fish Commission. Resettlement Celebration April 30, 1936 was the first anniversary of the federal resettlement program in Sully County, and it was the unanimous opinion of about thirty men of the Onida business circles that this would be a fitting time to celebrate both the arrival of the federal resettlement, as well as the project of the Little Bend federal game preserve which came under a phase of this same line of conservation work. A committee, consisting of Mayor Max Rodman, Dr. Fred R. Zeiss, 0. C. Hortman, Sig Severson and Guy Rumrill, were appointed. Dr. B. M. Hart and Editor Zimmer were appointed as a committee to assist with the arrangement of the program. LAKES Cottonwood - Okobojo - Sully Work was started in September, 1937, on Cottonwood, Okobojo and Sully lakes as emergency water conservation projects. The work at Cottonwood Lake consisted chiefly of finishing up the diversion project-facing the dam across Okobojo Creek and building road crossings over the diversion ditch. [photo - Spillway Running over Okobojo Dam, 1942] Work at - Okobojo Lake included the construction of a new type "B" spillway to prevent future damage from any large flow of water, and the addition of several feet of freeboard to strengthen the dam. At Lake Sully it was hoped to add approximately seven more feet of freeboard to strengthen the lake in order to make it safe for possible floods and also permit raising the spillway and water level at some future time. Dams During the period from 1946-1957, 1500 dams were constructed in Sully County at a cost of about $715,000. These dams hold back approximately 7500 acre feet of water, sufficient to cover land onet deep over a 12 mile area. Numerous groves of trees were developed around the dams. Water supply to the farmers is available on practically every quarter of prairie land, whereas, in the early days, it was necessary to haul water in barrels for many miles. Drainage ditches were constructed to drain several hundred acres of low- lands and put them back into production. Livestock production increased to a figure approximately twice the cost of the dams. With more evaporation from the dams there has been greater rainfall, resulting in better crops. Trees What was possibly the largest tree plantings in Sully County in recent years took place during April in 1949, on three Sully County farms, when 12,000 trees were planted. Fifty-four hundred trees were planted on the Geoff Garrett farm in southwestern Sully County. This planting was a field shelterbelt. Garrett believes that in addition to providing a refuge for wild game, the trees will conserve moisture by stopping snow and wind evaporation. A farmstead shelterbelt, including 6,500 trees, was planted on the James Sutton farm in northwestern Sully County. The belt covered about ten acres on the west and north of the farm buildings. Various kinds of trees were planted cedar, Chinese elm, American elm, hybrid elm, cottonwood, wild plum and caragana. Eight hundred caragana, Chinese elm and American elm were planted on the Wayne Nelson farm as a farmstead shelterbelt. The planting was at the east edge of Onida and north of the Nelson farm buildings. Three Sully County farms were district winners in the final year of the Farmstead Improvement Contest ending in 1950. They were Wayne Nelson, James Sutton and Arnold Schreiber. The district from which the three were winners included all counties west of the Missouri River, and Potter, Sully and Hughes east of the river. Nelson was winner in the three-year contest, Sutton in the two-year, and Schreiber in the one-year. The placing of three farms put Sully County in an envied position, in that it was the only county in the state in which all its farms were winners in the district. The Wayne Nelson farm was declared the state winner in the three-year bracket. It represented South Dakota in the five-state regional contest, which included North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa and Nebraska. Soil Conservation District The Sully County Soil Conservation District opened its office for business on April 29, 1957. The purpose of the District is to assist interested landowners in using each acre within its capabilities, and to treat it in accordance with its needs for protection and improvement. The Board of Supervisors include Earl Kinder, chairman; Henry Hertel, vice chairman; Richard Seaman, treasurer; Earl Baxter and Emel Johnson. Soil conservation service technicians assisting the District are Robert Koerner, work unit conservationist, and Joseph Hines, conservation aid. The District has available for use to landowners and operators a John Deere grassland drill and a tree planter. The major practices applied, with District assistance, include contour farming, contour strip cropping, terracing, fish pond improvement (stocking), tree planting and many others. The District supervisors requested that Sully County be designated in the Great Plains Conservation Program, and have worked hard to make this a better program for the farmers and ranchers of Sully County. In the spring of 1957, 1,256 acres of land were staked for contour farming in Sully County on Soil Conservation District co-operators farms. The colored, curving strips have added beauty to the rural landscape. The lines many times form a doller sign ($) and this is exactly what it means-more dollars in the farmer's pocketbooks. The best place to see the long curving strips is from the air, and the very best place to learn how farmers are using contour farming and hear what they think about it is by talking to the farmers themselves. Jay Alexander, Vernon Garrett, Jesse Millar, Francis Kane, Pat Kane and Howard Brown are a few of the co-operators who have found that contour farming is the answer to success. Wind strip cropping, as a preventive measure against wind erosion, can also be of great benefit. There has been a trend for too much fall plowing on the lighter soils with the result of much winter and early spring wind erosion. It took nature from the time of Columbus until the present time to lay down one inch of top soil, yet in one good dust storm, this much can be lost from a farm in a single day. Farm Programs Are Big Business There are 498 farmers in Sully County and 490, or 98.3 per cent, of the farms have participated in one or more of the various farm programs. A total of 388 contracts and agreements were made for Soil Bank benefits. In the Acreage Reserve program, 340 farmers took 38,845.6 acres of wheat out of production and received benefits totaling $598,248.92. The 48 Conservation Reserve signers committed 10,951.5 acres of land for which they received $149,744.00. In the over-all Soil Bank program in the county, 49,797.1 acres of land were taken out of production and the total payment was $747,992.92. Farmers of the county received a total of $80,827.03 on a cost-share basis from the 'Agricultural Conservation Program during the year 1958. On the Incentive Payment Program, sheepmen of the county benefited in the amount of $426,603.00. Of this amount $20,723.00 was in support of wool sold, and $5,880.00 for lambs. Loans through the local office for farm storage facilities totaled $14,540.00 and $9,730.00 was secured by farmers for the purchase of grain dryers. Under the price support program, a total of $2,011,946.00 was loaned to farmers on farm-stored and warehouse-stored commodities. The Commodity Credit Corporation had 329 bins in the county with a total capacity of 1,524,100 bushels, and there are 1,400,000 bushels in storage. Wildlife What will be done to replace the thousands of acres of wildlife habitat that will be inundated by the Missouri River when the reservoir fills? This question was asked by many people, but for the Sutton Brothers, Jim, John and Raymond, the question has already been answered. "During the past years," Jim commented, "we have planted approximately 120 acres of trees and shrubs on our own lands above the high water mark of the reservoir. In addition, we have added wildlife habitat on about 600 acres of land on other farms and ranches of Sully County by planting trees and shrubs for interested landowners as a public service prior to the time the local Sully County Soil Conservation District was organized. Wildlife conservation is not new to the Sutton Brothers. Their father, also an avid wildlife conservationist, in 1914 brought the first buffalo into the county. The initial herd consisted of three cows and one bull. In 1938, they had a 120 buffalo herd. During that period it became so dry that the herd was cut in half. At present the existing herd of 70 head is enclosed in a special 1,000-acre pasture. By maintaining the number of animals at a level with the carrying capacity .of the range, the habitat is improved for species of wildlife such as prairie chickens, grouse and Hungarian partridge. Wildlife thrives on variety in cover types. Along the river brakes of the Missouri on the Sutton Brothers ranch this variety is unsurpassed. The deep draws are interspersed with wild plum, sumac, chokecherry and buckbrush thickets. Deer are abundant along the 20-mile stretch of river and come up out of the trees during the night to feed in the corn and alfalfa fields, returning early in the morning to spend the daytime hours in the trees again. During the special east river deer season of 1957, along the Missouri River, it was estimated that 25 hunters took deer off the Sutton ranch. The Suttons do not prohibit hunting providing there is snow on the ground and no danger of fire. However, there is one species of bird that they do not allow hunting and that is the wild Merriam turkey. They now have approximately 116 birds. These flocks were started when 20 eggs were ordered from Pennsylvania. The Sutton Brothers have watched the spring and fall migration of ducks and geese for many years. The duck migration during the fall and winter of 1957-58 was the largest ever. They fed half the ducks in the United States, so they thought, until it was hard to find a single kernel of corn left in any of the fields. On many occasions their 20 stockwater ponds, which dot the range, were black with mallards, which stopped off for a drink after filling up with corn in surrounding fields. These 20 stockwater ponds are nesting areas for waterfowl during the breeding season and many local ducks are hatched and reared on them. In addition they are watering places for other game birds and stopping places for mink on their tour across the country in search of food. Catfish have been planted in many of these ponds. Four of them were stocked with bass and bluegills in 1958 by the Soil Conservation Service. DISASTERS Blizzards The blizzard of 1888, which occurred on January 12, was the most severe on record in South Dakota. The storm extended as far east as Michigan, and west through Wisconsin, Minnesota Dakota, Montana, Iowa, Nebraska, and southwest through Kansas and Texas to the Gulf. Reports showed much suffering and many lives lost. In Dakota alone, as many as 100 persons perished. Fortunately, there were no persons lost or frozen in Sully County. The blizzard lasted all day and night and all through the following day. The storm began early in the morning with a strong northwest wind, accompanied by swirling powder-like snow, which filled the air. People were not yet on the move that early and the stock was all under shelter in stables, because previous deep snow on the prairie, which accounted for no loss of lives or stock. No one ventured outdoors unless was absolutely necessary, and then with the utmost caution, remaining close to buildings. Some used ropes and clotheslines tied to the house when going to the barn, so that they could find their way back. Thus, they managed to care for their stock. As the little dog said when he sat the sandpaper, "Ruff! Ruff!" So was the weather the week of January 13, 1949. Blizzard conditions starting the first of the week piled snow deep on the level and heaped snow banks around buildings in some instances roof-high. Traffic was virtually at a standstill and all mail services into and out of town stopped. The storm was said to be the most severe in some 15 or 20 years. Reports which came by radio from over the storm area told of people stranded in buses, trains, depots and other public stations. Drifts which had been piled up by the 60 to 70 mile an hour gale, and then settled during two days of 60-degree temperatures, could not be moved by the huge rotary and two-way plows. Engineers decided to "peel" the 15 to 20 foot drifts with bulldozers pushed by the largest crawler-type tractors available. The peeling operations were so successful that the state rented more than a dozen units from private contractors to supplement state machines. Highways were the first avenues of travel to be opened in the state following the blizzard. Action taken by Sully County Commissioners and the state Emergency Relief committee, brought release to snowbound Sully farmers, as big "Cat" propelled plows worked their way through blocked roads. Two outfits owned by Schimkat and Kost swung into operation to each snow marooned family, some of whom had had no contact, except by radio, with the outside world for two or three weeks. These outfits broke through roads to take much-needed supplies, groceries, fuel, mail and other items to various parts of the county. The Fred West family, living 30 miles west of Onida, were reached after a week of isolation, when Wilbur Beebe, assisted by Bernie McDeid, brought fuel and groceries. Mr. and Mrs. West had been without coal for almost a week and in order to keep warm had torn down and burned the ice house on the farm. In some instances families were reported to have been subsisting on very limited diets. Fires A very destructive prairie fire, supposed to have been set by a Mr. Hines, near the south line of Summit Township, for the purpose of burning off a stubble field preparatory to plowing, swept over Range 77, on August 24, 1886, burning thousands of dollars worth of property of every description. The strip of country burned was from two to five miles in width and reached from the south line of Sully to six miles north of the north line into Potter county before it could be checked and extinguished-a distance of more than 30 miles. No estimate could be made of the value of property destroyed. Everything it came in contact with was almost instantly ignited and burned, as the grasses and grain stubble had been thoroughly dried by the late continued drouth. There was nothing to impede its progress except an occasional corn or flax field. Farmers had been busy harvesting and no time had been spared to prepare fire-breaks. The usual guards had been made, but afforded little protection, as the wind carried the burning hay and straw great distances and scattered it over the dry prairie, thus aiding its speed. The fire was the most destructive of any in this part of Dakota and left many families almost penniless. Many farmers had their farms and personal property so heavily mortgaged that it was next to impossible for them to even meet the interest coming due. The result was nothing less than a foreclosure and sale of what little they had left, unless the loan companies were lenient or they could receive aid from friends in the East. There were but few in the burned district who did not need and were deserving of aid. The most destructive prairie fires ever visited this part of Dakota passed over Central and Eastern Sully County on April 2, 1889, urged on by a strong wind -registered at the Fort Sully Signal Service Station as having a velocity of 64 miles per hour-doing inestimatable damage and destroying about everything touched by the flames. Many families were without a moments notice, rendered homeless and penniless and some barely escaping with their lives and the clothing on their backs. Houses and contents, barns, livestock, machinery, feed and grain were burned, leaving many farmers without seed, team or implements. The rich prairie grasses burned left stock without feed. The fire that passed over the country east of Clifton originated from sparks blown from the stove-pipe of Herman Spalding, a bachelor residing some six miles northeast of this village, in Hartford township, which, as soon as the dry prairie grass was ignited, was beyond the control of any human agency. From Spalding's it passed in a southeasterly direction through Garner, eastern Clifton, Onida, Summit, Blaine, Lincoln and Lake townships, across Hughes County to the Winnebago Reservation, touching the northeast corner of Blunt. Onida barely escaped destruction - the east side of the head fire passing within a few feet of the southwest corner of the village. Had it not been for a strip of breaking on C. W. Holmes' tree claim and the willing assistance of the business visitors at the county seat, the village would .have been in ashes. A relief committee, composed of W. D. Wees, chairman; Thomas M. Goddard, secretary; William Toomey, treasurer, and the Board of Commissioners, were in continuous session for two days examining the fire reports. Many individuals from Onida and the surrounding area donated clothing, food, household articles, hay and poultry to the fire sufferers. Pierre sent $150.00 and a wagon-load of necessities to Onida and other places in the county for distribution. A fund of $2,500.00 was also sent from different parties in the state. The following winter, coal was brought in without freight charges by the C. & N.W. Railroad and sold from $1.00 to $1.60 per ton to the unfortunate fire sufferers. Approximately 25 sections of land were blackened and burned west and northwest of Onida by three range fires on the afternoon of August 1, 1947, the largest of which was 13 miles long. Starting in mid-afternoon, just as the Sully County Fair was getting underway, the call for fire-fighters soon emptied the grandstand, calling a halt to the afternoon's events. Almost super-human work on the part of fire-fighters prevented the destruction of buildings at several places. At the Orville Fairbank farm, 17,000 bushels of wheat narrowly escaped burning when the flames were stopped within nine feet of the granaries. The Meade Barber farm buildings were at one time surrounded, but were saved by valiant fire fighting and a similar report came in from the Fred Weischedel farm. Firemen from Pierre and Gettysburg arrived with equipment to help fight the blaze. East Sully County farmers took stock of losses sustained in the disastrous fire which swept over the east portions of Pleasant, Norfolk and Cora townships over the week end of September 5, 1947. Entering the county in the southern part of Pleasant Township, the fire penetrated some three or four miles west to destroy hundreds of tons of hay, fence and pasture land. No Sully County homes were burned. In direct path of the fire and hardest hit in loss of feed were the Collens Wakefield, Walter Fanger, Emory Hinkle, William Bright, Howard Brown and E. E. Money farms. Lesser losses were sustained by H. P. Hansen, August Rupkalvis, Paul Duncan and Alvin Thomas. With characteristic South Dakota fortitude, these Sully County people took inventory of resources left and planned ways and means by which to save the major portions of their herds of livestock. Miles and miles of barbed wire lying idle on the ground had to be restored to use in order to keep cattle, horses and sheep from straying far afield in search of food. The Red Cross was asked to furnish steel fence posts to farmers in Hyde, Sully, Potter, Faulk and Hughes counties. Over 500 square miles, 320,000 acres of scorched earth in five counties, confronted farmers and ranchers as they surveyed their losses and attempted to make plans for the future. The fire, described as the worst disaster to hit Central South Dakota since the drought of the thirties, swept over huge area, greedily licking up feed, fences and buildings, and leaving in its wake a scorched and blackened countryside. No human lives were reported lost, but estimates on property losses mounted as reports came in, finally reaching the staggering total of $2,000,000.00. A spark from a combine set the fire that started north of Harrold about 10:30, the morning of September 5. A cigarette carelessly tossed from an automobile was blamed for the starting of the fire a mile east of Highmore on the William McDonald farm north of the highway. Fanned by a strong wind and fed by heavy, dry-as-tinder grass, the fires swept north to meet a third blaze which had started near Seneca, in western Faulk County. It was estimated that the money loss alone in burned fence posts was somewhere in the neighborhood of a half million dollars. The red glow of the fire reflected in the eastern sky, spreading for miles along the county line, was an awesome spectacle as viewed from Onida. Gazing into the sky, one might have been convinced that the Day of Doom had come and that a righteous God was visiting retribution upon a sin-stricken world. Families who passed through the terror and horror of that fiery night will never forget the choking panic that seized them when they saw their homes and possessions threatened. Fire again hit eastern Sully County Saturday afternoon and again Sunday morning, September 13 and 14, when flames thought to have started from smoldering residue of the fire the week before, burned over land near the George Lytle farm and the Emory Hinkle place. Fire departments from Onida, Harrold and Gettysburg aided by about 100 farmers, brought the Saturday fire under control, but not before it had burned over 12 square miles of range, 15 miles east of Onida. The fire Sunday morning destroyed most of the remaining feed at the Hinkle farm, already hit by the fire the preceding week. Lightening, which struck during a thunder shower the first part of August, 1951, set fire to the large barn on the John G. Hofer farm, destroying the barn and damaging over 6,000 bushels of oats and 2,500 of rye, of his crop that year. Nluch equipment, including a cream separator, grain elevator and a new $500 motor was destroyed, as well as tools and many other articles. Five minutes before the lightening struck, Mr. Hofer and sons had finished storing the grain, and the trucks in which it was hauled from the field were left standing in front of the barn while the men went in to eat dinner. When the bolt struck, fuses were burned out in the farm house, and it was not until several minutes later that smoke was seen pouring from the barn. The trucks were hurriedly removed from the danger zone and calls for help phoned into the Onida and Harrold Fire Departments, who arrived promptly with rural fire fighting equipment, but too late to save the building. Mr. Hofer estimated the loss at about $25,000.00. Tornadoes "The worst windstorm since this country was settled," was the way the storm of June 19, 1924, was characterized. In violence, duration and extent of area involved, this wind was really unique. The ordinary tornado touches with diabolical fury and power in a single spot, and its destruction is over in half a minute. However, this wind bore down from straight north and did not abate for more than twenty minutes. The cloud was forming in view most of the afternoon and by 5:30 an even bank of green extended from the southwest to the northeast throughout the entire cloud -a sure indication that a storm of unusual intensity was preparing. And then it struck-wind and water together. Light garages and outbuildings in Onida began to move. Boards, roofing paper and sections of roofs leaped up and were hurled against adjacent buildings or scattered for rods. Chimneys went crashing. The rain drove horizontally in sheets that suggested the fiercest of our prairie blizzards. Destruction by the wind was most general in a strip reaching from Little Bend through Fairbank to Laurel, about 20 miles in width, and crossing the county in a southeasterly direction. The maximum velocity of the wind was reported at 82 miles. The damage was so extensive throughout the county that it would take pages to relate the entire story. However, records show that Okobojo was hit exceptionally hard with several cases of human suffering. The prosperous group of oldtimers; in the Shiloh neighborhood were also heavy losers. It was in that area (Hughes County) that the only death occurred. Paul Nelson was alone on his father's farm. His body was found the next day among the scattered debris of the barn, with the skull so crushed that death must have been instantaneous. It was about seven o'clock July 19, 1934, when ominous looking clouds swiftly moved up from the west and threatened wind and rain. A sandstorm of considerable force swept over the area north of Onida. At the Jacob S. G. Hofer place the dirt storm apparently hid from their view the oncoming cyclonic cloud, for immediately after the dirt storm it seemed as though a veritable hell had been turned loose. Trees crashed all around, limbs were torn from those left standing, barn roofs were lifted into the air and fell helter-skelter over the entire place. This cyclonic manifestation lasted for about ten minutes. Suddenly a deathlike stillness prevailed and then a rain, hail and wind storm twiser set in with demonlike savagery. Buildings crashed everywhere. The large and well- built home trembled to its very firm foundation. Windows were blown in and the God-fearing man of the house admonished his family to prepare to meet their God. It appeared to him that Judgment Day must be at hand. All this time the entire farmyard seemed wrapped in total darkness and was also enveloped in a mass of water and hail. At last daylight broke again. Mr. Hofer rushed out of the house and stepped into icy masses of rushing water and hail half-way to his knees. Swirling, gurgling streams were rushing hither and yon, bearing with them masses of debris and timber from crashed buildings. Mr. Hofer's thoughts were with a horse tied in the barn, which he found alive. Little could be done that night. The family slept restlessly on pillows of worry and care, every thought full of gratitude that they and the home had been saved. The sun rose again next morning in full glory and it was then that the tragedy was fully revealed. A shed, sixteen feet wide surrounding a barn 30x50 feet, had been reduced to kindling and the barn twisted off its foundation and collapsed. A shed fourteen feet wide by the 20x24 granary, was no more. A chicken house, 8x24, housed some 200 young chickens, all of which had been killed and their bodies scattered over the place. The building was nowhere to be seen. A similar building housing another 100 chickens was not destroyed. A granary, 12x18, containing the last of the family bread supply in the form of fifty bushels of good wheat, was hurled ten to fifteen rods the wheat scattered to the winds. A forty foot windmill was bent to the earth, its supports having yielded like straw. A large bin containing several hundred bushels of ground feed was demolished and hurled against the heavy concrete top of the cistern, which was thus torn away and a calf was dumped into the depths, where he was found the morning, unhurt, but calling pitifully for rescue from the several inches of water. The north wall of the house was pushed in several inches; and every leaf was torn from the trees, making the lovely grove a sorry spectacle. Even weeds were bereft of their foliage. The handiwork of Jacob G. Hofer and his family was a total ruin, except the house. The storm undid in a few minutes what they had built up in fifteen years. Another destructive tornado occurred in the afternoon of June 15, 1935, eleven years after the windstorm of 1924. This windstorm formed in Hughes County and traveled to the northeast, sweeping a path about a mile wide. The destruction was thorough and complete, wrecking the entire farm home of the S. C. Warne family, scattering machinery and equipment for three miles, and wrecking the large barn and other buildings on the O. D. Warne farm, killing and maiming seventy- five head of cattle belonging to the Warne family. The path of destruction ended a few miles in Goodwater Township, where it wrecked the home and machinery of the Henry Heuer family. [photo - Tornado Approaching S. C. Warne Farm, June 15, 1935] [photo - Wreckage at S. C. Warne Home After Tornado, June 15, 1935] Freakish scenes were apparent, as is customary with such storms. A straw was driven into a fence post; an old fashioned tin type photo had been torn from its frame and driven about three-quarters of an inch into a piece of stove wood lying in the yard; chickens and turkeys were taken considerable distances and portions of their bodies were found several hundred feet from the farmyard; a heavy 15-30 tractor was lifted and dropped again about five hundred feet from its original resting place with its wheels and other parts smashed. Strangest of all, and almost unbelievable was the finding of the tongue of one of the injured cows almost a mile from where the injured stock was piled. One schoolhouse, located in Iowa Township, was also in the path of the storm and was destroyed. A storm of cyclonic proportions swept over the west end of Sully county on Sunday evening, June 13, 1943, leaving in its wake many wrecked farm buildings and heavy loss of livestock and poultry. The wind was accompanied by torrential rains and in some places hail added to the fury of the elements. The home and other buildings on the Clarence Smith farm near Fielder were completely demolished. Hearing the roar of the approaching storm, the Smith family took refuge in a cave in the yard and were thus uninjured when the blast struck. At the Wm. Floyd farm, 11 buildings were damaged or destroyed, including two big barns. At the Tom Garrett farm the big barn was blown down and the house twisted on the foundation. The Pitlick Schoolhouse had the roof neatly removed, and at the Paul Pitlick farm the barn and several smaller buildings were destroyed. At the farm home of Mr. and Mrs. Glenn Hughes excitement prevailed at the height of the storm, and the Hughes family felt lucky in escaping serious injury when their house was moved from its mooring. This building had been moved from Onida and was to be placed on its permanent foundation, but was still resting on moving timbers. When the storm had abated the Hughes family found their home battered and moved from the blocks a distance of about 20 feet. The small house owned by Miss Marie Ripley, used as a home during the school year, but luckily vacant at the time, was reported to have rolled over-at least five times. Threshing machines on the Frank Fagner, Wm. Serbousek and Wm. Weischedel farms were overturned and damaged. At the Zebroski, Leonard Serbousek, Newcomb, Jensen and Wm. Serbousek farms much damage to barns and smaller buildings was reported, and the loss of poultry was also great. Every windmill in the path of the storm was blown down. Damage of varying degrees was also reported at the James Sutton, Henry Groseclose, Art Baumberger, Bill Becker, Wil bur Stampe and John W. Bush farms. Whether is was a tornado, cyclone, or just a "big blow," damage was extensive at the Charles Roddewig farm the night of July 25, 1954. A four-year-old hog house was completely flattened and torn apart, with only the floor remaining in place. Oddly, some of the electric light fixtures, with bulbs intact, took the flight with the roof undamaged. Half of the roof was blown off the granary, and the big barn was moved a few inches on its foundation. Hail also accompanied the storm and did extensive damage to crops. [photo - Group of Early Sully County Officers. Seated, left to right - Tom Crawford, M. J. Haverly, Henry Esselbrugge, George Schreiber, Francis Barber, William Eckert and Walter Spencer. Standing-J. H. Gropengieser, J. N. Garner, R. J. Courtney and M. L. French.] GOVERNMENT Sully County officials appointed in 1883 were B. P. Hoover, chairman; G. J. Millett, Sr., and N. H. Young, commissioners; G. J. Millett, Jr., sheriff; Charles H. Agar, treasurer; Dr. A. J. Stevens, coroner; William Ashley Jones, surveyor; Orr W. Lee, assessor; H. W. Edgerton, clerk of courts; Merit Sweny, judge of probate; David Staples, superintendent of schools; J. A. Meloon, register of deeds; William P. Ross, G. W. Everts, P. T. Keily and D. D. Bryant, justices of the peace, and H. W. Sprague, George Bowers and G. H. Pease, constables. [photo - Sully County Courthouse] State Senators John E. Lawrence, 1893-96; C. Crandall, 1925-28; Ed Sutton, 1933-34, and Lee Warne, 1953-56. State Representatives W. H. Little (territorial), 1888- 1890, David Hall, 1891-92; T. M. Goddard, 1897-1904; J. H. Gropengieser, 1905-08; William Floyd, 1909-12; R. J. Courtney, 1913-16; J. E. Ternmey (died in office), 191718; B. M. Lister, 1919- 20; W. H. Green, 1921-22; E. H. Garrett, 1923-26; Charles E. Byrum, 1927-32; M. A. Hyde, 1933-34; R. S. Goddard, 1935-38; Luther Nelson, 1943-46; L. A. Fosness, 1951-54, and Lee Warne, 1957 to date. [photo - Sully County Commissioners, 1911. Left to right -Henry Esselbrugge, E. F. Fanton, Charles Johnson, Tom Crawford and William Eckert, with County Auditor J. I. O'Donnell.] County Auditors M. L. French, 1884-92; John N. Garner, 1893-96; M. L. French, 1897-1900; G. Frank Walker, 1901-02; M. Leon French, 1903-06; F. S. Barber, 1907-10; J. I. O'Donriell, 1911-14; Charles L. Glessner, 191518: John R. Mason, 1919, (resigned), Charles L. Glessner, 1919-24; M. M. Glessner, 1925-28; Charles L. Glessner, 192932; W. W. Warriner, 1933-36; Sarah E. Warriner, 1937-40; James P. Cavanaugh, 1941-44; Janet Chamberlain, 1945-48; Ardis L. Gatons, 1949-52; Edward Klix, 195356, and Harriet Klix, 1957 to date. [photo - Sully County Officials, 1921. Front row, left to right-Aaron.Robinson, J. N. Garner, M. M. Smith, Zoa Robinson, Carl Gould and Mrs. Gould. Middle row - Frank Getzelman, Alex Brehe, Myrtle Glessner, Eva Phares, Clara Peterson, Fern Spencer, Ellen Pierce and Clinton J. Crandall. Back row - C. L. Glessner, C. F. Barber, C. C. Lyons, Tom Crawford and P. H. Peterson.] County Treasurers Charles H. Agar, appointed 1883-84; William Toomey, 1885-90; William J. Johnson, 1891-94; Hakan Persson, 189598; William Floyd, 1899-1900; Benjamin Nelson, 1901-04; B. M. Lister, 1905-08; R. J. Courtney, 1909-12; Patrick Walsh, 191314; J. F. Cole, 1915-18; Aaron Robinson, 1919-22; Zoa Robinson, 1923-26;Will Spencer, 1927-28; William Crawford, 1929-32; Sarah E. Warriner, 1933-36; Mason Youngberg, 1937-40; J. M. Blaine, 1941-44; Henrietta Ruckle, 1945-46; Janet Chamberlain, 1947-50; Ardis Gatons, 1951-54; Janet Chamberlain, 1955 to date. [photo - Sully County Officials, 1938. Front row, left to right - P. H. Peterson, John P. Bush, W. B. Spears, Jacob Mosiman and Alex Brehe. Middle row - Mason Youngberg, Sarah E. Warriner, Francis M. Ryan and Ruth Nystrom. Back row - F. W. Johnson, William Buol, Ruth Hoover, J. P. Williamson and J. M. Reedy.] Clerk of Courts H. W. Edgerton (appointed) 1883; C. W. Hawes and J. H. Gropengieser followed through 1892; H. D. Enoe, 1893-94; R. N. Porter, 1895-98; C. W. Holmes, 1899-1908; J. N. Garner, 1909-22; R. J. Courtney (died while in office), 1923- 30; Adele M. Nelson, 1930-32; Novella M. Franklin, 1933-36; Jesse P. Williamson, 1937-40, and Bessie B. Lumley, 1941 to date. Register of Deeds Joseph A. Meloon (appointed) 1883-86; Danforth Q. Jordan, 1887-92; L. E. Snyder, 1893-96; A. A. Snow, 1897-1900; Edwin E. Brooking, 1901-04; Frank W. Johnson, 1905-08; Walter H. Spencer, 1909-12; C. F. Barber, 1913-16; Ernest E. Brooking, 1917-20; C. F. Barber, 1921- 24; M. R. Keck, 1925-28; Harry McGuire 1929-32; James Nystrom, 1933-36; Ruth Nystrom, 1937-38; Grace Frahm, 1939-42; Edna Grace Miller, 1943 to July 1, 1944; Ardis Gatons, 1944-48; A. N. Kass, 1949-50; Irene Chenoweth, 1951-52; Janet Chamberlain, 1953-56, and Arlene Thompson, 1957 to date. State's Attorneys Samuel H. Neal, part of 1887, Thomas M. Goddard, 1887-88; W. N. Meloon, 1893-96; A. C. Byrum, part of 1897; H. G Pease, 1897-1900; J. H. Gropengieser, 1901-1904; A. C. Byrum, 1905-08; J. H. Gropengieser, 1909-1910; M. H. Quimby 1911-14; J. H. Gropengieser, 1915-18; F. J. Eager, 1919-20; C. J. Crandall, 1921-24, M. H. Quimby, 1925-28; F. J. Eager, 1929-30; M. H. Quimby, 1931-34; Francis Ryan 1935, declared ineligible, so Quimby held over; Francis Ryan, 1937- 40; M. H. Quimby, 1941-44; Francis Ryan, 1945-48; Charles D. Nelson, 1949-50, and Francis Ryan, 1951 to date. County Judges Merit Sweny, 1883-84; Michael J. McCann, 1885-86; J. H. Gropengieser, 1887-90; T. M. Goddard, 1891-92; F. A. Duffield, 1893-96; A. N. McFall, 1897- 1900; A. C. Byrum, 1901-04; A. M. McFall, 1905-10; A. C. Byrum, 1911-12; James E. Temmey, 1913-14; J. H. Gropengieser, 1915-16; M. H. Quimby, 1917-24; J. H. Gropengieser, 1925-26; M. H. Quimby,1937-40; Francis Ryan, 1941-44, and M. H. Quimby, 1945 to date. County Sheriffs George J. Millett, Jr., (appointed) 1883-84; L. H. Bruner, 1885-88; A. A. Faust, 1889-90; D. M. Smith, 189194; Alvin Erb, 1895-98; R. Clark, 1899-1902; L. S. Howard, 1903-06; Carl Falkenhagen, 1915-18; Charles Phares, 1919-22; Charles B. Knox, 1923-26; T. D. Sutton, 1927-30; Henry Chamberlain, 1931-34; J. M. Reedy, 1935-38; Luther M. Miller, 1939-42; William Jordan, 1943-54, and J. M. Reedy, 1955 to date. County Assessors of Unorganized Townships Orr W. Lee, 1883-84; J. O. McDonald and Frank Lillibridge, 1885-92; Hakan Persson, 1893-94; F. E. Blackmore, 1895-96; M. F. Howard, 1897-1900; J. R. Groseclose, 1901-02; William J. Johnston (died while in office) 1903 and part of 1904; George Fisher, 1904-06; H. P. Evert, 190710; J. R. Groseclose, 1911-14; John Gerlack, 1915-16; William Gerlack, 1917-20; Al Sheffer, 1921-22; William B. Crawford, 1923-28; W. F. Pulliam, 1929-32; J. A. Chapman, 1933-34; W. H. Parkin, 1935-38; F. W. Jordan, 1939-42; W. H. Parkin, 1943-45; Harley Lemon, 1946, after which year the unorganized township assessors were appointed by the county commissioners, rather than elected. Jake Mosiman was appointed in 1947 and held office through 1954, after which J. R. Doyle took over in 1955 and holds that office to date. County Surveyors William Ashley Jones, during the pioneer days; Marcus L. French, for many years, and M. M. Smith, in later years. County Commissioners The present county commissioners include Art Wittler, chairman, 1952; R. S. Goddard, 1939; Ray Vader, 1948; Roy Beckett, 1950, and Ed Cruthoff, 1956. Courthouse Employees Mr. and Mrs. Edward Klix have been faithful and conscientious employees in the auditor's office since 1953, and have done an outstanding job in keeping the records in that office. Edward Klix came to Sully County on January 1, 1924, after graduating from Summit High School and then serving his country during World War I, and taught school for two terms in Clifton Township. On Decoration Day, 1925, Edward and Harriet Rawlins, of Henry, South Dakota, were united in marriage, and have resided in Sully County since that time. He taught school in Cora Township for two years and then moved to Blaine Township and taught there for three years. In 1930, they moved to Onida where he taught the seventh and eighth grade for a number of years. He was then employed by 0. C. Hortman for about fifteen years and then went back to teaching at the Ruckle School, the Buffalo and again at Blaine. Mr. and Mrs. Klix have three daughters: LaVon, now Mrs. R. E. Groom, who owns and operates a beauty shop in St. Paul, Minnesota; Donna, who is employed by Skelly Oil Company in St. Paul, and Carolyn, a sophomore in Onida High School. Thirty-five years of almost continuous residents, makes the Klix's old- timers in Sully County. Mrs. Janet Chamberlain, the present county treasurer, has served Sully County ably and efficiently since she took office in 1945 as county auditor. Janet came to Onida with her parents in the late fall of 1912, from Hayes, South Dakota, where the family had been living on a claim, having moved there from Assumption, Illinois, where Janet was born. The family located on a farm four miles west of Onida, where the Frank F. Sacks now live. Janet was married to Luther D. Chamberlain, establishing their own home in Clifton Township, where their daughter, LaVonne was born. After Mr. Chamberlain's death in 1942, she and LaVonne moved to Onida. They first lived in the house now occupied by the Kenneth Miles family, then moved to an apartment in the Dr. Hedman home and in 1956, built their own home in Onida. J. M. Reedy has served faithfully and efficiently as sheriff of Sully County since he took office in 1955. Jack, as he is known by all, came to Onida in July, 1923. He was employed by Chamberlain, Cole and Haverly in the Ford Garage as salesman until the fall of 1925, when the business was sold. He then worked for Greeves and Renshaw and then Dave Gustafson until the spring of 1929, when he took over the City Garage, owned by Harry McGuire and was in the car business until 1935. In 1930, he was married to Betty Kirsch. Twin daughters were born to them; Jeannine, now Mrs. Hittle, and Jacqueline, now Mrs. Bob Marso. Jack was elected as sheriff of Sully County in 1934, and took office on January 1, 1935, serving two terms. He then purchased the Brabec Cafe and operated that business, under the name of Betty and Jacks Inn, until the fall of 1945. The following spring, he opened the Standard Filling Station and took over the J. I. Case contract until 1954, when he was elected sheriff. Mr. Reedy served twenty-five years on the Onida Fire Department, being fire chief for six of those years; served twenty years on the Fair Board, president of that organization for ten years; served on the City council for eight years, and was mayor of Onida for two terms, 1950-53. Thus, besides serving Sully County as its sheriff, Jack Reedy has also faithfully served the City of Onida since his arrival here in the early twenties. History of Mrs. Bessie B. Lumley, clerk of courts, is in the story of Onida's Diamond Jubilee Queen. Mrs. Arlene Thompson took office January 2, 1957, as register of deeds. Her deputies have been Mrs. Irene Chenoweth and Mrs. Donna Ripley. Mrs. Thompson has one daughter, Jean, a grade school student. Harold Wood came to Onida in December, 1955, from Colome, South Dakota, and took over as Sully County Agent at that time. Mrs. Maynard Rilling is employed in his office. Mr. and Mrs. Wood have four children, Eugenie, Mary Ann, Kathy Jo and Brad. Miss Mildred Tisher, as Sully County's Home Extension Agent, started her work here on July 1, 1950. She taught Homemaking in the Pierre High School for nine years, prior to going into Extension work. Glenn Hughes is office manager of the Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Association. He took over the office on October 1, 1953, and prior to that time was chairman of the county committee. Mr. Hughes is a native of Sully County and has been employed as a county official since 1937. Employees in the A.S.C. office include Miss LaVonne Chamberlain, Mrs. Ellen Tunnell, Mrs. Lorraine Miller, Mrs. Elizabeth Rappana, Parker Knox, Dennis LaFave, Charles Hines and Wilbur Beebe. William C. Buol completed his eleventh term, of twenty-two years, at the close of 1958, having been elected to the office of superintendent of schools in 1937. Mr. Buol was born and raised in Sully County, his mother having arrived in the county when she was two years old. So it can be said that William is a true product of Sully County. He started his teaching career in 1929, at the Lewellyn Park school. He was married the following year to Hazel Crum, of Philip, South Dakota. He then taught schools in Blaine, West Cora, Clifton and Summit townships. Mr. and Mrs. Buol have three children, William Lee, Patricia, now Mrs James Zebroski, and Buell (Sam). Francis Ryan, states attorney, has his office in the courthouse. However, a history of him and his family is found under "Lawyers". J. R. Doyle took office as Director of Assessments in October, 1955, and for the first time since assessors were elected, and then appointed, it has been the duty of Doyle to assess the entire county, rather than have numerous assessors throughout the county take care of this work, as was done in the past. Barbara Winkler has assisted Assessor Doyle in his office. Mr. and Mrs. Doyle have two daughters, Constance, a sophomore in Onida High School, and Vicki Rae, a grade school student. Mr. Doyle came here from Danberry, Iowa, in 1916.