Full Text of "75 Years of Sully County History, 1883 - 1958", pages 336- 351. 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. NORFOLK TOWNSHIP The rolling hills, combined with level terrain in Norfolk Township, has made it excellent for cattle grazing, along with the natural springs scattered throughout the township has made it ideal for large cattle ranches. Mrs. Inger Maria Christensen made a homestead filing on the Southwest of Section Nine in Norfolk Township, and she and her family resided there during the eighties. This was one of the first large cattle ranches in the township. The Christensens left their ranch and settled in Kingsbury County where Mr. Christensen died. Their son, Martinus and family then returned to Norfolk Township and located on his mother's homestead where he raised cattle. Other early homesteaders in the township were C. W. Houck, J. M. Kerr, C. B. Porter, a Mr. McGann, H. McNamara and numerous other families. A town, named Norfolk, was established in the southeastern part of the township in 1883, and it had possibilities of becoming an enterprising community. Several business places were established I along with a postoffice, and about 20 families lived in that area. However, when the county seat was located more centrally in the township, Norfolk gradually became extinct until very few families remained there. Two new 20x3O foot schoolhouses were constructed in Norfolk Township in 1885, at a total cost of $910.00. In the spring of 1928, the five families and/or partnerships in the township were H. P. Hanson, Albert Youngberg, August Rupkalvis, Tom Jones-John Montieth, Ben Scheaffler-Tom Duncan. From 1928 until 1934, weather conditions were so adverse that Tom Jones and John Montieth decided to dissolve partnership. Jones moved to Pleasant Township and Montieth went to Iowa. George Hayes of Pleasant Township moved to the Montieth place at this time and a few years later he moved to Coer d' Alene, Idaho. After Hayes left Norfolk Township, his brother, Leo, moved on the place, and he, too, moved to Idaho in a few years. In 1938, A. H. Bane moved from his farm in Norfolk Township to Onida and his son, Orren, sold out and moved to Elgin, Iowa. Mr. Bane passed away in Onida during the forties. In the spring of 1941, Mr. and Mrs. Everett E. Money purchased the Schaeffler-Duncan ranch. They waited until the following spring to move, thus giving Mr. Schaeffler a chance to find another place. He bought the Southwest of 15-115-74 and built on it, but before the year ended he passed away, leaving the place to Mr. and Mrs. Duncan and son, Paul. In the fall of 1944, Paul married Wylla Mae Lemon daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Harley Lemon and they worked for Alvin Thomas lived on his place in Pleasant Township. In the spring of 1946, Tom and Anna Duncan moved to Pierre, leaving the ranch in charge of their son, Paul and his family. After the disastrous prairie fire of 1947, Paul sold the farm to James Brown, of Gettysburg, and moved to Highmore where they still reside. During April of 1948, Mr. and Mrs. Russell Buchholz (the former Patricia Williamson, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence Williamson) purchased the Youngberg place. They are living there now with their two children, Terry and Kathleen. Sometime in 1944, Mr. and Mrs. Hansen moved to their south place, leaving her sister and husband, Mr. and Mrs. Basil Williams, of Cresbard, in charge of the home place. During the fall of 1946, the William's moved to Onida where their son, Ted, graduated from Onida High School. Shortly after this, Mr. Williams became very ill and passed away in January, of 1948. In the fall of 1947, Mr. and Mrs. Hansen moved to Pierre and hired Kenneth Stoll to manage the ranch. Mrs. Hansen passed away in March, of 1957, leaving Mr. Hansen in the care of his daughter Vivian (Mrs. Marvin Ronan). During the fall of 1951, the Ray Zebroski family moved to the Hansen ranch to work for them. At that time they had three children, Larry, LaVonne and Peggy. Later another boy, Freddie, came to join the family. In the spring of 1956, the Zebroski's purchased a ranch near Cottonwood, South Dakota, where they moved and still live. After the death of his wife, H. P. Hansen divided his property among his three daughters. Mr. and Mrs. Ray Marso (Karol) received the home place and after remodeling, during the summer of 1957, they moved there and are still there. Mrs. Marvin Ronan received the south place and her son, Terry, and his wife live there with their four children, Donald, twins Faye and Fern, and Rex. Mrs. Ben Bouzek received the east place where Mr. and Mrs. Howard Brown live. They have lived there since January of 1947, having rented the place from Mr. Hansen until this time. When they moved there in 1947, one child, had been born, Helen Alice, and since then five more, Anthony, Joan, Robert, Catherine and Pauline, have joined the household. Mrs. Brown is the former Eleanor Money. During the time that James Brown owned the Duncan ranch, he moved the house to Gettysburg and shortly afterwards sold the place to John Day, of Onida. During Brown's ownership the entire section was added to the original quarter. Mr. Day built a new house, corrals and other buildings and stocked it with cattle. One of his hired men, Howard Wargo and family, moved from Onida to run the ranch. They had two children when they moved in February, of 1952, James and Joette. Then in February of 1953, another daughter, Janette, was born. In August of that year they left and after living in Sioux Falls a short time, they moved to Longmont, Colorado, where Howard went into business for himself. Mrs. Wargo is the former Marie Brown, sister of Howard Brown. Mr. and Mrs. Harold West and two sons, Steven and Tom, then moved to the Day ranch. In the fall of 1954, a little girl, Tonna, made a welcome appearance. August Rupkalvis moved to Section 28 in 1928, and ranched with his brother, Otto, until 1934, when Otto and his wife moved to Bridgewater, South Dakota. In September of 1935, August married Elizabeth Haveriy of Onida, daughter of Bert and Grace Haverly. August and Elizabeth have six children, Duane, Larry Dean, Betty, Jean, Renee Jill, and Brenda Kay. August is the only one left in Norfolk Township of the original family group. His two sons are gone from home and have positions of their own. Betty is a senior and Jean a freshman at Onida High School. Renee and Brenda are still at home, not quite old enough for school. The Norfolk school closed in 1928, and didn't re-open until the fall of 1944, when it became necessary for the Rupkalvis children to attend the country school. There are nine pupils attending Norfolk School at the present time; Terry and Kathy Buchholz, Steve and Tom West, Donald Marso, Helen, Anthony, Joan and Robert Brown. Ralph Ripley, Jr. is the teacher. The. schoolboard members are Mrs. Harold West, the former Alice Flood, Russell Buchholz, and August Rupkalvis. On September 5, 1947, the greater share of Norfolk Township was burned by the disastrous prairie fire which started north of Highmore and met another smaller fire which had started north of Harrold. The two fires, fanned by a strong wind, cut a wide path and burned north to Highway 212, where it was successfully extinguished. * * * OKOBOJO TOWNSHIP Okobojo Township had the distinction of having the first settler in Sully County locate in that area in May, 1882; that person being Peter Brenan. The land in Okobojo Township was opened for settlement in the spring of 1883, and there were many who came that year seeking new homes and use of the land. Among those coming that year were R. B. Whitamore, Henry Bossler, W. B. and Walter S. Hamilton, F. E. and William Fagner, A. A. and W. J. Klink, Henry Doffler, S. L. Chaddock, R. J. and William. Courtney, Henry Potter, Jonathan Owen, John Snyder, E. L. and A. C. Gleason, E. M. Wise, Henry Swigler, J. C., Geo. S., Jackson C. and J. W.Holmes, H. F. and D. D. Bryant, Dr. H. G., M. G. and George Pease, W. E. Kerr, John Groseclose, John S. and E. D. Green, W. W. Andrews, W. H. and H. A. McNutt, Charles Bunch, George Henderson, W. C. McDonald, E. D. Bowen, J. C. McMahon, J. Greenman, R. M. J. Tallman, A. D. Anderson, E. H. Southmaid, E. O. and Mike Kelly, R. P. Howard, James Boughton, John W. Carpenter, Steve A. Travis, I., W. D., Hugh and R. McGannon, L. H., John, Scott, C. H. and Frank Bruner, Annie E. Topliff, Lee Wheeler, John Koch, John W. Glessner, A. C. Parsons and Merit Sweeney. The following year, 1884, still others came - C. C. Frost, Capt. B. and F. A. Sutherland, Frank Conklin, Col. E. P. Bunch, Samuel H. and Ed Ritter, Alvin Erb, Stephen Coe, W. W. Stewart, D. F. Sweetland, A. D. Harpold, M. C. Purshings, John Johnston, John Bradley, R. J. .McKonkey, Thos. Porter, and possibly others. The year 1885, saw William and R. J. Brownlee, John Millett, Mart Heineman and Adolph Smutz homesteading in Okobojo Township. H. C. Green and N. H. Thornton came in 1887. [photo - Sully County Spanish-American War Veterans. Taken in the Philippine Islands. Standing, left to right - Frank Groseclose, Will Green, Charles Green and Chris Mallack. Front row - Jessie Owens, Bill McNutt and Howard Boyles.] * * * The Green Family The Green family were indeed pionieers. They located near Olivet, Dakota Territory in 1875, a time when Indians were as common as coyotes, and almost as little tamed. Stirring adventures with the redskins marked their early life in that section. [photo - The Will Green Family, about 1918. Early Pioneers of Okobojo Township. Front seated - Mr. and Mrs. Will Green. Back, left to right - Willis, Frances and George] Moving to this region in 1883, with a yoke of oxen and covered wagon, the family again took up the tasks of the pioneer. It was in the spring of that year that John Green filed on the homestead near Okobojo which was known by his name and later descended to his son. In those days, the boy, Will, busied himself with his schooling and the tasks common to youth. He served his apprenticeship as a printer at 18 years of age under Steve Travis, of the Okobojo Times. Will was a Private in the first South Dakota Volunteer Infantry in the Spanish-American War and saw active service in the Philippines. It was there that he contracted malaria which finally resulted in complications, causing his death. After his return from the war, he became associated with John Livingstone in the Okobojo Times, and became its owner in 1910. On July 24, 1902, Will Green married Madge Glessner. They lived on a farm north of Okobojo where their three children were born, Frances, Willis George. Frances married John W. Wilder and now lives in Greensboro, North Carolina. They have four boys. Willis married Lucille Kennedy and they lived in Okobojo Township until 1950, when they moved to Onida and built themselves a home. George married Hazel Spencer, of Houghton, South Dakota. They also lived in Okobojo Township until they moved to Redfield, South Dakota, in 1942. They have one boy and two girls. Will Green passed away on December 7, 1922, at Chamberlain, South Dakota. Mrs. Green then moved to Huron, South Dakota, where her children could attend high school and college. She passed away in June, 1944, at the home of her daughter in Greensboro. * * * While digging a well in Okobojo Township in the fall of 1888, R. J. Courtney discovered the bones of some extinct animal of a prehistoric period. The bones indicated that the animal was of immense size, fully, if not larger, than the mastodons unearthed in various parts of the country. In 1939, Okobojo Township started recovering from the disastrous drouth, grasshopper infestation and business depression of the thirties. A few good years brought better crops, the grasshopper menace lessened and general business conditions improved. Then came December 7, 1941, and World War II. The immediate plans of the young men of the community were changed. All who were eligible entered some branch of the Armed Forces. These young men were all sons or grandsons of South Dakota pioneers. Hallie Glessner, son of H. C. Glessner and Beulah Bagby Glessner, passed away while in the service of his country. His brothers, John and William, were also in the Army. They are now in business in Fort Pierre. Robert Glessner died in a CCC Camp in the Black Hills. Russell Green, son of Ross Green and Florence Bunch Green, spent five years in the Army. He lives in Pierre where he is employed by the State Highway Commission. Maynard Green, Russell's brother, served in the Navy and is now in partnership with his father on their ranch. Elmer Ripley, son of Milton Ripley, entered the Air Force and spent several months in a German prison camp. His home is in Onida. Willis Green, son of Will Green and Madge Glessner Green, served in the Army. He is in business in Onida. Ray and Dale Bartels, while not sons of Okobojo pioneers, were in the Navy and Air Force, respectively. Ray lives in Onida and Dale is on a farm in Okobojo Township. Beryl MeGannon, son of Alex McGannon, was in the Army and is now residing in Pierre where he owns and operates the Cottage Grocery. Of the many changes through the years, one of the most important was the closing of the McGannon Store and Postoffice. The McGannon family moved to Pierre where they are now living. The store building was torn down and removed and the McGannon residence moved away. Mail service is now furnished by a Star route from Pierre. The Groseclose house was also moved and a County shed stands on its site. The Methodist parsonage, a relic of Pioneer Days, has been removed to Onida and is owned by Mrs. Maud Hanson. The Okobojo Townsite formerly owned by Alex McGannon and Milo Trumble is the property of Mr. and Mrs. Earl Sargent. Mrs. Sargent is the granddaughter of Milo Trumble. The Sargent home is the building that housed the central office of the Gas Belt Telephone Company. Telephone service is provided by the modern Sully Buttes Telephone Cooperative. Of the pioneers who came to Sully County with their parents, only Ross Green and George Trumble remain in Okobojo Township. In 1883, when one year old, Ross traveled by covered wagon and mule team to a homestead in the western part of the county. The family.soon moved to the ranch in Okobojo Township which is Ross's home today. Mrs. Ross Green, nee Florence Bunch, is also a Sully County pioneer. George Trumble came to Sully County in 1885, when five months old. He is the son of Milo Trumble and has lived most of his life in Okobojo Township. Other sons and grandsons of Okobojo pioneers living here are Maurice Green, son of Ross Green; Francis Ripley, son of Milton Ripley, and David Trumble, grandson of Milo Trumble. David Trumble's farm includes the townsite of Carson and was formerly the Milton Ripley home. Many early settlers have passed away in the last 20 years. Some of these are Charles Glessner; Mrs. Charles Glessner, the former Myrtle McGannon; Hal Glessner, brother of Charles Glessner; Madge Glessner Green, sister of Hal and Charles; Kitty Glessner Eakin, also a sister of Hal and Charles Glessner; Frank Ripley; Mr. and Mrs. Milton Ripley; Mr. and Mrs. Fred Fagner; Jesse (Jake), Harry and J. C. (Mont) Groseclose. * * * ONIDA TOWNSHIP None of the names found in the filings of the eighties are to be found in the list of residents of Onida Township at the present time. The township has survived prairie fires, drouth, tornadoes, grasshopper plagues, dust storms, hail storms and blizzards, but, while some leave, others stay through thick and thin and new residents come in so that the courage and patience of the pioneers will continue, carried on by new hands until the end of time. Mr. and Mrs. Elton Eller, the former Gloria Stumer, now live on the Southeast of Section One. They have two children, Edward, in Onida Grade School, and Aileen, under school age. Elton is the son of Lester and Nellie (Yung) Eller who lived on the place a number of years. Elton is a graduate of Onida High School with the class of 1941. [photo - Mr. and Mrs. Frahk C. Hoover. Pioneers of Onida Township.] Mr. and Mrs. Frank Hoover and their three children, Ruth, Russell and Charles, lived there several years after they moved from the Northwest of 12 during the twenties. Frank C. Hoover was born on April 6, 1887, in Norwalk, Ohio, the youngest of four children. His mother died when he was two years old and his grandmother, Mrs. Williams, raised him. His father later married Ida M. Williams and lived in Toledo, Ohio. Frank came to Onida in 1910, and operated a barber shop. In June 25, 1913, he was married to Hattie E. Johnson by the Rev. J. P. Williamson. In 1914, they moved to the Charles J. Johnson farm in Blaine Township and remained there three years and then moved back to Onida and lived in their home located on lots owned by Gordon Day. They also lived on the Wayne Nelson and Lester Eller farms. Frank was an auctioneer besides farmer and cried many sales in the northern part of the state until his health failed. He served several terms on the Onida Schoolboard in the forties and was a member of the Masonic Order. Before they moved to Onida, where they now reside, they purchased the farm in Garner Township where Russell and Charles and their families now live. Russell graduated from Onida High School in 1938. In 1947, he married Marcella Weiss, whose father managed the J. F. Anderson Lumber Yard in Onida for a number of years. They have three daughters, Hope, Kathy and Barbara. Charles was graduated in 1942, and in 1945, he married Helen Jean Small of Blunt. They have a daughter, Jane, and a son, John. Charles and Russell are engaged in farming and buying livestock. Ruth, Mrs. Bert Neiber, of Pierre, whose husband is co-owner of two shoe stores there, was graduated in 1933, and has two daughters, Nancy and Mary. Mr. and Mrs. Harry Nelson and two children lived here until his death in the twenties. The remaining members of the family moved to California. West of the courthouse, on the Southwest of Section Two is the residence of Jeff Clouse. Beyond him are the homes of John Oshel and his son, Robert and family. The Robert Oshels have two boys and one girl. This was the home place of and Mrs. C. W. Holmes, who have passed away. Gertrude, Albert and Frank Holmes also have passed away. Harry (Pete) lives in Owatonna, Minnesota, where the family moved after they left Onida sometime after 1910. Vivian lives in Kansas City, and Mary in Chicago. Mr. and Mrs. Will Spencer lived here many years before they moved to California where they both have passed away. Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Dunkelberger lived on this place, too, from 1936, until 1939, with their daughters. At present Mrs. Dunkelberger is teaching a rural school in Hughes County. Ralph was janitor at the Sully County courthouse recently. Later the family moved to East Onida and lived there from 1940 to 1943. Esther, Mrs. Allan Hale, lives in Onida in the former Lou Johnson home. She graduated from Onida High School in 1948. Edna is married, as are the other girls, and lives in Sioux Falls, Alice in Winner and Darlene in Page, Nebraska. Mr. and Mrs. Bert Haverly lived on this place from 1939 until 1952, when they built a new home in Onida. Bert passed away in 1958. Mrs. Haverly (Grace) is now living in a trailer house near her youngest daughter, Grace, Mrs. Bill Williams, on the old Tom Doyle place in Onida. Grace graduated in 1949. Bill works at the Oahe Elevator. They have four daughters and one son. Elizabeth, Mrs. August Rupkalvis, a graduate of 1935, lives in Norfolk Township. Shirley, Mrs. Garrett Jager, of Gettysburg, has a son and a daughter, Mrs. Richard Hirtzel, of Minneapolis. Garrett works at the government "bin site". Carl graduated in 1948, and is employed by Stewart & Sons. He has four daughters. Veryl is married and has two sons and one daughter. They live at Redding, California, where he works as a mechanic. Burton graduated in 1941. He is married and has a jewelry business in Walpole, Massachusetts. Eleanor graduated in 1936. She is now Mrs. Kenneth Johnson, of Chicago, where her husband is a cabinet maker. They have two sons and a daughter. Margaret Jean graduated in 1943. She is Mrs. Walter Trask, of Chicago, where Walter works for the Miner Manufacturing and Research Organization. They have a boy and a girl. Norman graduated in 1941, and teaches mathematics and science in the Sutherland School in Chicago. He is working for his Master's degree after which he will be in line for a principalship. He is married and has two sons. The Bird family lived here during the Mid-fifties. They had two children and have had another one since they moved to Nebraska. Mr. and Mrs. Martin McGuire were here during the mid-fifties. Martin passed away in 1958, and Frances still lives in Onida. The trailer homes of Mr. and Mrs. Bernard Eddy, who have two little girls, Mr. and Mrs. Ted Evans, Frank Hoffman and of Mr. and Mrs. Earl Meyers, with two little sons, are located between the Oshels and the railroad tracks. The corner on which the Hiway Garage is located is where the Wallace Lilly family lived in the early days. In the early twenties, Mr. and Mrs. Wilbur Dunlap lived there before moving to Nebraska, where Wilbur died in 1947. They had an adopted son and daughter. Mr. and Mrs. Lyle Nelson and Dwayne lived there in the thirties. Lyle is the son of Andrew Nelson, pioneer of Blaine Township, and a brother of Luther and George. The old buildings were moved away some time ago. On the southeast corner of Section Three are the Mobil Gas Station, operated by Woody Stahl, and Klara's Hiway Cafe, operated by Klara Myers. Klara was born in Germany, and married Norman Myers of Solen, North Dakota, while he was overseas in military service and came to the United States in 1952. She has been a citizen of our country for two years. The Myers' trailer house and those of Mr. and Mrs. Loren Lambert and two children, Willard Stahl's and Charlie Danks are west of the cafe. This was the Bert Lilly place in pioneer days. Jesse Hayes, who married Florence Jordan, daughter of Mel Jordan, an early settler of Sully County, lived there in the twenties and part of the preceding decade. Jesse was county school superintendent for many years. In the early thirties the family moved to Oregon. Their four children, Melvin, Royal, Elliott and Cheryl all married in Oregon, and still live there, as does their mother. Jesse passed away a number of years ago. The Southwest of Five was the former location of the Finch family of pioneer days. The buildings have been gone many years. Mable Finch, who married J. M. Arneson, a former superintendent of Onida schools, passed away in 1958, in Minneapolis where they had lived many years. Mr. Arneson died several years ago. Their son, John, is a lawyer. Mr. and Mrs. Frank J. Sack have been or. the Southeast of Six since June, 1946. Madeline, Mrs. John Zebroski, of Lincoln Township, with a son and a daughter; Don, now at Travis A.F.B., in California, and Dan, presently at home, all graduated from Onida High School in 1953, 1956 and 1958, respectively. Ann graduates this spring and Frank is a junior. Leland is married, has one little daughter and is employed at Oahe Dam. Eileen, Mrs. Wilbur Hofer, lives in Onida, where her husband manages the Peavey Lumber Yard. They have two young sons. Paul married Sylvia Fritz, granddaughter of Noah Fritz, a pioneer of Blaine Township. Sylvia graduated from Onida High School in 1948. Paul is with a Construction Company west of the Missouri. They have two sons and two daughters. The Sack home is the former home of Aaron Robinson and family. Janet Chamberlain was married from this home. Her husband, Luther, who passed away in December, 1942, was of a pioneer Clifton Township family. Other Robinson children were Mae, Mrs. George Becker, of Pierre; Fan, Mrs. Ray Becker of Gettysburg; Zoa, Mrs. Otto Boldt, of Mliwaukee, and Glen, who graduated in 1926 from Onida High School and later from Yankton College. He married Marliss Chaffee, a niece of the former Mrs. Carmon Bates, whose husband edited the Watchman for many years. They now live in Boise, Idaho, where Glen is principal of the Junior High School. They have one son and one daughter. Later, Mr. and Mrs. Bill Maloney lived there with their two sons and two daughters. After the death of Mrs. Maloney, Bill and the children moved away. Mr. and Mrs. Lyle Nelson lived there from 1929 until the early thirties when they moved to the Southwest of Two. In 1940, they went to their present home in Cora Township. In the early thirties, W. H. Cottrill lived in that same house with his three children, Berneice (Mrs. Boyd Crider, of Sandpoint, Idaho), Arlene (Mrs. Lawrence Zigler, of Pierre) and Merle who married Colleen Alexander, of West Sully, and lives in Thornfield, Missouri. Mr. and Mrs. Percy Smith and children also lived there during the early thirties before they moved to the West Coast. Mrs. Smith was a sister of Wilbur Beebe. Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Ripley and three sons also lived on this place from about 1931, until they moved to the Northwest of Eight where they now live. Their sons all graduated from Onida High School. Ralph in 1947, Delbert in 1948, and Lawrence in 1950. Ralph attended Yankton College, taught in the eastern part of the state, married Carolyn Boroff, of Gettysburg, teaches the Norfolk School and has one son. Delbert attended a Mechanics School in North Dakota, married Lorraine Boroff, of Gettysburg, lives there, where he works for Gettysburg Motors and has one son. Lawrence married Donna Edge, of Onida, works for the Ford Garage in Onida and has one little son. Early in 1958, Ralph and his three sons, and their three sons had a four generation picture taken with his mother Mrs. Milton Ripley, a long-time resident of Okobojo Township. She died a few months later. All the boys served their time in Military Service. Arthur (Jack) Svenson married Oma Hilton in 1938. They made their home on the Southeast of Seven where he and his brother, Harold, had lived, raising turkeys. They had one son, Alfred, who graduated from Rapid City High School in 1958. He plays violin with the "Western Cowboys" and over TV at Rapid City. They have lived at Hermosa since 1946. Ralph Ripley now owns the place. The Northwest of Eight was the former location of Mr. and Mrs. Lou Skinner and children, Ray, Edna and Hilda (Mrs. Skinner's by a previous marriage) Ellen, Bertha and Lucy, and Nettie (Mr. Skinner's by a earlier marriage). Mr. and Mrs. Skinner, Bertha, Hilda, and Lucy all have passed away. Roy Johnson and Ellen (Mrs. Sprague) live in Wisconsin, Edna (Mrs. Everts) in Pierre and Nettie (Mrs. Currier) in Osceola, South Dakota. She has two sons in California. Mr. and Mrs. Maurice Porter and family lived there during the early thirties, and moved to California a number of years ago. They had five children, all of whom live in California now. Mr. and Mrs. Ed Curvo and Jim Wright lived there after Porters left, until after Ed passed away in 1939, and Mrs. Curvo and Jim moved to the Bistorius place in Clifton Township. In the forties they moved to Blunt where they lived until Mrs. Curvo passed away in 1956. Jim still lives in Blunt. On the northeast corner of Section Ten is the Conoco Station, operated by Maynard Bloom and Leslie Day. Maynard and his wife (the former Lois Day) and young son, Steve, live in a trailer house just west of the station. Lois graduated from Onida High School in 1953, Maynard in 1954 and Leslie in 1956. The west part of the station is being remodeled into a motel. Just south of the Conoco Station is the old Heywood & Nelson house where Mr. and Mrs. Roy Everts and daughters lived during the twenties. Barney Lyons and family lived there from the thirties until they moved to Huron several years ago. The youngest daughter, Mabel, lives with her parents. All the others are married but Mary. Bonnie (Mrs. Maurice Hiett) passed away this past winter, leaving three daughters and one son. Barney lives at Bighorn, Wyoming, and Clifford, in Seattle, Washington. Mr. and Mrs. Everett Money and Eleanor, also lived here a short time. Mr. and Mrs. Robert Demery live on the southeast corner of Section Ten, with their three daughters and two sons. Mrs. Demery is the former Margaret Day who graduated from Onida High School in 1947. Bob teaches in the Fort Pierre Schools and they run the Roxy Theatre in Onida. They bought the place from Glenn Woods who had formerly run the Roxy before the family moved to Wyoming. [photo - Mr. and Mrs. M. A. Hyde, about 1901. Early Pioneers of Onida Township.] [photo - LaVere, Connie and Charles Hyde. Three children of Mr. and Mrs. M. A. Hyde.] On the northwest corner of Section 11 is the new I. H. C. Sales & Service building recently erected by John Day. The Admiral appliances are also featured. Mr. and Mrs. Josh Hofer and son Virgil live on the Southwest of 11. Their children all graduated from Onida High School. Pearl's first husband was killed in an airplane crash. She remarried and lives in southern South Dakota. LaVon married Myron Vetter and lives near Onida. Carol is married and lives in Colorado. This was the C. H. Agar homestead in the eighties. Maynard Hyde, who married Jessie Agar in 1901, lived there after their marriage with the exception of the years from about 1907 until when he and C. W. Holmes ran a store in Onida. Five years after the death of his first wife, he married Zetta Brewer and they lived on the home place until 1941, when they moved to San Diego, California, and later to Melbourne, Arkansas. In 1955, they returned to Onida, where they have since resided. Maynard passed away April 17, 1959. Maynard's children are Margaret LaVere (Mrs. Joe Laughrey) graduate of Onida High School in 1920, who has two children; Charles, a graduate of 1922, married Charlotte Uecker and has five children; Orville, a graduate of 1928, married Clara Uecker and has two children; Connie married Louise Smith and has three sons and one daughter (Mrs. Joe Lamb), and Russell, who married in Minnesota, and moved back here in the early thirties and has ten children. MEMORIES OF THE EARLY DAYS OF MY FAMILY IN SULLY COUNTY (By Maynard A. Hyde) 1958 [photo - Maynard A. Hyde, 1932. Pioneer of Onida Township.] [photo - D. W. Hyde. Early Settler of Onida Township.] Not one of the pioneers that came to Sully County to take up homesteads in 1883 are left, and just a few of us that came along as children are still here. My father, D. W. Hyde, was a paper hanger and painter in a small town in New York State, when he got the urge to go west and get free land, a place where he could raise his children in the wide open spaces. He barely had enough money to get to Onida and build a sod house and send for his family of wife and three children, Millard, age seven; myself, not yet four, and Blanche, age two. When my mother started west, I remember we got as far as Chicago, where we had to change trains. As we had quite a wait, Millard decided to see the town, so he took me and started out. I do not know how far we got, but I remember being on a bridge and a policeman asking us questions and him picking me up and carrying me back to the depot. My mother was about frantic, our train had left and we had to wait for the next one. Father had got one of the neighbors to meet us at Blunt twenty miles away, a day's trip with a team and lumber wagon. There were no telephones then, so when they got to Blunt there was no one there. The train we were to have been on was struck by a cyclone, blown off the track and a number of people injured. So all was well that ends well. Father was a little late getting to Blunt on his second try and before we got to the sod house, Alan Starks who was with father, and father got lost and we had to stay out all night in the wagon. A Miss Wales came in on the same train that we did and as she was also coming to Onida we brought her along. When day light came, we were about one mile west of Onida. Mr. Starks surely used some language not found in the dictionary. They did not paint or paper sod houses or tar-paper shacks, so after the first winter, father went to Minneapolis to find work as funds were getting pretty low by then. He left mother with us kids to hold down the claim. We had some time! Mother was afraid that the Indians would come and scalp us so she stayed awake most of the nights and we youngsters were afraid of coyotes and badgers. Our neighbors had to haul water for us and it would get hot and full of wigglers. One morning the latter part of July there was a strong wind blowing from the south. About ten that morning, we noticed a small fire coming right at us! Mother corked up all the windows hung damp sheets over the door and we were all set, as safe as could be. But this being the first big fire, every one went wild. They appointed a Mr. Nelson to look after those that were in the path of the fire and to put out the side fires. He told mother that the house was a poor place to be with children and advised her to go about a half mile east where she would be out of the path the head fire. And then by going another half mile east we would come to a neigbors where we would be safe. Mother started us kids on ahead while she stayed to do a few things. My brother being four years older than I carried the baby, Lily, who was born that June in the sod house. I had my sister Blanche by the hand. By the time mother left the house, the fire had burned pretty close. She had a big pan of bread dough rising and she was taking that with her. She was subject to fainting spells and did not get fifteen rods until she fell over in a dead faint. We kids were so frightened, we were paralyzed and did not know what to do. Millard, took the two sisters and started to run with them. The wind had changed and the fire was coming right at my mother. I was not yet five, but I ran back to her as fast as I could, thinking I could cover her face with my little coat. By the time I reached her, the fire was getting hotter and the smoke was thick. I looked up toward the fire and lo and behold here was George Newton, our neighbor, coming in a lumber wagon. He had the horses on a dead run and was whipping them with the lines. He had had several barrels of water in the wagon, the last one was just being bounced out when I saw him. He set the horses on their haunches, jumped out, told me to scramble in (which I did without delay). He was a big man weighing better than two hundred pounds and he picked mother up and rolled her into the wagon kerplunk. With the jolting of the wagon, mother soon came to. I think no one could be more scared than I was as I was sure mother would be burned alive. Our first winter on the prairie was terrible. People were busy in the spring getting their houses and barns built and did not get started until late putting in crops, and did not get much planted at that. That winter the snow got very deep and the wind blew hard. The snow was piled up around the house until you could not see the house. The trains could not run as they did not have good snow equipment in those days. It was twenty miles to the railroad and nothing there when one got there. No flour, no coal, no anything! About all we had that first winter was beans. I got so sick of BEANS that for fifty years I could not stand the sight of them. One neighbor had turnips for their main diet, which must have been worse than beans. One family even boiled up hay and drank that. There was nothing for fuel but straw and hay which was buried in snow. After shaking that out, my how it would smoke! When the worst of the winter was over, father went to Chicago to find work. He got a job driving mules to pull the street car. He could not get enough ahead to do much with, so as soon as he could get his claim proved up and a patent on it, he mortgaged it and bought a team of mules that the Army at Ft. Sully had condemned. He used them one summer to farm with, but the crops dried up so he and the mules went to North Dakota to the harvest there. The next spring one of the mules died. He sold the other one and rented a place on shares. For three years then he did real well, had acquired quite a little stock, some hay and other grain. Then on the second day of April, 1889, when we got up the wind was blowing hard. By 11 o'clock one could scarcely stand up against it. Father had fifteen acres north of the house plowed but the dust got so bad he had to quit. He took us children down cellar to cut seed potatoes. He wanted mother to come down also as he feared the house might blow over. But she did not go. About one o'clock, she came to the cellar door and called "FIRE." That was the worst prairie fire we ever had in South Dakota. Sixteen families in Sully County lost their homes and practically every thing they had. The fire swept clear to the Iowa line. We just got four horses out of the barn, one was a team of buckskin mustangs. Father told me to hold them while he went to see if he could get some hogs with pigs out of the pens. But he couldn't. The horses were frantic. The one I was holding by the rings in the bit with both hands, reared several times and swung me around but I held on some way. I think I was pretty scared. My mother tried to save some bedding and other things she treasured, but the wind was so strong they would blow away before she could get them into the wagon. We ran out to a corn field away from the barn and the house. When the fire was over everything we had in the house was gone as well as six calves, fourteen sows with little pigs, all our hay, corn, seed wheat, and potatoes. The older cattle of the neighborhood were out on the range and did not get hurt much, just singed. Father's share of these was four yearling heifers and one bull calf. That summer my sister Elva was born. I was nearly ten years old and got a job herding cattle and sheep at $7.50 a month. Every one was destitute, but quite a little relief was sent in from the east. The railroads hauled in coal free of charge, all it cost the people was $4.00 a ton, the price at the mines. Father rented another place on shares, with three horses and some cattle. Crops were poor that summer and wheat cheap. We didn't live very high. There was no snow until late that winter and the cattle we had, about twenty head, stayed out on the range. Along about November there was trouble with the Indians over on the Cheyenne Reservation where they had located across the Missouri River from us. The men did not want the women to know about this trouble. Father had been sitting up nights for about two weeks. He would read and keep watch. Mother got fed up with this behavior and insisted he should go to bed. He did, but kept getting up and going out to look around. One night about one o'clock somebody knocked on the door. Father jumped out of bed and went out. They talked real low but when he came back mother wanted to know what in the world was the matter and he had to tell her that the Indians were on the warpath and that 2500 of them had crossed the river. Father sent -me out to round up the cattle and get them into Onida. I went, but every tumbling weed that I saw looked like an Indian to me. That next summer, I worked for an old bachelor herding 600 sheep and 30 head of cattle. He was gone most of the time and I had to do my own cooking. I was trying to break some bread that I had baked to put into some stewed tomatoes. It had gotten so dry and hard that I could not break it, so I took it in both hands and tried to break it over the hearth of the stove. I broke the hearth, and that cost me a month's wages. This was the summer after the Indian scare. I would get the sheep corraled about dark, then I had to hunt up the cattle and yard them and milk a couple of cows and get my supper. By that time it would be 10 or 11 o'clock. I was afraid the Indians would get me so I would go out on a hill about a half mile away from the house to sleep so they would not find me. Quite an experience for an 11 year old boy! Father had moved his family out of the sod house and they were living just west of Onida. There my brother Frank was born. Later we moved to Goodwater Township and my youngest sister, Ruth, was added to the family. We xesided in Goodwater Township until my mother became ill and father moved the family into Onida, where mother passed away in 1901. 1 had left home before that and was living south of Onida. Father, always a loyal booster for Dakota and Sully County, in spite of all the hardships he had endured, lived on in Onida until his death in 1935. * * * Ellis Dunlap, nephew of M. L. French, a pioneer of Richvalley, also lived there during the time Maynard ran the store. They lived in Highmore many years after they left Onida. Ellis and one daughter, Ruth Wooley, have passed away. Mrs. Dunlap, Millie, spends some time with Royal in Texas, Ethel (Mrs. Fahlstich), in Highmore, and Dorothy (Mrs. Fahrenwald) in Aberdeen. Mr. and Mrs. Roy Kimbell and family live on the southwest corner of Section 11. One son, Ronald, graduated in 1958. John is a junior and Roy Jr. attends Dakota School of Mines & Technology. Barbara has not yet started school. Roy is a member of the State Highway Safety Division. They recently sold their place to Earl Kinder and expect to move to Pierre. Mr. and Mrs. James Young live on part of the Southeast of 11. They have two children, Michael and Mary. A four hole golf course has been started on the south side of their land. The buildings were built in 1919, by James Hayes (father of Mrs. H. A. Brooking). He and his wife, Rossie (niece of M. L. French) lived there until his death in 1935. She passed away in 1952. Their son, Harold graduated from Onida High School in 1926, and from the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology. He married Carolyn Bierman, of Pierre. They have two children and live in Michigan, where Harold is employed by Commonwealth Associates. Jim Nystrom, from a pioneer family in western Sully, lived there during the late thirties. They now reside in Oxnard, California, and have six children. Mr. and Mrs. Wayne Nelson live on the Northwest of 12 in a new modern home recently completed to take the place of the former house that burned in the fall of 1957. The old house, which had replaced a former one that was burned had been extensively remodeled after the Nelsons and their daughter, Julie, moved there. Wayne is the son of Luther Nelson, a pioneer of Blaine Township, and graduated from Onida High School in 1911. In 1953, Julie married Jim Sutton (grandson of Ed Sutton, a long-time resident of Troy Township). She received her diploma from Onida High School in 1954. She has a daughter and a son. Before the Nelsons, the families of Jack Daugherty, Tom and Chas. Dalton, Ctarfie Byrum and Ergo Hull lived on Section 12. Mr. and Mrs. John Crowe and their two children lived on the Southwest of 12 in the early twenties. It was at their place in the spring of 1921, that Walter Becker (brother of George Becker, formerly of Clifton Township) was overcome by gas while he was engaged in digging a well for them. Ray Shepard lost his life, too, trying to recover the body. Both bodies were recovered later in the day by Glen Smith (son of M. M. Smith, former County Road Superintendent) and another man whose name is not known now. Gas masks were used in the rescues. Mr. and Mrs. Frank Getzelman and family lived on the Northwest of 14 before the twenties and left for Illinois in the late twenties. Mrs. Getzelman and daughter, Mildred, have passed away. Two children died before they left here. The place was also occupied by the William Moore family, who later moved to Iowa. The house was moved into Onida several years ago. John Nelson, son of Benjamin Nelson, pioneer of Pearl Township, and his wife, the former Lilly Sommers of pioneer parents, lived on the Northeast of 15. Their buildings were in a grove of trees remaining from the old Lilly tree claim. Lilly Nelson passed away a few years ago after they had moved to Pierre where John still lives. Hollie Olson, son of Mr. and Mrs. Jonas Olson, pioneers of Pearl Township, was married in 1925 to Irene Rappana, of Lead, who had been teaching in various schools in Sully County. They lived on the Northeast of 32, where Hollie had built a new home in 1924. In 1934, they moved their buildings to the Northeast of 16 after Mr. and Mrs. Hans Larson moved the house they had built there in the early thirties, into Onida in 1934. Larson's daughter, Marilyn, is now Mrs. Walter Grimes, of Pierre, where her husband is with the State Highway Department. They have one son. The Olson boys both graduated from Onida High School; Clarence in 1956 and Richard in 1958. Clarence is at present stationed in San Diego on USS Hector AR-7. Richard is working with Connie Huse of Richvalley Township, helping with his farming operations. [photo - Mr. and Mrs. Howard R. Weischedel and their three children, Marianne, Mark and Gene.] Mr. and Mrs. Howard R. Weischedel live on the Northeast of 18. Howard is a grandson of Jake Weischedel, pioneer -of Pearl Township. His wife is the former Relen Anderson, of near Gettysburg. They have two sons and a daughter, Mark, Gene and Marianne. The buildings on this place were first put up by Hal Howard in the twenties. His wife was Dollie Beebe, sister of Wilbur, who lived with them. He attended the West Onida School and Onida High School and now lives in Onida. The Howards moved to the West Coast many years ago. Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Spaid lived here from 1928 until 1937, when they went into Garner Township. Ralph is a grandson of Eric Spitz, a former pioneer of Hartford Township. From Garner they moved to the Cleve Garton farm near Highway 83 in Hughes County. Ernest graduated from Onida High School in 1941, married Barbara Yankee, of Walpole, Massachusetts, while he was in the service during World War II, and now lives in Hughes County where he farms west of Blunt. Bob married Marilyn Eldridge, of Fort Pierre. Since Bob was discharged from Army service, he has farmed in Hughes County near his dad. They have three sons. Eileen (Mrs. LaVern Kuhns) has a son and a daughter, still at home. LaVern works for the Haliburton Cement Company in Riverton, Wyoming. Mr. and Mrs. W. H. Cottrill lived there after the Spaids left, until 1949, when they moved to Onida. "Had" passed away February 14, 1959. Kathryn, his second wife, still lives in Onida. Their son, Merle, graduated from Onida High School in 1940. He lived on the place for a while after the folks moved to town. Mr. and Mrs. Chas. Prien put up some buildings on the Northeast of 19 in 1928, and they and their four children lived there until they moved back to Nebraska in the thirties. Since then, Mr. and Mrs. Prien have died. Virgil, Verna and Florence have married and still live in Nebraska. Kenneth is unmarried and lives in North Dakota. Jack and Harold Svenson, Mr. and Mrs. G. W. Thompson and Marcella, Mr. and Mrs. Harley Lemon and son and daughter, Mr. and Mrs. Willis Chattick, Eugene and Laurel and Mr. and Mrs. John Rieger and nine children lived on the Northeast of 19 at various times during the thirties and early -forties. Mrs. Thompson, Harley and Lemoine Lemon all have died. Mrs. Lemon remarried and lives in Doland, South Dakota. Mr. Thompson is in Vancouver. Wylla Mae Lemon married Paul Duncan. They have a son and a daughter and live in Highmore. Mr. and Mrs. Claude Blaisdell (formerly Charlotte Kitchen of Summit Township and later Mrs. Pirl Edge) and daughter, Melissa, live on the Southwest of 20. The original owner was Gilbert Burtch, a pioneer of the eighties. His first house was wrecked by winds and he rebuilt it on the south side of the quarter. After a second wrecking he located it on the east side between the north and south quarters. The Chas. Prien family lived there during the twenties, but in 1928, put up buildings on the Northeast of 19. Claude purchased that quarter after Priens left in the thirties and moved the buildings to the present location and combined the house with the old Burtch house which he had moved to the south side of the Southwest quarter. Since then he has remodeled and modernized the home. They have three daughters, Lila graduated from Onida High School in 1954, and married Newell Ludwig in 1958 after having worked at the State House following a business course in Brookings. They now live in Onida in a trailer house. Leah graduated in 1956, worked at the State House and at S. D. E. A. Headquarters in Pierre and married Darryl Gray early in 1959. They now live at Coolidge, Arizona, where Darryl works in a nearby iron mine. Melissa is a senior at Onida High School. Wilfred and Maxine Kitchen lived with their aunt, Mrs. Blaisdell, and attended West Onida School. Maxine married Raymond Weischedel and passed away in 1951, when her little daughter Charlotte, was about two years old. Wilfred was in the service during World War II, married in Massachusetts, where now lives. They have one little girl. Leita Bestow (Mrs. Forrest Byrum). Two years old in 1894. Mr. and Mrs. Forrest Byrum live on the Southeast of 20. Forrest is the oldest grandchild of E. E. Brooking, of Hartford Township, and the oldest child of Coe E. and Grace Brooking Byrum, both pioneers of Hartford. Their house was the former section house at Aiken and was moved to Section 20 in 1934. Mrs. Byrum is the former Leita Bestow of Sparta, Wisconsin. She first came to Sully County in the summer of 1895, when her parents and brother, Earl, visited the Marcus L. French family in Onida. Her next appearance was when she taught one of the Hartford Schools the school year 1911-12. When her mother came out here on a visit to the R. B. Dunlap family in 1910, her "pass" was the first one to be honored on the new Chicago & Northwestern line between Blunt and Gettysburg. Forrest Byrum and family have lived oil the Fagner place in Onida Township since 1924. He has farmed the Fagner land since 1921, probably a record for a renter on one farm in Sully County. They were on the Northwest of 29 from 1924 until 1932, when they moved the house to the Southeast of 20. Their daughter, Carol, a graduate of Onida High School in the class of 1939, is now Mrs. Carl Winckler, of Pierre. She has two sons and two daughters. Her husband is manager of the Fort Pierre Farmers' Cooperative Elevator. Forrest Earl (Pete), who was first prize baby boy at south Dakota State Fair in 1930, graduated in 1947, attended South Dakota School of Mines & Technology three years. He was married to Dorothy LaFon, of Anawalt, West Virginia, when he was in the Air Force stationed in Washington, D.C. They live in Sioux Falls where Pete is a member of the I. B. M. organization. They have a daughter, Sharon Kay. John graduated from Onida High School in 1951, and from the South Dakota School of .Nlines & Technology in 1955. Since then he has been with the DuPont Company, in Niagara Falls, New York, Wilmington, Delaware, and at present his headquarters are in Cincinnati, Ohio. [photo - Forrest Earl (Pete) Byrum. First prize baby boy at State Fair, 1930. Son of Mr. and Mrs. Forrest Byrum.] Mr. and Mrs. Sam Harvey and children lived on the Southwest of 21 for a short time during the twenties. The buildings were moved to the Northwest of 28 and occupied by Mr. and Mrs. Ted Evans and Mr. and Mrs. Martin Genzler, in turn. The buildings have all been moved away. Mr. and Mrs. M. B. Knight lived on the Northeast of 21 in the early days of Sully County. He arrived here March 13, 1883. In 1906, he was the oldest resident in Onida Township. Clarissa, now Mrs. Earl Hardwick, attended the West Onida School located one-half mile east of its present site, before they moved to Onida in March, 1910, and took over the management of the store which had been run by Maynard Hyde and Chas. Holmes. The house was destroyed by fire and the other buildings gradually took "French" leave. There are a very few trees left on the old tree claim. Clarissa graduated from Onida High School in one of the early classes. George Pierce filed and lived on the Northwest of 22. It was there that his grandson, Robert, son of Francis Pierce, was born. Robert attended the West Onida School at the east location. It was on the Southeast of 22 that George's father, Christopher, filed. It was there in 1885, that Andrew Nelson, brother of Luther and George, dug a 104 foot well for Christopher, by hand, using a windlass to pull up the buckets of loosened dirt. Water was never reached, but about a winter's work went into the operation. In 1888, the Christopher Pierces celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. Mr. and Mrs. George W. Case lived in Onida Township for several years. Mr. Case studied law while resting his horses in the field and at other opportune times. They were very hard up, as were most of the early pioneers, and it was not possible for him to have a formal law education. Later he was able to pass the bar examination and became a well known lawyer in South Dakota, practicing at Watertown for many years. In later years his son, Howard, was associated with him in the law practice. In 1910, when the corner stone for the Sully County courthouse was being laid, George Case was speaker for the ceremony. Dr. and Mrs. Henry Merrick (Melissa Pierce) were also residents for a time. He was a dentist. Later a daughter and son became dentists. Mr. and Mrs. John Arnold (Laura Pierce) and Mr. and Mrs. Theodore Wilkinson (Elizabeth Pierce) and their families were also residents at one time. Ed married Isabella Mallock, of Summit Township. John Adams, son of Dan Adams, pioneer of Clifton Township, now lives on the Northeast of 22. The house, formerly located on the Northeast of 23 by Ed Lehman was moved and remodeled by John in 1955. The trees to be seen just north of the house are part of the old Livingstone tree claim. Mrs. Roddewig, two sons and a daughter lived on the Northeast of 23 from 1919 until the early thirties. Charles married Leah Bandy, whose father was section foreman for the Chicago & Northwestern Company for many years, and they now live in Lincoln Township. They have two children, both married, Joe married Belva Schierholz and they moved to California many years ago. They have three daughters. Mary Jane married in Illinois and lives there now. Mr. and Mrs. Marvin Schumacher and their four children live on the Northeast of 24. Three of the children are now in school. This was the location of the Beckman brothers, Walter and Harry, from 1911 until 1954, at which time they and their sister, Mrs. Carrie Workman, who had lived with them several years, moved to Kansas City, Missouri. Walter passed away March 15, 1959, and Harry, a few years ago. Mr. and Mrs. James Letellier live on the Northwest of 26. Frank Bruegel has been farming the land for several years and until this year the family lived in the house built by Ed Van Voorhis in the twenties. The Van Voorhis family moved West in the forties. He passed away a number of years ago. Mrs. Van Voorhis now lives in Colton, California, near her daughter Ila, Mrs. Henry Hull. Ila has been school health nurse for ten years. She has a daughter in college, another still in the grades and a son in the Navy at Treasure Island, California. Milton lives in Colton, and operates a filling station. Victor works for United Air Lines as a radio operator and lives in Seattle. Ila graduated from Onida High School in 1929, Milton in 1937, and Victor in 1937. The Bruegels now live in a trailer house on the west side of Onida. Billie is in Onida Grade School, the two girls are still at home. Bill and Herman Zeugge and their sister, Katie, now Mrs. Henry Becker, of Summit Township, lived on the Northeast of 33 during the twenties. The house was sold in the early thirties to Forrest Byrum and moved to the Southeast of 20. Bill passed away at sea a few years ago and was buried there. Herman died some time ago in Idaho. He married Lavina Brehe and they had two girls and one boy. Edward Pirece, father of Elmer, Eleanor, Stanley and Marion, who still live in or near Onida, filed on the Southwest of 27 in the early days. Eleanor is now Mrs. Clifford Thompson, the present Sully County Clerk of Courts. Mr. and Mrs. Ed Curvo lived on the Southeast of 27 in the late twenties. Mr. and Mrs. Barney Lyons and family lived there in the early thirties and Harold Svenson lived there for a time in the late thirties. Since then no one has lived there and a few years ago the buildings were moved away. C. M. Cunningham and his son, Clayton and his wife, the former Edna Unruh of Onida, live on the Northeast of 30. Mr. and Mrs. Cunningham and their two children moved from Castlewood, South Dakota, to Onida Township in November 1922. Mrs. Cunningham passed away in 1954. Gail, now Mrs. Henry Scheele, of Minneapolis, where her husband is a wool buyer, has two daughters and two sons. Sherry, her oldest daughter, graduated from high school in 1957, and is taking nurses' training. The other children are still in the grades. Gail graduated from Onida High School in 1934, and taught school two years in the home school of West Onida after attending Northern State Teachers' College. Clayton attended Business College at Mankato, Minnesota. He served his time in World War II. About 1913, John Lehman moved former school building onto the Southeast of 32. It was this building that he moved in 1919, to the Northeast of 30. Jake Gross, who married Lydia Kleinsasser, lived on 32 until they moved away in 1929. They had four children and now live in Minneapolis, where he is a bus driver. Section 30 had been the homestead of Joe Hunsley. In the early twenties, after the death of the mother, the Lehman family moved into Onida. Clara was severly burned when she fell on a hot stove, and then she lived at the Durrstein home several years. She left here with the rest of the family when they went to Colorado. She has since married and has two sons. At present she is teaching in New Mexico. Mr. and Mrs. Clarence Chamberlain lived on Section 30 shortly before the Cunninghams moved there. They had one son, Melvin, and they moved to the West Coast several years ago. Mr. and Mrs. Ted Allbright live on the Southwest of 31. Ted used to do some stunt horseback riding with his older sister, Rose, now Mrs. Nick Duphala, of Blunt, at some of the early Sully County Fairs. This place is owned by O. E. Forest, who lived there with his family from the early twenties until the late thirties. In late years he has done trucking. He now lives near his daughter, Geraldine, Mrs. Carl Allbright, near Blunt. His sister keeps house for him. The Allbrights have two boys and one girl. Ralph Forest married Helen Osterkamp and lives in Pierre. They have five children. Leonard, the first husband of Helen Osterkamp, was killed during World War H. They had two children, Joyce and Roger. After O. E. Forest left the farm, Mr. and Mrs. Hugh Palmer, Mr. and Mrs. Willis Knight and children and Mr. and Mrs. Nick Duphala lived there. Hugh passed away a few years ago. Mrs. Palmer lives in Onida, the Knights in Fort Pierre and the Duphalas, near Blunt. In March, 1906, the road fund in Onida Township amounted to about $800.00. This money was to be used to grade some of the low places in order to make the roads passable. The township board always endeavored to keep the roads in shape for the use of the township residents. More grading was done as it was deemed necessary. The last graveling of the main roads was done in the 1950's. In 1957, it was deemed advisable by residents not dependent on the roads maintained by the township, to disorganize the township and so one of the two remaining organized townships in the.county, the last remnants of true democracy of the old New England "town meeting" passed out of existence. Early on August 14, 1888, the W. H. Brown residence was struck by lightning and totally destroyed with part of its contents and clothing. The Browns were in their cave at the time and were unaware of the fire until it was too late to save the building. Another fire affecting more residents was that on April 2, 1889. Sparks from the chimney of Herman Spalding of Hartford Township, when the fire was started in the stove that morning, caused the fire. Although Onida itself was in the line of fire, it was saved by the heroic efforts of the fire fighters and the freak gusts of wind. In the outlying parts of West Onida Township, home and farm buildings, livestock, machinery, tools, harness hay and stored grain were destroyed, which was a serious loss for a new country. Rural Free Mail Delivery affecting West Onida residents was inaugurated about 1924. Maynard Knox was the first carrier and still serves Route No. 2. Albin Stahl serves the residents on Route No. I at the present time. A. E. Lewis was the carrier for many years, until he retired a few years ago. [photo - West Onida School, 1944. Back row - Mrs. Robert Pierce, teacher. Middle row, left to right - Lawrence Ripley, Lila Blaisdell and John Byrum. Front row - Richard Ripley, Alfred Svenson and Leah Blaisdell.] The majority of the pupils of West Onida Rural School continued their education in Onida High School and quite a number took further work in colleges in our state or nearby states.