PATTERSON, Hibbard, was born at Barris Corner,Michigan, June 2, 1859.  When ten years of age he removed with his parents to Marshall county, Illinois, and after having lived there two years returned to Michigan, and during the next five years attended school and worked in a shingle mill, and then commenced to learn the printer’s trade at Big Rapids; in 1879 went to Hamburg, Iowa, and was employed upon the Hamburg Democrat until 1881, when the proprietor, being in poor health, decided to remove to Colorado with his newspaper plant.  Everything was packed, when news came of an Indian uprising in Colorado, and fearing that the favorable climatic conditions of that country might be more than offset by the Indians, it was decided that Mr. Patterson should take the plant to Sioux Falls.  He arrived in June, and in August, 1881, commenced the publication of the Sioux Falls Argus.  In November the proprietor died, but Mr. Patterson continued the publication of the paper until the following February, when it was sold.  He remained in Sioux Falls until the fall of 1889, engaged in newspaper work; three years of the time being city editor of the Sioux Falls Press.  He then went with Mark Scott to LaGrande, Oregon, and assisted him in publishing the LaGrand Journal until the spring of 1890, when he returned to Sioux Falls and was associated with Mark Scott in publishing the Real Estate Review for a few months; then engaged in newspaper work outside the state until 1894, when he returned to Sioux Falls, and since then has been employed on the Sioux Falls Journal.  Mr. Patterson is not only a competent printer, but is a good all around newspaper man.  He is president of the Federation of Labor of this county.

PARKER, Herbert E., was born at Sparta, Wisconsin, July 22, 1863; was raised on a farm, attended the district schools, and was graduated from the high school at Boscabel, Wisconsin; came to this county in June, 1882, and located at Sioux Falls, where he has since resided.   He worked at the carpenter’s trade a short time, and for a few months was in the restaurant business; was employed as a guard at the South Dakota penitentiary five years; worked for J.W. Parker one year, and for Mark Randall in the oil business two years, after which he engaged in the same business on his own account for the same period.  He is now engaged in the flour and feed business.  In politics he is an out and out middle-of-the-road Populist, and his views upon finance are well known in South Dakota.  He is the state central committee man of the fusion party from this county, and is always actively engaged whenever there is a campaign in progress—city, county, state or national—and it is a difficult matter for an unregenerate Republican to get past this place of business without being advised in regard to his duties as a citizen.  He is a thoroughly good citizen.

PARKER, Joel W., was born in Oneida county, New York, March 28, 1817, but early in life moved to Ohio.  In 1850 he settled in Warren, Illinois, and engaged in the mercantile business.  In 1875 went to Milltown, Wisconsin, but his health failed him, and he removed to this county and located at Sioux Falls in 1879, where, with his son James W. Parker and J.W. Leverett, he engaged in the lumber business.  He had not been in Sioux Falls long before he endeared himself to everyone with whom he became acquainted.  He was a kind, generous man, a public spirited citizen, and an earnest advocate of such measures as would promote the welfare of the people.  He was a leading member of the Free Will Baptist church in Sioux Falls, and a deacon of the church at the time of his death, which occurred on the 14th day of April, 1893.  His son James W. Parker, succeeded him in the lumber business, in which he is still engaged.

PARLIMAN, Edwin, came to Sioux Falls during the summer of 1877.  He was born in Stark county, Ohio, December 21, 1832, and died at Sioux Falls, June 5, 1899.  His father was a physician.  In 1850, the subject of this sketch graduated form Alleghany College at Meadville, Pa.  When twenty-one years of age he removed to Decorah, Iowa, where he learned the watchmaker’s trade, and in 1854 engaged in the jewelry business at that place; moved to Austin, Minn., in 1857, and from there to Hastings in the same state.  September 30, 1860 was admitted to the bar, and practiced law at Hastings until he enlisted in the Second Minnesota Cavalry in 1862.  December 31, 1863, he received a commission as First Lieutenant of his company, and May 15, 1865, was promoted to a captaincy.  December 2, 1865, he was mustered out as Brevet Major.  He then resumed his law practice at Hastings, and remained there until he removed to Sioux Falls. While a resident of Minnesota he held the office of district attorney of Dakota county two terms.  After coming to Sioux Falls he was in active practice until assuming the office of county judge in 1890.  Was the first village attorney of the village of Sioux Falls, and was appointed county judge at the first election after South Dakota became a state, and retained this office until he was defeated by Bryan and free silver in 1896, holding the office seven consecutive years to the great satisfaction of his constituents.  After leaving the bench he resumed the practice of law, at first in copartnership with Harry B. Carleton, and later on with his son Ralph.  Judge Parliman was a good lawyer and a good citizen, and one of the most genial men n the city of Sioux Falls.  His judicial integrity was beyond question, and his death was sincerely mourned by a large circle of friends and acquaintances.

PARMLEY, Harry T., was born at Center, Rock county, Wisconsin, August 7, 1860, and resided there until he attained his majority.  He was educated at Janesville, Wisconsin.  In 1881 he came to Sioux Falls, and since then has been the junior member of the firm of R.G. Parmley & Brother, engaged in handling coal and wood.  He received two elections to the city school board, and in 1897 was elected alderman from the Second ward.  Mr. Parmley makes a good official, is a good business man, and a highly esteemed citizen.

PARMLEY, Russell G., is a native of Janesville, Wisconsin, and was born November 13, 1851.  He worked on a farm and attended the city schools and Janesville Academy until twenty-one years of age.  In March, 1878, he arrived in Sioux Falls, and at once engaged in the wood and coal business.  In 1881, a younger brother, Harry T., came to Sioux Falls, and the two brothers entered into a copartnership under the firm name of R.G. Parmley & Brother, which copartnership still exists.  The firm has been successful in business and has always maintained an excellent reputation in commercial circles.  Mr. Parmley has been on the city school board several years and was alderman from the Third ward in 1885 and 1886.  He has been president of the Coal Dealers Association of the Northwest, and was a director and vice president of the Union National Bank of Sioux Falls.  He is one of the most genial men in the city, and although conservative, is an energetic, enterprising citizen.

PEABODY, Miss Helen S., is the daughter of the Rev. A.B. Peabody, for forty years a well known clergyman in the Diocese of Milwaukee.  After her preliminary education in the public schools of Wisconsin, she took up the work of a teacher, and trained herself in practical work.  Then, at the well known St. Mary’s School, Faribault, Minnesota, she accomplished in three years the ordinary four years course, and after a career of extraordinary distinction—having taken the “Nellie Dearborn” and the “Bishop Pinkney” gold medals, given for scholarship in different branches—Miss Peabody was awarded the honor of the valedictory and was graduated in 1881.  She then took up school work in a private institution in St. Paul.  Here it was the Bishop Hare first met her several years before All Saint school was begun.  He at once made up his mind that if ever he should establish a young ladies’ school he would offer to Miss Peabody the principalship.  This he accordingly did when All Saints School was opened in September, 1885.  She has remained in charge as its Principal ever since, and the reputation of the school is due chiefly to the rare union in her of the qualities which go to make a successful head of an institution for the training of the mind and heart.

PECK, Porter Pascal, was born at Caledonia Springs, Canada, April 16, 1843.  His father was a native of Massachusetts, and when the subject of this sketch was ten years old, removed from Canada to Southport, Wisconsin.  Porter worked on a farm, attending school but a small portion of the time, until he was eighteen years of age, when he enlisted (in April, 1861) for ninety days in the Geneva Light Guards, and served in the 4th Wis. Infantry.  Immediately after his term of service had expired, he enlisted in Co. K, 2d Wis. Cavalry for three years, and re-enlisted in the same company and regiment in the fall of 1863 and served until the fall of 1865.  This was one of the best cavalry regiments in the service during the war, and was under the command of all the noted cavalry leaders, except General Pleasanton.  At the close of the war it was under General Custer.  Mr. Peck was never seriously wounded, and was never taken prisoner.  He was 1st Lieutenant of his company at the time of his discharge.  Soon after the war he went to Iowa, and engaged in the livery business and farming.  In 1872 he visited Sioux Falls, and then determined to remove to Dakota.  Early in 1873 he came to Sioux Falls and at once engaged in the livery business.  He brought the first two-seated, covered carriage into the state, as well as the first omnibus, and brought the first landau to Sioux Falls.  Peck & Grigsby erected the building on Phillips avenue opposite the Cataract house in 1878, and the first pressed brick, metallic cornice and plate glass used in the city of Sioux Falls, were used in its construction.  Mr. Peck has done a good deal of building in the city, having erected more buildings than any other man, except C.K. Howard.  He has also done his share in farming, having broken 1,400 acres of prairie land contiguous to the city.  He is a man of great energy and force, and has been identified with nearly all the public enterprises of the city.  While in Iowa he was deputy sheriff several years, and after coming to Sioux Falls was constable several years.  The Dakota National Bank was organized through his and Mr. Grigsby’s effort, and he was its first cashier.  He was director and vice president of the Minnehaha National Bank at the time of the death of its president, J.M. Bailey, Jr., was subsequently elected president and held this office until June, 1898. He has also been prominent in city matters, serving as alderman and treasurer, and has received two elections as mayor.  No one will claim that Sioux Falls ever had a resident of greater activity and energy than Porter P. Peck.  He “never sent a boy to mill.”  As a “single-hand talker” he stands in the front rank, and the language that he makes use of on extra occasions, although sometimes unique, is always explicit and full of meaning. His administration as mayor of the city of Sioux Falls, was beset with difficulties, owing in part to the great desire of some of the good people that public enterprises should be pushed, while others wanted to “go slow.”  Again, the enforcement and non-enforcement of the prohibitory law, had been zealously championed by friends and foes of the measure, and he had this disagreement to contend with.  But he has never been found on the fence.  He is always, right or wrong, on the ground fighting it out.  At his first election to the mayoralty he defeated Capt. Willey, and at the second the Rev. E.B. Meredith, which alone makes full proof that he has a host of friends among the people who know him best.  Still in the prime of life, with unabated zeal and enterprise, it can safely be predicted that he will for a long time to come, be an important factor in public affairs.

PENDAR, Oliver S., was born in Salem, Massachusetts, September 29, 1857.  During his youth he attended the common schools and graduated form the high school of his native city.  When twenty years of age went to Minneapolis, where he remained one year. In 1878 came to Dakota and took up a homestead in McCook county.  In 1879 a post office was established where the city of Salem is now located, and Mr. Pendar was appointed its first postmaster.  He gave the name of Salem to the post office, and when the town was platted the same name was adopted for the town.  In addition to his duties as postmaster he engaged in the mercantile business from 1879 to 1886, at which time he went into the real restate and loan business, which he continued until 1890, when he removed to Sioux Falls.  On the 30th day of January, 1890, he was appointed clerk of the United States district court for the district of South Dakota by Judge Edgerton, and on the 17th day of June following, was appointed clerk of the United States circuit court for the same district by Judge Caldwell, which office he still holds.  The clerkship of the district court he held until October, 1891, and was again appointed to that office by Judge Carland on the 26th day of December, 1896, and is at this writing the clerk of both the United States district and circuit courts.  Mr. Pender is a genial good fellow, well liked by everybody, and is a competent official.

PERRY, George H., was born in Oneida county, N.Y., February 11, 1850; came to Beloit, Wis., in 1869 and entered Prof. Kerr’s high school, where he was a student two years; then went to Sibley, Iowa, and during the next four years teaching school was his principal employment; in 1876 went into the livery business, and in 1878 added that of real estate; in February, 1880, took his livery to Heron Lake, Minn., where he also conducted a real estate business; in 1882 removed to Woodstock, Minn., and took charge of the land and lumber business of Sampson & French.  In March, 1892, came to Sioux Falls, and was the manager of the East Sioux Falls Granite company until 1894; when he was elected president of the Iowa Investment company, and is now closing up its affairs.  In 1896 he organized the East Sioux Falls Quarry company, and is its secretary and manager.  Mr. Perry is a good business man, energetic and enterprising, and is an esteemed citizen.

PETERSON, Andrew, was born in Norway, March 3, 1833; attended the common schools, and studied three years in the high school at the city of Hammar, from which he graduated; was superintendent for an English mining company for three years; engaged in the mercantile business for the same length of time, when he sold out to his brother and engaged in farming, which occupation he followed for eight years; was timber marker for a large timber shipping company two years, and in 1866 emigrated to America.  He landed in Quebec, Canada, but went through to Chicago, where he remained employed in one of the largest door and sash factories for two years; then went farther west, and lived in Sioux City, Iowa, for awhile; then to Fort Sully in Dakota, where he was employed by the government as superintendent of the carpenters and builders for three years.  Once during that time they were visited by such numerous swarms of grasshoppers that the men working on the roofs of the buildings were obliged to abandon their work, as the grasshoppers were so thick as to prevent them from driving the nails in the boards.  In the spring of 1872 Mr. Peterson came to Sioux Falls and engaged as a carpenter and builder; he also secured a quarter section of land, which he afterwards sold.  In the spring of 1874 he engaged in the furniture and carpenter business with O.P. Weston, and they continued in business together until in 1880, when Mr. Weston sold his interest to Mr. Peterson, who continued the business alone for several years; he then engaged in farming for a  number of years near Madison in Lake county, but in 1890, after having spent a short time in California, returned to Sioux Falls, where he has since resided.  He was one of the trustees of the village of Sioux Falls in 1880 and 1881, and coroner of the county for two terms.  Mr. Peterson is a good citizen, and has a host of friends.

PETERSON, George R., was born in the village of Trenton, Ontario, Canada, May 21, 1846.  He attended the common schools, and graduated form the Newberg Academy.  From the time he was sixteen years of age until he was eighteen, he was employed upon the lakes.  His father was a civil engineer, and for awhile he studied with him.  In 1864 he removed with his parents to Wabasha county, Minnesota, and engaged in farming until 1878.  In September of that year, he came to Sioux Falls, and very soon after opened a meat market on Ninth street, and in company with his brother Blake carried on the business, together with the shipping of live stock, for nine years, under the firm name of Peterson Bros.  At the end of that time they sold out the meat market, and have since engaged in farming, shipping live stock, and buying grain.  They built elevators at Shindler, Granite and Ellis, and also have an elevator at Sioux Falls.  Mr. Peterson is an enterprising business man, a good citizen every way, and well liked by a large circle of acquaintances.

PETERSON, Joseph Blake, was born in the village of Trenton, Ontario, Canada, on the 14th day of December, 1848, and removed with his parents to Wabasha county, Minnesota, in 1864.  He attended school until sixteen years old, completing his education at Lake City, Minnesota.  He then engaged in farming until 1875, when he opened a meat market in Lake City, and remained there until he removed to Sioux Falls in November, 1878, and formed a copartnership with his brother George R., under the firm name of Peterson Bros.  This firm is still doing business as appears in the biographical sketch of his brother.  Their firm is well and favorably known in business circles. Blake Person, as he is called, is a man of energy and enterprise, is a good citizen, and, like his brother, has no aspiration for office.

PETERSON, Henry, is a native of Denmark, and was born August 1, 1858.  His father was a captain in the army, and was killed in the war between Denmark and Germany in 1864.  In 1870 he emigrated with his mother to the United States, and located at Vermillion, Dakota, where he worked on a farm.  In October, 1879, he came to Sioux Falls, where he has since resided.  He worked on the Queen Bee mill during its construction, and then in the mill, in all about three years.  Was foreman under H.M. Stearns during the construction of the polishing works.  In 1889 was appointed guard at the penitentiary for six months, and then superintendent of the stone works until appointed deputy warden, which position he held seven years, ending June 1, 1899.  Mr. Peterson is an energetic citizen, active in politics, and well like by a large circle of acquaintances.

PETTENGILL, Captain, Andrew J., was born at Portland, Maine, May 6, 1829.  In his early youth he attended the public schools, but at the age of twelve years went to sea, and for forty-four years was a sailor.  In 1850, when only twenty-one years of age, he became master of a ship, and during the succeeding thirty-five years he was engaged in the European, South American, East India, and California trade.  During all this time he was captain of the ship in which he sailed.  In speaking of Manila where he has been several times he said, “it is a fine city, the climate is good; the Phillipine Islands have great possibilities; their development in the next ten years will be wonderful; if I was young I would go there.”  In 1885, he was half owner of a ship, but having acquired considerable property, he concluded to spend the remainder of his life upon land, and sold his interest in the ship and settled down in Portland, which had always been his home.  But it was impossible for him to lead a quiet life.  In 1890, he was induced to come to Sioux Falls and take an interest in the stock yard project.  He invested largely in the enterprise and became the superintendent of the construction of the buildings.  After the company had become financially embarrassed he reorganized it in order to push the enterprise to completion.  He is a man of great activity and energy, and an honest, upright, public-spirited citizen.

PETTIGREW, Richard Franklin, was born at Ludlow, Vermont, July 23, 1848; came to Dane county, Wisconsin, with his parents in 1854, where they remained a few months and then located on a farm in Union, Rock county.  When sixteen years of age he entered Beloit college where he remained two years; in 1866 went to Iowa, studied law, and taught one term of school; in the spring of 1867 entered the law school at the state university at Madison, Wisconsin.  His father died in December, 1867, and during the next year—his elder brother having left home—he carried on the farm and cared for the family.  The winter of 1868-9 the taught school and during the spring of 1869 hired out as chainman to a party having a surveying contract in Dakota, and immediately came to Sioux Falls, and during the spring and summer was engaged in surveying in Minnahaha, Moody and Brookings counties.  After acting in the capacity of chainman for about two weeks, he took the compass the remainder of the season.  In November he returned to Madison and attended the law school.  In March, 1870, he again came to Sioux Falls and engaged in surveying during that year, and since that time he has resided there.  In 1871 he erected a frame building on the west side of Phillips avenue, just south of the barracks, drawing the lumber from Sioux City with a pair of bronchos, and frequently being obliged to unload and carry it across the sloughs himself.  The timber for the frame of this building was sawed by John O. Langness with a whipsaw. He practiced law two years, but has devoted a great portion of his time since 1871 in procuring immigration to Dakota and building up Sioux Falls.  In the field of politics his career has been remarkable.  In 1872 he was an independent candidate for member of the territorial legislature, and received a certificate of election and took his seat, which was contested, and at the end of about fifteen days his opponent was seated.  The next day this action was rescinded by the assembly, and he took his seat again, only to be unseated soon after.  At the election quite a number of railroaders voted in Deuel county, and without the vote of this county he was defeated.  This entire vote was thrown out by the assembly.  It is only fair to Mr. Pettigrew to state that he was in no way responsible for this vote, and also that the legal votes cast were not counted.  In 1876, 1878 and 1884 he was elected to the territorial council, and in 1880 was elected delegate to Congress form the Territory of Dakota.  He enjoys the distinction of being the first United States Senator of the State of South Dakota, and in drawing lots for the term he should serve with the newly elected senators from the states of Montana and North and South Dakota he drew the long term.  In 1895 he was re-elected by the Republican party.  In 1896 was a delegate to the Republican National Convention at St. Louis, but upon the adoption of the platform ignoring the free coinage of silver left the convention and joined the Free Silver Republican party and supported Bryan for president in the presidential campaign of 1896.  Mr. Pettigrew has been a tireless worker in his senatorial capacity, not only in the interest of his constituency but upon all national issues. Well informed, resourceful, with a splendid memory, without a trace of timidity in his make-up, he has forced himself well up in the front rank of the ablest debators in the senate.  If the State of South Dakota elects a Republican legislature in 1900 he will not be re-elected, otherwise his senatorial career will undoubtedly be extended six years.
     To go into a detailed statement of what he has done toward the growth and development of the county, and especially the city of Sioux Falls, would to a certain extent be a duplication of what already appears, for he has been connected with and taken a prominent part in securing the educational institutions, the manufacturing industries, and especially the railroads, which have contributed largely in making Sioux Falls what she is to-day.  In all these matters he has spent his time and money, not begrudgingly but voluntarily, and as the acknowledged leader, taking upon himself personal responsibilities which a less courageous man would have declined to assume.  The foregoing is only a brief outline of his career thus far, and what the future will add to his history no one would dare to predict.  He is in the prime of life, his energy undiminished, his spirit of enterprise unabated, and in the field of public affairs no one in the state is so fully equipped for aggressive work as Sioux Falls most distinguished citizen, R.F. Pettigrew.

PHILLIPS, Dr. Josiah Lake, was born in Farmington, Maine, June 8, 1835, and was educated at Bowdoin college.  He studied medicine with his father, Dr. Allen Phillips, and then went to Chicago where he graduated from Rush Medical college at the early age of twenty-one years; spent one year at Prairie Du Chien, Wisconsin; was one of the party sent out by the Western Town company to start a town at the falls of the Big Sioux.  He arrived at Sioux Falls on the 27th day of August, 1857, and was among those who spent the following winter at the falls.  Upon the organization of Big Sioux county he was appointed justice of the peace by the governor of Minnesota.  In 1861, having returned to Dubuque, Iowa, he enlisted in the 16th Iowa regiment, and was appointed assistant surgeon and soon after promoted surgeon of that regiment, and remained in the service until the close of the war.  In the fall of 1869 he returned to Sioux Falls and perfected his title to the quarter section of land on which the original village of Sioux Falls was located.  The first village plat within the present limits of the city of Sioux Falls was made by him, and comprised nine blocks, 1 to3 and 10 to 15 inclusive, including the territory between Sixth and Ninth street and Phillips and Minnesota avenues.  This plat was called “J.L. Phillips Sioux Falls” and was recorded August 10, 1871, in book 1, page 1.  In June, 1870, he removed his family to Sioux Falls and resided for three years in the building formerly used as the officers quarters; from there they removed to the corner of Phillips avenue and Eleventh street, where he resided until his death, June 12, 1882.
     Upon the incorporation of the village of Sioux Falls in 1877, he was elected one of its trustees, and was re-elected in 1878 and 1879.  Although a good physician and surgeon he practiced but little after coming to Sioux Falls.  While in the army, and during his march to the sea under General Sherman, his eyes became greatly inflamed, and he never fully recovered from this disability.  Owing to this fact, and the time he necessarily had to devote in caring for his large business interests, he refused to answer professional calls when the services of other physicians could be procured.  He was an outspoken, upright man, and always manifested a lively interest in public affairs.  He was taken sick on Saturday the 10th day of June, 1882, and, as stated above, died on the following Monday. His loss as a husband, father, neighbor and citizen was keenly felt, for in all these relations, he was a kind and honorable man.

PHILLIPS, Mrs. Hattie C., the only daughter of Dr. Daggett, of Lockport, Illinois, married Dr. Josiah L. Phillips at Houston, Texas, on the 1st day of July, 1867, and has been a resident of Sioux Falls since June, 1870.  She came there from Dubuque, Iowa, with her husband, with a view of making it their home.  Upon their arrival in Sioux Falls there were only six white women in the little village, Mrs. Franklyn, later the wife of C.K. Howard, Mrs. Samuel Huckins, Mrs. Jephta Duling, Mrs. Delaney, and the two Mrs. Harthorn.  Dr. Phillips had secured the building known as the officers quarters for a residence.  It was in this building Mrs. Phillips commenced keeping house in Sioux Falls, and it remained her home for three years.  In 1873, Melvin Grigsby commenced the erection of a residence on the corner of Phillips avenue and Eleventh street, and Dr. Phillips purchased this building and moved his family into it the same year.
     After the death of her husband in June, 1882, Mrs. Phillips has had the care of a large family of children, and the management of a large amount of property.  Mrs. Phillips has, without question, done more benevolent work in Sioux Falls than any other woman who ever resided here.  She has seen the little hamlet without schools or churches, and at times almost debarred from communication with the outside world, gradually become a city with all the advantages the term implies.  Her interest in its welfare has grown with its growth, and as new fields for benevolent work have developed she has entered them as a laborer and benefactress.  This work so conscientiously engaged in has greatly endeared her to the people of Sioux Falls.  But not this alone has made her the foremost woman in the city, for she has contributed liberally to the support of all such institutions and enterprises as had for their object the improvement and elevation of society.

PHILLIPS, Nyrum E., is a native of Trumbull county, Ohio, and was born May 5, 1842.  He worked on a farm and attended school until 1861, receiving an academic education.  In May of that year he enlisted for three months in the 19th Ohio regiment, and re-enlisted in 1862 as a private in Co. C., 125th Ohio, and remained in the military service until the close of the war.  When the regiment was organized he was elected 1st Sergeant and afterward promoted to 2d Lieutenant, 1st Lieutenant and Captain; was Adjutant and Quartermaster of the regiment, and was on General Updyke’s staff, filling the positions of Aid-de-camp and Brigade Inspector.  He was in the western army during the entire war.  After having been mustered out at Nashville, Tenn., he went to Ohio and from there to Pit Hole, Pa., where he engaged in the mercantile business in the fall of 1865, but in the great fire of that city in March, 1866, lost everything except a pair of horses and a wagon.  He then returned to Ohio and remained there until late in the fall of 1867 when he went to Omaha, Neb., and spent the winter.  The spring following, in company with Ed. Broughton, with whom he became acquainted while in Pit Hole, he went down the river to St. Joseph and from there to Selina and Fort Ellsworth, concluding his tour of inspection at Fort Hayes in Kansas.  From there he and Mr. Broughton returned to Fort Ellsworth with a mule train and then went to Omaha and from there to Sioux City, where Mr. Broughton secured employment with C.K. Howard.  Early in the spring of 1868 he again went to Omaha, having just ten dollars when he arrived there.  He was seeking employment and accepted the first job offered him, which was that of going out to North Platte with a gang of men for a contractor on the Union Pacific railroad.  He worked at the carpenter trade for awhile and finally brought up at Julesberg, where he worked at the same business, except during the last thirty days of his stay at this place, when he worked on the grade of the railroad.  From Julesberg he went to Cheyenne on foot, and again worked as carpenter.  At this time Cheyenne had only five or six wooden buildings, the greater portion of the population living in tents.  He had been at this place only a short time when he learned that the quartermaster at Fort D.A. Russell needed a clerk and he immediately put his worldly goods into a satchel and “footed it” to that point, where he secured employment until May, 1869.  At this place he cast his first vote in the fall of 1868, and it was the vote at the fort that elected Spink, the Republican nominee, as delegate to Congress.  Mr. Phillips took an active part in this campaign, and was greatly pleased with the result of the election.  In May, 1869, he went to Ohio on a visit, and when returning to the West he concluded to stop at Sioux Falls and see Mr. Broughton, who was then running the sutler’s store for C.K. Howard.  Arriving at Sioux Falls on the 30th day of May, 1869, he learned that the troops had received orders to vacate, and thinking the military reservation would soon be opened for settlement he remained and took up the northeast one-fourth of section 20, in Sioux Falls township.  After the reservation had been opened in 1870 he offered to take $125 for his claim, but could only get an offer of $75; so he concluded to stay awhile longer—and is still a resident of Sioux Falls.  In June, 1869, the troops were ordered away, and then the barracks were taken possession of by the people who had come to Sioux Falls to reside.  At this time there were no buildings in Sioux Falls except the government buildings and Mr. Phillips, of course, lived in the barracks.  He has been personally cognizant of and participated in all the events and enterprises of public interest which have taken place in Sioux Falls since the soldiers marched out of the barracks and left her future to be cared for by the civilians who came after them.
     Mr. Phillips was elected register of deeds in 1872, and held the office until April, 1876, when he resigned and John Bippus was appointed to fill the vacancy.  During the time he held this office he was also ex officio county clerk.  In 1878 he was elected one of the trustees of the village of Sioux Falls, and when the city was incorporated he was elected alderman from the First ward and re-elected in 1884.  He has also been quite active in school matters.  He was one of the building committee at the time of the erection of the Central school house in 1878, and was a member of the first Board of Education after the corporate limits of Sioux Falls had been made an independent school district and a board established.  He held this position for two years and was the first secretary of the board.  From April 7, 1882, until January, 1883, he was one of the county commissioners.  In 1884 he was again elected register of deeds, and by re-elections held this office eight years, and until April, 1888.  When the office of auditor was created he was ex officio clerk of the board of county commissioners.
     In 1872 he was elected a delegate to the Republican national convention from the Territory of Dakota, and was also elected a delegate from South Dakota to the national convention in 1892.  He was one of the Republican executive committee for Dakota for several years during its territorial existence.  On the 3d day of April, 1893, he was elected Warden of the state penitentiary at Sioux Falls, which position he held until May, 1899.  But it is in the field of politics that he is best known, and as a politician he is recognized as one of the most capable managers of a campaign that has ever resided in Dakota.  He is of a quiet, unassuming demeanor, a man of few words, but vigilant and tireless in his efforts to succeed.  True to his friends and possessed of a remarkable faculty for making combinations, it is seldom he fails in accomplishing whatever he undertakes.  As a neighbor and citizen he is generous and enterprising, and no person in Sioux Falls has a longer list of friends.

PILCHER, Albert F., was born at Plainfield, Illinois, March 12, 1857; attended the district schools and graduated from high school.  When nineteen years old entered a railroad telegraph office, where he remained until twenty-two years old, when he took charge of a station at Maynard, Iowa, and since then has been station agent at Dows, Clarion, Emmetsburg, West Union and Independence, Iowa, and Sioux Falls, S.D., where he arrived January 12, 1890, and took charge of the B.,C.R.&N. railroad station, which position he still holds.  He is an obliging official and well liked by the traveling public; belongs to the Masonic order, has been Eminent Commander of the Knights Templar of Sioux Falls, and is at the present time Grand Junior Warden of the Grand Commandery of South Dakota.  He is a royal good fellow, and a highly respected citizen.

PLACE, Charles Edwin, was born at South Berwick, Maine, October 26, 1839, but the following year removed with his parents to Lowell, Mass., where they lived until 1847.  At that time they removed to Milwaukee, where the subject of this sketch received his education and later was employed on the C.&N.W. railroad, where he remained until August 1, 1861, when he enlisted in the 24th Wisconsin Volunteers, and served nine months.  He then became station agent at New Libson, Wis., where he married Miss Susie Emery, and remained ten years.  In 1880, removed to South Dakota and engaged in the fuel business at Sioux Falls for several years; then became interested in the La Belle Ranch Horse Importing Company, and removed to Madison, S.D., but a few months later the company failed, and Mr. Place again located at Sioux Falls.  He then engaged in the insurance business with W.H. Holt for two years, but his health commenced failing, and he went to California.  After a short stay at that place he returned to Sioux Falls, but finally died at Hot Springs, S.D., on the 20th day of July, 1896.  Mr. Place was a kind neighbor, an upright business man, and a  highly respected citizen.

POLK, Albert A., was born in Indiana, February 17, 1853, and came to Iowa with his parents in 1856, where he resided until he came to Sioux Falls in 1880.  He soon after became a partner of the late Major T.S. Free, in the practice of law, under the firm name of Free & Polk which copartnership existed until the death of Major Free in December, 1886.  After this Mr. Polk continued in the practice of law by himself.  He held the office of district attorney of Minnehaha county for two years, 1887-9.  Mr. Polk is an honest, upright man, and an industrious lawyer.  He does not seek to make much display, but does his work thoroughly and to the satisfaction of his clients.  In April, 1899, he removed with his family to Kansas.

POTTER, Wesley S., was born at Burlington, Otsego county, New York, on the 5th day of July, 1836.  He attended the public and high schools and worked in a tannery until twenty years old.  At that time he removed to Rock county, Wisconsin, and worked as a carpenter and joiner.  At the commencement of the war he was in Missouri, and during the month of April, 1861, enlisted in a Missouri regiment, which, however, was soon disbanded.  In 1863, he enlisted in the 1st Wisconsin Cavalry, but before seeing any service he was made 1st lieutenant of Company D, 36th Iowa Infantry, and served through the war.  He was wounded in his right shoulder on the 18th day of May, 1864, by a canister shot.  After the war he was engaged in buying grain in Iowa and Minnesota until he removed to Sioux Falls, where he arrived on the 11th day of May, 1881.  For two years and six months he was the assistant adjutant general of the G.A. R., for the department of Dakota; and has been for several years and is now engaged in the collection business.  He is an active and respected citizen.

POWERS, David Edward, was born in Annsville, Oneida county, New York, November 25, 1857.  He spent his boyhood days on a farm, attended the common schools and during the balance of his minority taught school and attended the Niagara University.  At the age of twenty-one he entered the law office of Walter Ballou at Boonville and read law until 1880, when he was admitted to the bar at Rochester, N.Y.  After his admission to the bar he practiced his profession for two years at Boonville and during this time was associated with L.W. Fisk.  He then went to Rome, New York, and there formed a copartnership with J.P. Olney and for two years was engaged in active professional work. After the expiration of this copartnerhisp he practiced alone until the summer of 1889, and then formed a copartnership with H.S. Wilson of Rome, and was associated with him until he came to Sioux Falls, where he arrived on the 11th day of December, 1890.  Immediately thereafter he opened a law office in Madison, S.D., but remained only two months and then returned to Sioux Falls, where he resided until March, 1899, when he removed to New York.  While a resident of Sioux Falls he was associated with U.S.G. Cherry one year, and with D.J. Conway two years.  He was appointed city attorney in May, 1892, and held the office until September 20, 1893, and in May, 1896, was again appointed to the same office.  Mr. Powers is a good lawyer, and while practicing in Sioux Falls was connected with several important cases, one of them being the defense of Plenty Horses in the federal court, in which he won considerable fame.  He was one of the most courteous and accommodating lawyers in Sioux Falls, and was held in high estimation as a successful trial lawyer before a jury.

POWERS, Fred A., was born in Oneida county, New York, November 17, 1853.  He resided in his native state until he moved to Dakota, where he arrived January 4, 1882.  He located on the James river, near Milltown, in Hutchinson county, where he bought considerable land, and engaged in farming until the fall of 1893.  On November 8, of that year, he came to Sioux Falls.  He bought and now owns block thirteen in Riverside addition, where he resides and has a commodious residence.  He is the proprietor of the Riverside Nutbutter Factory, is an enterprising, upright citizen, and is one of the Elders of the Seventh Day Adventist church of Sioux Falls.

PRUNER, Thomas H., one of the early settlers in this county, was born in Knox county, Ohio, May 10, 1855; was reared on a farm, and received a common school education; on the 14th day of October, 1871, came to Sioux Falls, and took up three hundred and twenty acres of land in Wayne township, where he lived one year; then came to Sioux Falls and worked for True Dennis in a blacksmith shop for three years, and then, until 1884, was in the blacksmith business for himself; during the next few years was in the employ of the Sioux Falls Brewing Co., and in the livery business; in 1889 opened a store on Ninth street, but sold out in 1891, and became the bookkeeper and cashier of the Singer Manufacturing Co., which position he now holds. He is a good neighbor and a respected citizen.