SAMMONS, George B., was born in Onieda county, New York, April 24, 1835.  He received a good education, and when the time came to act for himself he removed to Illinois, thence to Iowa, and came to Dakota in 1873.  He located in Minnehaha county, taking up as a homestead the southeast quarter of section 13, in Benton township.  He afterwards sold his farm, and since 1881 has been engaged in mercantile business.  He was the first treasurer of the village of Sioux Falls, and held the same position for six years after Sioux Falls became a city.  He is a kind neighbor, and a good citizen.

SANFORD, Edward H., is a native of Buchanan county, Iowa, and was born April 1, 1863.  Was graduated from the high school at Independence, Iowa, in 1880.  Soon after was employed as clerk in a store, but six months later joined a railroad surveying party locating the road from Yankton to Scotland, and also the Sioux City and Manila road.  Was then employed as bookkeeper for the Independence Mfg. Co. at Independence, Iowa.  Came to Sioux Falls on the 24thd ay of July, 1884, and was employed in real estate and insurance office until 1888, when he became the bookkeeper for the Sioux Falls Press, which position he held eight years.  He then became connected with the Argus-Leader, and is at the present time the business manager of that paper.  He was for a long time 1st Lieutenant of Co. B, and was appointed adjutant of the second battalion, South Dakota National Guard, by Gov. Sheldon, and received a regular discharge in February, 1898.  He has been M.W. of the A.O.U.W., passed through the chairs of the Modern Woodmen, and is at the present time Chancellor Commander of the Knights of Pythias; has been a member of the city school board five years, and is a popular, enterprising and respected citizen.

SCHAETZEL, Jr., Jacob, is a native of Washington county, Wisconsin, and was born May 16, 1850; was reared on a farm, attended district and high schools, and two terms at Lawrence University.  When nineteen years of age was employed as clerk in a general store at Freeport, Illinois, where he remained six years.  On the 23d day of February, 1876, he came to this county, and settled in Sioux Falls.  For the first few years he was engaged in insurance, real estate, and shipping in horses, and for two years kept a livery and sale stable.  In 1882, upon the death of T.T. Cochran, he was elected president of the village of Sioux Falls, and immediately commenced to agitate the question of changing the incorporation of the village to that of a city.  He called a meeting of the citizens, and steps were taken during the fall of that year to draft a city charter.  When this had been accomplished he went to the legislature and secured the passage of the act of incorporation.  He was elected the first mayor of the city for the term of two years, and pursued a vigorous policy in the administration of city affairs.  He was county commissioner for the Fifth district in 1893-4-5, and was a very active and influential member of the board.  Was one of the stockholders and officers of the German bank for several years, and has been connected with a large number of important business enterprises.  There are no negative elements in his make-up; he is energetic and enterprising, and a good citizen.

SCHAETZEL, John, was born in Wisconsin, December, 25, 1862.  In 1878 he came to Dakota and took up a homestead, pre-emption and tree claim in Lincoln county.  This property he disposed of in 1880, and removed to this county and engaged in farming on section six in Sioux Falls township.  In a few years he had one of the best farms in the county, but its proximity to the city of Sioux Falls, and the possibility entertained by some people during the boom times that there would be a scarcity of land for platting purposes, enabled him to sell it for a big price.  He then moved into the city.  During his residence in the township he was elected to various town offices, and made a good official.  He is a thrifty, industrious man, and a good citizen.

SCHWARZ, Joseph, was born in New York City, February 24, 1858.  When three years old he removed with his parents to LaCrosse, Wisconsin, and became a student in the office of an architect at an early age.  On the 15th day of May, 1884, he came to Sioux Falls and opened an office, and since then has been engaged in his professional work as an architect, and has established an excellent reputation in his profession.  Mr. Schwarz is a genial, sociable gentleman, a good neighbor, and a respected citizen.

SCOTT, Daniel, is a native of Montgomery county, New York, and was born February 19, 1841.  While a small lad his parents removed to the city of Utica.  At the age of ten years he commenced his newspaper career by becoming a newsboy, and five years later removed to Polo, Illinois, and went into a newspaper office where he remained until 1861, learning the printer’s trade.  At this date he enlisted in Company H, 15th Illinois Infantry, and remained in the military service until discharge on account of disability.  Upon his return from the army he established the Ogle County Press at Polo, which he published for one year and then sold out; got married, and went to Clinton, Iowa, and engaged in the insurance business for one year; and then went to the Pennsylvania oil regions and established the Union Mills Star at Union Mills, which he published for one year.  His next venture was the publication of the Corry Republican, at Corry, Pennsylvania.  When through with this enterprise, he went to Wisconsin and spent one summer, and finally in 1869 concluded his roving about at Sioux City.  He became city editor of the Sioux City Journal with its first issue, and the greater portion of his time until 1876 he spent upon this Journal.  While at Sioux City he made several excursions into the Indian country trading with the Indians, and was the first white man who ever sold them goods on the Yellowstone river.  During these trips he learned from sources more or less reliable, that there was gold in the Black Hills, and he made the most out of what he had heard, through the columns of the Journal, and he enjoys the distinction of being the first newspaper man who called attention to this fact, the announcement of which aroused so much interest that in 1873, in connection with Charles Collins who owned the Sioux City Times, this paper was made the organ of the Black Hills, and so industriously did they push the project of taking possession of the reservation that they were threatened with prosecution by the United States government.  He was elected alderman in Sioux City for one term, and as the mayor did not attend the council meetings, he was elected mayor pro tem.  The winter of 1876-7 he spent in St. Paul, but in March went to Deadwood, South Dakota, where he helped establish the Deadwood Daily Times, and was its chief editor until he went to Bismarck, North Dakota, in 1882, where he was connected with the Bismarck Tribune about one year.  On the 5th day of July, 1883, he came to Sioux Falls, and became the city editor of the Sioux Falls Press, which position he retained until 1886, when he went to Rapid City, South Dakota, and started the Rapid City Daily Republican.  After spending the winter of 1887-8 in Texas he returned to Sioux Falls and opened a real estate office and participated in the real estate boom which commenced about that time, and like all participators he learned that real estate booms originate from no known cause, and depart for less tangible reasons than they come.  He was elected alderman from the Third ward in 1895, and re-elected in 1897. He has been city editor of the Sioux Falls Press both under the former and present management.  As will be seen Mr. Scott has been a frontier man, and there are a good many stories afloat of his exploits and adventures, but none of them mark him as a timid man.  He is an enterprising, independent citizen, progressive and aggressive in municipal matters, a good neighbor, and has a host of friends.

SCOTT, Rev. Darius B., the subject of this sketch was born at Bloomfield, N.Y., October 27, 1843.  His father was born in Connecticut, and his mother, a native of Vermont, was a granddaughter of the Hon. Darius Bullock.  They moved to New York soon after their marriage, and subsequently to Kentucky, where the father taught school for four years.  During this time Mr. Scott, then a small lad, saw enough of the cruelties of slavery to incite in him great hostility to the institution.  From Kentucky he went with his parents to Illinois, where he was living when the war broke out in 1861.  He was anxious to enlist in the military service at once, but was prevented by his parents, who needed his services at home.  In 1864, however, he enlisted in the 17th Illinois cavalry.  While in the army, he resolved that if he was spared, he would devote himself to the ministry, believing that in so doing he could best serve God and humanity.  In the fall of 1865 he entered Wheaton college, where he remained four years.  After this he took a theological course at Andover, Massachusetts, for three years.  Upon receiving his ordination to the Congregational ministry he was settled over a church at Lynnfield, Massachusetts.  Subsequently he became pastor of churches at Hollis, New Hampshire, and Clinton, Massachusetts.  After twenty years of hard labor in the ministry, he became satisfied that, owing to an impaired constitution resulting from army life, he would have to leave his calling, or seek work in a more invigorating climate.  Receiving a call from the First Congregational church of Sioux Falls during the summer of 1892, he accepted it September 1, and brought his family to the city the 1st of November following, where he has since resided as pastor of the church.  His installation took place December 22, 1896.
     Mr. Scott since his residence in Sioux Falls, has not only endeared himself to his parishioners, but is highly respected by all who have the pleasure of his acquaintance.  Diligent and conscientious in the performance of his pastoral duties, active in forwarding all commendable enterprises for the advancement of society, a strong, forceful and fearless preacher, united with high social qualities, are the prominent characteristics of the man.

SCOTT, Delos A., was born in Erie county, New York, March 23, 1846; was reared on a farm, and received an academic education; engaged in farming until thirty years of age; and then engaged in the drug business for two years at Rockford, Iowa.  For the last twenty years he has been in the real estate business, and during all this time has been handling real estate in South Dakota.  Came to Sioux Falls in June, 1893, where he has since resided, and has made himself known as a good business man and a good citizen.

SCOTT, Mark D., was born in Wisconsin, April 7, 1866.  He attended the common schools and commenced work in a printing office before he was ten years of age.  In 1878 he went with his parents to Deadwood, S.D., where he became a newspaper carrier and also the proprietor of some newspaper routes.  In 1883, he came to Sioux Falls and engaged in the printing-office work, and in 1885, in connection with Hibbard Patterson, did the mechanical work on the Argus for six months.  During 1886 he was advertising solicitor for the Rapid City Daily Republican, and worked on the Lead City Tribune for six months.  In 1888 he went to Burke, Idaho, and started the first newspaper at that place, but sold out the plant after six months.  He then went to LeGrande, Oregon, where he and Mr. Patterson started a newspaper which they sold in March, 1890.  Mr. Scott remained at that place engaged in business until 1892, when he retuned to Sioux Falls, and on January 1, 1893, became the city editor of the Sioux Falls Daily Press, and remained as, such until August, 1894, at which time he became, and still is, the proprietor and editor of the Sioux Falls Journal.  During the presidential campaign in 1896 Mr. Scott issued a daily paper call the Daily Journal.  There were sixty-two issues of this paper, and every one of them was filled with what newspaper men call “hot stuff.”  It was published in the interest of Bryan and his adherents in South Dakota, but when it had become settled that McKinley was elected, the daily issue was discontinued.  Mr. Scott is a great newsgatherer, and always has something to say upon the issues before the people.  He is strictly in the newspaper business, and is an earnest advocate of economy in public affairs.

SEXTON, Thomas W., was born at Davenport, Iowa, August 14, 1861; moved with his parents to Minnesota in 1869, and lived on a farm until 1875.  At that time they removed to Red Wing, in the same state, and remained there four years.  In 1879 he came to Sioux Falls, but remained only a short time, and then engaged in the hotel business with his parents at Cameron, Marion Junction and Bridgewater.  In 1886 he went to Kansas and remained a year and then came to Sioux Falls in May, 1888, and went into the real estate business, in which he has since continued.  Mr. Sexton is an active, energetic business man, and an enterprising, esteemed citizen.

SHAKSTAD, Erick, is a native of Norway, and was born October 3, 1855, was reared on a farm and attended the public school; emigrated to the United States in 1880, and settled in Chatfield, Minn., where he remained until he removed to Sioux Falls, where he arrived on the 1st day of September, 1881.  He worked at his trade that of carpenter and joiner, and was a contractor and builder for several years in the city, then went to Pierre for two years, but returned to Sioux Falls, and during the last ten years has owned and operated a planing mill.  Mr. Shakstad is a very industrious, successful business man, well liked as a neighbor, and is an esteemed citizen.

SHEPPARD, William James, was born at Quebec, Canada, July 24, 1862.  His father was one of the oldest settlers of Quebec, and held prominent offices in the Canadian government for over twenty-two years.  The subject of this sketch received a collegiate education at Ottawa.  In 1879 he came to the United States, and entered the Second National Bank of Detroit, Michigan, where he remained until in 1883, when his father died, and he returned to Canada.  Subsequently he went into the auditor’s office of the American Express Co. at Montreal, where he remained about a year, and then was bookkeeper for the Wood Manufacturing Co. until the outbreak of the Riel Rebellion, when he went out with the Winnipeg Field Battery, of which he was a member, and served through the campaign of 1885.  He was in the famous battles at Fish Creek and Batoche, and received with all those participating in these battles, as a mark of distinction a silver medal from the Queen.  After the close of the rebellion went to St. Paul, and became traveling salesman for the Berrisford Biscuit Manufacturing Co.  He remained with this company seven years, and then entered the service of McKibbin & Co. of St. Paul, in the same capacity, where he still remains.  He is also interested in farming, and is the owner of a fine 480-acre farm in McCook county, South Dakota, besides having some city property in Minneapolis, Minnesota.  In 1888, he was married to Miss Caroline Harder of Winnipeg, daughter of William Harder, general traffic manager of the Canadian Pacific railroad.  In 1896 located at Sioux Falls, where he has since resided.  In September of that year he, with four others, instituted a Council of the Order of United Commercial Travelers in Sioux Falls, which was the first instituted in South Dakota, and is called Sioux Falls Council No. 100.  He was made its first Past Councilor; is one of the executive committee, and was also elected on the same committee of the Grand Council of Minnesota and the two Dakotas.  Mr. Sheppard is a gentleman of high social attainments, a progressive and wide-awake business man, and an esteemed citizen.

SHERMAN, Edwin A., was born June 19, 1844, in Massachusetts.  His early years were spent at school, and at the age of sixteen he graduated from the high school.  The next four years he carried on a farm.  In his twenty-first year he went to Boston and engaged in clerking for a commission oil house.  Two years later he became a partner in the business under the firm name of Capen, Sherman & Co.  Four years later, his health failing he retired from the firm and went West.  During the first winter in the West he taught school in Sioux City.  In June 1873, he came to Sioux Falls, where he has since resided.  His first business transaction was to purchase a half interest in The Independent, a newspaper published by C.W. McDonald.  He was engaged in newspaper work for one year and a half, when he sold his interest to T.J. White. In 1874-6 he was county superintendent of schools, and organized during that time a large number of school districts.  Since his arrival in Sioux Falls, he has been one of the most active enterprising and successful business men of the city.  He built the first brick building in the city in 1875, and is the third building on Phillips avenue south of the Edmison-Jameson block.  John Bippus was then postmaster, and the post office was located on Phillips avenue north, and Mr. Sherman put up this building with the understanding that Mr. Bippus would move the post office into it when completed, which arrangement was carried out.  In 1877 he bought what is now the Cascade Milling property.  It comprised five acres of ground.  In this enterprise Isaac Emerson and J.G. Botsford were associated with him, and built the stone dam and the Cascade mill.  Botsford afterwards sold his interest to George E. Wheeler.  In 1887 the electric light works were added to their business, and the Cascade Milling Company was incorporated with a capital of $150,000, but the ownership of this property is practically unchanged.  This manufacturing establishment has been in operation nearly twenty-three years, and has been prosperous from the beginning, in fact, in this respect it challenges comparison with any manufacturing establishment in the state.  Mr. Sherman has engaged quite extensively in the building of residences, as well as business blocks.  In 1878, he built a stone building on the southeast corner of Main avenue and Ninth street and he also built all the buildings east to the alley on Ninth street, and all the buildings south on Main avenue, except the Schaetzel building at the south end.  The stone building was rented to the county for the county officials and a court room, before it was built.  In 1883 he erected the building occupied as a post office until the 18th day of May, 1895, and this was also built for the use of the county.  The Cascade block was built by him, and also the Union Trust Company block; and a few years ago he built a very fine and attractive residence on block one, Sherman’s addition to Sioux Falls.  He was instrumental in procuring the location of the Deaf Mute school at Sioux Falls, engineering the bill through the legislature; and gave to the institution five acres of land, the same on which it is now located.  He was one of the first trustees of this institution and president of the board.  He organized the Minnehaha National Bank in 1886, and was its president two years.  In 1887 he organized the Union Trust Company, which soon after transferred its banking business to the Union National Bank, of both of which companies he was at all times the president.  In 1887 he became associated with John M. Spicer of Willmar, under the direction of James J. Hill of the Great Northern railway line, to build the Willmar & Sioux Falls railroad.  Together they located, named and platted all the towns along this line, a distance of 149 miles.  He has a large interest in the Willmar & Sioux Falls Townsite Co., incorporated.  Although engrossed in such extensive business transactions as his record shows, he has found time to perform such official duties as have been assigned him by the people.  He was territorial treasurer in 1877-8, and territorial auditor in 1879-80, and was tendered the same office in 1881, which he declined.  When Sioux Falls became incorporated as a village he was elected one of its first trustees, and was frequently on the school board.  He has also served as president of the Commercial Club.  The success of his business enterprises, his fidelity to official duties, his constant zeal in promoting the growth of the city, stamp him as one of the most successful and reliable men in the state.

SHERMAN, Paul F., was born in Houlton, Maine, May 7, 1855.  He went with his parents to Minneapolis, Minn., in 1866, and from there to Shakopee in the same state.  He was reared on a farm, and received a common school education; was clerk in a store, and for some time conducted a business of his own.  On the 21st day of November, 1877, he arrived in Sioux Falls, and within ten days took up a timber claim in Humboldt, and a homestead in Hartford, this county, and engaged in farming for several years; in 1887, went into the agricultural implement business at Jasper, Minn.; in 1893, came to Sioux Falls to locate, but retained his business at Jasper.  He is a member of the firm of Sherman Bros. & Bratager, and since locating at Sioux Falls this firm has built the largest agricultural implement warehouse in the state.  Mr. Sherman is an energetic, successful business man, has a host of friends, and is a respected citizen.

 SHERRARD, William B., is a native of Ireland and was born June 8, 1837.  Attended school and worked on a farm until nineteen years old, and then engaged in the dry good business; in 1864, emigrated to the United States; lived a few months in New York, and then went to Chicago where he remained about fifteen years.  During that time he clerked in a store two years, and then commenced the work of founding a home for newsboys and bootblacks, and labored in their interest while he remained in Chicago.  In 1879, he went to Kansas and engaged in stock raising until 1889, when he removed to Clark county, this state, and until 1893, was engaged in merchandising and the shipping of stock.  In January, 1893, he came to Sioux Falls, and since then has devoted his time to caring for friendless children, and has been the manager of the Children’s Home at Sioux Falls since it was established.  Mr. Sherrard is a man of tireless energy, and devoted to his work. Of course, he has been maligned, and a man of less courage would have abandoned his good work long before this, but it has only served to make him the more zealous and determined to secure for this institution the respect and hearty support of the people of South Dakota.  It is sufficient, to assert that a large majority of the people of the state are heartily in sympathy with Mr. Sherrard and his work, to establish the fact that he is a good man and a good citizen.

SHOTWELL, Ezra M., was born in Washington county, Ohio, October 28, 1845, and worked on a farm until twenty years of age, when he engaged in business.  In 1869, he came to Iowa and engaged in the produce business, and remained in that state until August, 1879, when he removed to the city of Sioux Falls, and engaged in the coal business for five years, and then in the ice business for four years.  Since then he has been engaged in shipping stock, when not acting as street commissioner.  While a resident of Iowa he served as alderman four years in the city of Perry, and has served in the same capacity two years in Sioux Falls.  He was street commissioner of the city in 1894 and 1895, during the administration of Mayor Williams, and was again appointed to the same office by Mayor Lien in May, 1898.  He is an enterprising, energetic citizen, and makes a good official.

SIMPSON, James, is a native of Milford, Oakland county, Michigan, and was born on the 21st day of January, 1855.  He worked on his father’s farm during his youth, and did not attend school until fourteen years of age, when he went to Flint, Michigan, where he remained in a school for the education of deaf-mutes for five full terms, having been born deaf.  From Flint he went to a similar institution in New York city, where he took a three years course in two years, and was selected valedictorian of his class, graduating at the age of twenty-one years.  He then learned the jeweler’s trade, and worked at this business for about four years and a half, and then engaged in farming in Michigan.  In 1878 he went to Council Bluffs as a teacher, and remained there in that capacity three years—the last year having in charge of the highest class.  The following year nine students from the Iowa school were admitted to the National Deaf Mute College at Washington, D.C., eight of them having been Professor Simpson’s pupils.  In June, 1881, he came to Sioux Falls to visit E.G. Wright, and was pleased with the prospects of the Deaf Mute school which had been established the year previous and he at once became connected with the school and assumed its management, which he has since retained.  Professor Simpson is not only a successful teacher in his line, but is an all around man and highly respected as a business man and citizen.  The writer, while at Bismarck attending a session of the legislature in 1887, was more than pleased with the ability displayed by the professor, who was there to procure an appropriation for his school.  He endeavored to obtain the appropriation he desired without making any combination with other state institutions, and he persisted in his purpose until the band wagon was nearly out of sight and his appropriation liable to be lost in the shuffle, when, with the celerity of a veteran in politics, he mounted the seat with the driver.  In July, 1880, he married Miss A.L. Simpson, who came to Sioux Falls with him, and who has been of great assistance in the conduct of the school.  Mrs. Simpson is an estimable lady, and three bright boys gladden the hearts of their parents.

SKILLMAN, William J., was born April 19, 1838, in Somerset county, New Jersey, six miles form Princeton on the old post road from New York to Philadelphia, that region being one where his ancestors had lived and died for nearly 200 years.  He obtained his early education in the country schools in the neighborhood.  Later he was a student at the venerable Grammar school at New Brunswick, New Jersey, and from there entered the sophomore class of Rutger college, then under President Frelinghueysen, where he was graduated in 1860.  The same year he entered the Theological seminary of the Reformed church at New Brunswick, whence he was graduated in 1863.  The autumn following he was called to take charge of the Reformed church of Macon, Lenawee county, Michigan, where he remained for over five years, serving also part of the time the Congregational (afterwards Presbyterian) church of Raisin.  In 1868, he removed to South Bend, Indiana, and was pastor of the Reformed church of that city for nearly five years, removing from there in 1872, to the Hudson Valley, and took charge of the old First Reformed church of Bethlehem, immediately below the city of Albany on the river, where he remained for eleven years.  In 1883 he came to Sioux Falls, where he organized the Presbyterian church, which he served for one year; then supplied for nearly two years alternately the Presbyterian churches of Dell Rapids and Flandreau; was acting professor of Greek and English literature in the Northwestern academy at Orange City, Iowa, for a few months; and in the opening of 1886 took full charge of the First Reformed church of Sioux Falls, where he remained until in June, 1894, when he removed to Philadelphia, having accepted the pastorate over a large congregation at that city.  Mr. Skillman took the regular academic degrees of A.B. and A.M., in course—because he couldn’t help it—but has never sought or desired any other.  All his life he has been a writer for the press, being a correspondent of such papers as the New York Evening Post, The Nation, Christian at Work, Christian Intelligencer, Christian Union, besides various literary, scientific and theological periodicals and reviews.  For nearly four years of the time he resided in Sioux Falls, he was in editorial charge of the Sioux Falls Journal, and its editorial columns from its first page to its last issue while under his control fairly bristled with the sharp, incisive arrangement of the follies of the day.  He believed in prohibition and in the enforcement of the laws for the suppression of the sale of intoxicating liquors, and while he resided in Sioux Falls if he left anything undone that he could possibly do to stamp out the saloons, it does not occur to the writer.  His scholastic acquirements were not limited to theology but embraced a through knowledge of all the important topics of the time. He hated vice and all its accompaniments; despised all pretense and hypocrisy; loathed all such persons as pretended to be for the right and did not have the moral courage to fight for their convictions; was possessed of good health, a combative temperament, a well disciplined, analytical mind, and was a master of invectives; and still people wondered why the editorial fraternity in South Dakota let him so severely alone.  He was true to his convictions and fought desperately to maintain them.  His departure brought relief in certain quarters, but it must be acknowledged that the ministerial association of the city lost one of its strongest supports, and the city one of its most independent and fearless citizens.

SMITH, Edgar L., was born at Cabot, Washington county, Vermont, April 10, 1850.  He was educated in the public schools, and worked on a farm until twenty-one years old.  He then engaged in manufacturing lumber at Marshfield, in his native county, until 1884.  During that time he was town clerk twelve years, and superintendent of schools several years.  On the 31st day of October, 1884, he came to Sioux Falls, where he has since resided, and was for several years engaged in the coal and wood business.  He has contributed largely to the appearance of Phillips avenue by the erection of two brick business buildings with stone fronts.  He is a thoroughly good business man and a good citizen.

SMITH, Elgin B., is a native of Canada, and was born November 17, 1851.  During his early youth he worked on a farm and attended school.  In 1871 he went to Cherokee, Iowa, and engaged in farming for about three years, and then bought out a furniture store.  From that time to the present writing he has been in the furniture business.  During the spring of 1884 he removed to Sioux Falls and commenced business in the Leader block, where he has since remained. He has always carried an extensive stock of goods and is a good business man.  He is well liked as a business man and neighbor, and is a good citizen.

SOLEM, Rev. Henrik M., was born in the province of Sondfjord, Norway, June 21, 1862.  His parents, emigrated to the United States in 1870, and located in Union county, Dakota, where the subject of this sketch received his early education in the common schools.  In the spring of 1887 he was graduated from the Augustana college at Canton; in 1890 was graduated from the Augustana Theological Seminary at Beloit, Iowa; the following year attended the Augsburg Seminary of the United Lutheran church in Minneapolis, where he took a final theological examination in 1891, and was ordained minister in June of that year at Kenyon, Minn.  He then began work as pastor in the inner mission on the Sioux reservation, which he continued for five years.  In 1896 he received a call from the United Lutheran church at Sioux Falls, which he accepted, and has since remained the able pastor of that church.  He is a faithful Christian worker, and greatly beloved by his congregation.

SOULE, Ira T., was born in New York, November 14, 1848, and attended school and worked on a farm until he was twenty-one years old.  He then engaged in farming on his own account, residing several years in Lake county, Illinois.  On the 27th day of December, 1875, he arrived in Delapre township, Lincoln county, where he engaged in farming until 1890, when he removed to Sioux Falls and opened a livery and feed stable. While in Lincoln county he held township offices, and since he became a resident of Sioux Falls has been street commissioner two years, and in 1899 was elected alderman from the Sixth ward.  He is a good citizen, and well liked.

STANFIELD, John A., a few days after the 23d of February, 1846, a little boy in the State of New York was named John A. Stanfield.  After he was grown up to manhood he resided for awhile in Minnesota and came to Dell Rapids in the fall of 1883, where he filled the position of station agent for the Milwaukee Railway company.  In 1889 he removed to Sioux Falls to perform the duties of auditor of Minnehaha county, to which office he had been elected at the general election in 1888.  He was re-elected in 1890, and again in 1892, at which time he was nominated by the Independent party, and was elected by a plurality of three hundred and eighty-six. Only one other of the nominees of that party was successful.  Mr. Stanfield was the great vote-getter of that campaign.  In 1894 the Democratic and Independent parties in Minnehaha county united upon a county ticket, and Mr. Stanfield received the nomination for treasurer, but it was a Republican year and he was defeated.  In March, 1895, his term of office expired, and since then he has resided only a part of the time in the state.  Mr. Stanfield made a competent official.

STERN, Alexander, is a native of Germany, and was born November 5, 1851.  When about fourteen years of age he entered as an apprentice in a cloth house, where he remained three years, and then was employed in a broker’s office.  In 1870 he came to the United States, and lived a few months in Ohio, but engaged as clerk in a store the same year at Neenah, Wisconsin, where he remained about one year and a half.  He then went to Waupaca, in the same state, and entered a store as clerk, but soon after bought an interest in the business.  In 1876 he sold out and went to Yankton, S.D., where he was engaged for six years as clerk in a store.  In the spring of 1882, he came to Sioux Falls, and took charge of a store for a firm whose principal place of business was at Council Bluffs, Iowa.  In 1884, he married Miss Augusta Blum of Sioux Falls.  In 1885 he went to Pipestone, Minnesota, and engaged in business until 1890, when he returned to Sioux Falls and engaged in the clothing business.  In 1894 the firm of Buxbaum & Stern was formed, and they have now one of the largest clothing establishments in the city.  Mr. Stern is a good fellow socially, a good business man, and a good citizen.

STEVENSON, Thomas Young, was born May 25, 1859, at St. Charles, Minnesota; was reared on a farm and educated in the district and high schools; studied medicine and was graduated from the Bennett Medical College of Chicago in 1885; practiced medicine at Fulda, Minnesota, and at Wentworth, South Dakota about seven years; came to Sioux Falls in 1891, where he has since been practicing medicine; was county physician in 1895-6; in 1897 was graduated from the Harvey Medical College.  Dr. Stevenson belongs to the Masons, Odd Fellows, and A.O.U.W., and takes a lively interest in public affairs, as well as attending carefully to his large practice.

STEVENSON, Romeo R., brother of Thomas, was born at St. Charles, Minnesota, July 16, 1865.  He studied medicine and was graduated from the Northwestern University of Chicago in 1893.  He is now located at Sioux Falls, and makes a specialty of diseases of the eye, ear, nose and throat.  He has been abroad twice since coming to Sioux Falls, and has taken post-graduate courses in London, Germany, Norway and Sweden.  He has already established a reputation as a skillful physician in his line of practice.

STICKNEY, Moses A., was born in Athens, Windham county, Vermont, on the 10th day of November, 1846, and was reared on a farm.  After he became of age he went to Minneapolis, Minnesota, and entered a commercial college, where he graduated.  He then learned the miller’s trade, and for seventeen years worked at the same in Minnesota and Dakota.  In August, 1877, he came to Sioux Falls and engaged in milling in the Webber & Shaw mill until that concern was swept away by high water of April, 1881.  He was employed at the Queen Bee mill from its start, and when that stopped doing business Mr. Stickney’s milling career was at an end, except to go to Minnesota for a few months to start up a new mill.  When L.D. Henry removed from Sioux Falls he purchased his real estate and loan business in which he still continues.  He was appointed city justice to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of Mr. Henry, and held the office for five years and a half; was assessor of the city of Sioux Falls in 1886 and 1887.  Mr. Stickney is a good neighbor, an honest man and an exemplary citizen.

STINSON, Daniel Sylvester, was born in New York, March 4, 1854, but came with his parents to Dodge county, Wisconsin, in 1856.  He worked on a farm, attended the common schools, graduated from the high school at Columbus, Wisconsin, and attended the university at Madison, in the same state, for two years.  He was engaged in teaching school before he was twenty years old, and followed that vocation in Wisconsin until he removed to this county in July, 1879, and located at Dell Rapids, where he taught school two years.  In 1881 he built a ferryboat at that place, and took in $87 during the afternoon of the first day he run it.  It continued a paying business for some time, the receipts, running from $16 to $45 per day, but early in July a bridge was built, and the suspension of the ferrying business and the laying of the last plank on the bridge were concurrent in point of time.  Mr. Stinson took up a tree claim and homestead in March, 1878.  Except two years, when he was deputy sheriff under Sheriff Joseph Dickson, he has been engaged in teaching school, and is recognized as one of the most successful teachers in the county.

STITES, Albert H., was born in Millerstown, Pa., March 2, 1858.  During his youth he attended the public schools, and graduated from the high school at Millerstown in 1875.  He was naturally attracted to the study of medicine, his father being a physician, and after graduating from the high school he went to Philadelphia and entered a drug store as clerk.  In 1879, he graduated from the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy, and continued in the drug business in that city until 1881.  In June of that year he came to Sioux Falls and opened a drug store in the old land office building then located where the Masonic Temple now stands, and when that building was removed to give room for the present structure, Mr. Stites moved his business with it, and remained there until in 1885, at which time he moved back to his first location and since then has occupied the northeast corner of the Masonic Temple.  From 1885 to 1889, Frank S. Kimball was associated with Mr. Stites in the drug business, but since that time he has carried on the business alone.  He has been very successful and is considered one of the best business men in the city.  He has been president of the territorial and state Pharmaceutical society six years.  In 1895, was elected county commissioner, and assumed the duties of this office in January following.  In April, 1896, was elected mayor of the city of Sioux Falls, and in 1898, was elected to the state senate.  He is very popular in this city and has given good satisfaction in the discharge of his official duties.

STITES, William D., was born in Strassburg, Penn., in September, 1844.  At the age of twelve years he moved to Rockford, Ill, and in 1861, enlisted in the Eighth Illinois Cavalry and served until July, 1865.  He then entered a drug store in Chicago as clerk, and remained there until he went to Sioux City, Ia., and formed a partnership with C.K. Howard in the drug business.  In 1872, he came to Sioux Falls and became bookkeeper for C.K. Howard, who was then doing an extensive business.  He was deputy county treasurer several years, and in 1888, was appointed clerk of the district court, and held this office until 1891.  In 1894, he was elected police justice of the city of Sioux Falls, and held this office until 1896. He is now employed in the register of deeds office.  Mr. Stites is prominent in Masonic circles, and has been honored by this order with high official positions. He has also been prominent in political affairs, and is an enterprising citizen.

STODDARD, W.H., is a native of Liberty, Sullivan county, New York, and was born February 15, 1843.  He worked on his father’s farm until fifteen years old, when he entered the Liberty Normal school, graduating in 1859.  He taught school two years.  After the outbreak of the war he enlisted for three months in the 10th New Jersey regiment, and then in Company H, 143d New York infantry, and served to the close of the war.  He was in the army of the Potomac until after the battle of Gettysburg; went West in 1863, was at Lookout Mountain under Hooker, and was with Sherman in the Atlanta campaign and on the march to the sea.  He was color sergeant of the regiment in the Peninsula campaign, and orderly sergeant for a long time, then lieutenant, and at the close of the war was brevetted captain.  That he was at the front, the fact that he was wounded five times, is ample proof.  He was discharged on the 21st day of August, 1865.  In 1866 he commenced to read law with Judge L.D. McKoon of Long Eddy, New York, and was admitted to the bar at Binghamton, New York, November 14, 1868.  He practiced law at Middletown, New York, for fourteen years, and removed to Sioux Falls in 1883, where he opened a law office, but soon after entered into a copartnership with Judge Parliman under the firm name of Parliman & Stoddard.  This copartnerhsip existed for about two years when Captain Stoddard went to Kansas and practiced law for awhile, but returned and resumed his former relations with Judge Parliman.  In 1889 he became a member of the firm of Bailey, Stoddard & Wilson, where he remained until 1891 when the firm of Stoddard & Wilson was formed and continued in the practice of law until early in the year 1895, at which date the firm removed to Buffalo, New York, and engaged in the law business at that place.  While Captain Stoddard resided in Sioux Falls he was nominated by the Democratic party for judge of the supreme court of South Dakota, and was the candidate for state’s attorney of Minnehaha county in 1892, but receiving his nominations from a party largely in the minority was defeated.  He was well informed and could talk, and talk eloquently too; it made no difference with him what the occasion was—Decoration day, Fourth of July, G.A.R. assemblages, picnics, banquets, conventions, on the stump or to a jury—he was at home, and the people liked to hear him.  He was a genial companion and a good neighbor, and left home and a good law practice when he left Sioux Falls.

STRAHON, John G., was born in Chester county, Pennsylvania, February 9, 1844; moved to Harding county with his parents in 1857, where he attended school and worked on a farm until he was twenty-one years old, and then engaged in farming for himself; in October, 1878, came to Sioux Falls, bought some lots and built four houses, and then commenced draying, in which he has continued since then, and has the largest draying outfit in the city.  He has received two elections as alderman, made a good official, and was not afraid to have his vote recorded with the minority.  He is an industrious, hard working man, a good neighbor, and a good citizen.

STRASS, John F., was born in the city of Trondhjem, Norway, November 1, 1862.  In 1878 he emigrated to the United States and settled at Fergus Falls, Minnesota.  Immediately thereafter he commenced to learn the printer’s trade, and has since then been continuously connected with newspaper work.  In 1881 he started a Scandinavian newspaper at Fergus Falls, North Dakota, which he published for one year, when he sold the plant.  Early in 1894 he came to Sioux Falls, and thinking there was a good field for a Populist newspaper printed in the Norwegian language organized the Fremad Publishing Company, and commenced the publishing of the Fremad on May 17, of that year.  The success of the Fremad under his business and editorial management establishes the fact that Mr. Strass is a good business man.  He is well like, and is a good citizen.

STRINGHAM, Nicolas E., was born in Huron county, Ohio, on the 30th day of April, 1850.  When six years of age he removed with his parents to Iowa, where they remained one year and then removed to Minnesota.  During his youth he attended the common schools, and finished his school education in the city schools at Lake City, Minnesota, at the age of seventeen years. He then learned the blacksmith’s trade, and worked at this business until he removed to Sioux Falls, where he arrived on his 28th birthday, April 30, 1878.  He then entered into a copartnership with Frank H. Gillett in the blacksmith and farm implement business under the firm name of Stringham & Gillett, which copartnership continued until 1882.  From this time until 1898 he was engaged in the fuel and implement business in Sioux Falls.  He has been a member of the city school board two terms, and, although he has been nominated for other official positions, he has not been elected for the reason that his party ha been largely in the minority.  He has always been an independent, upright, industrious citizen, and a thoroughly good neighbor, as the writer can attest.

SUBERA, Dr. Harry W., was born at Picton, Province of Ontario, Canada, April 2, 1847; was reared on a farm and received his early education in the public schools.  Upon attaining his majority and until he commenced studying medicine was a “Knight of the Grip.”  In 1877 he entered the office of Dr. Farnsworth at Clinton, Iowa, and remained with him in his practice until 1883 when he graduated at the Keokuk Medical college at Keokuk, Iowa.  In 1885 he came to Sioux Falls, where he has since been engaged in the practice of his profession.  He has been president of the Minnehaha County Medical Society, and is its present secretary; was president of the County Board of Health two years, county physician one year, and has been city health officer since June, 1898; is a member of the Masons, Odd Fellows, Elks, and Modern Woodmen.  Dr Subera is a good physician, has a good practice, is a pleasant, sociable gentleman, and a highly esteemed citizen.

SUNDBACK, John, is a native of Sweden and was born December 21, 1850.  He came to the United States in 1868, and lived in Iowa until the spring of 1872, when he came to Minnehaha county and took up a homestead in Edison, filing on the south half of the southeast quarter of section 34, and the south half of the southwest quarter of section 35, which was the first homestead filing in that town.  He engaged in farming upon this land until the spring of 1881, when he moved to Sioux Falls and engaged in the sale of flour and feed and farm machinery. He was assessor one year in Edison, and was constable and on the police force in Sioux Falls when it was a village.  In 1886 he was elected sheriff, and continued to hold this office until the 10th day of January, 1893.  He is a member of the Odd Fellows and Knights of Pythias, and has taken nearly all of the degrees in Masonry, is also one of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine.
     He made an excellent sheriff; always level-headed, sagacious and honest, he performed his official duties without fear or favor to any one.  For several years he was prominent in political matters.  Until 1896 he was a straightout Republican, but after the adoption of the national platform that year by the Republican party he became a Silver Republican.  In January, 1897, he went to Nicaragua, Central America, where he had a large interest in a steamboat.  In December, 1897, he sailed his boat around Cape Horn for the Klondike region, with the intention of engaging in traffic on the Yukon river.  He is now residing at Vancouver, B.C., where his family joined him during the summer of 1898, and the state has lost one of its most enterprising and influential citizens.

SWENSON, Ole S., was born in Norway, November 9, 1845; was reared on a farm and attended school until twelve years of age, when he emigrated with his parents to the United States, and settled in Nicollet county, Minnesota; in 1863 he went to St. Peter in the same state, and engaged in clerking in a general store; in 1866 opened a hardware store, but after doing business one year at St. Peter, removed his stock to Grand Meadow, Minnesota, and remained there in trade until he removed to Sioux Falls, where he arrived September 15, 1880, and engaged in the same business until he sold out in 1893.  He then secured an interest in the flour mill at Valley Springs, in this county, which interest he still retains; was elected treasurer of Minnehaha county in 1886, and re-elected in 1888, and is at the present time chairman of the Republican county committee. Mr. Swenson is a good business man, an adroit politician, a good neighbor and an esteemed citizen.