Aurora Co., SD - Description and History, 1884 This file is a complete transcription of the descriptive information about Aurora County as found in A. T. Andreas' "Historical Atlas of Dakota", 1884. Aurora County Aurora county is situated on the western water shed of the James river, between that stream and the Missouri River. It is bounded on the north by Jerauld County, on the east by Sanborn and Davison on the south by Douglas and Charles Mix and on the west by Brule County. It comprises twenty congressional towns, 720 square miles and 400,800 acres. The northern portion of the county is drained by branches of Firesteel Creek, the western and southwestern by Platte Creek which, discharges into the Missouri River in Charles Mix County and the south-eastern by streams which flow partly into the James River in Hutchinson County and partly into the Missouri River in the Yankton Indian Reservation. These last mentioned streams in Aurora County are mostly intermittent, flowing only a portion of the year. There are several considerable bodies of water in the county, the principal of which are White Lake in the northwestern part, a fine sheet of water covering 3000 acres and Platte Lake near the west line, having an area of 1200 or1500 acres. A half a dozen smaller lakes are scattered over the central portions of the county. There are few marshes and very little waste land. The famous Wessington Hills extend into the northeastern corner of the county, where they break the monotony of the wide-spreading prairie and afford some very picturesque scenery. The southern portions of the county are generally speaking, composed of broad rolling prairie, having a rich productive soil adapted to the growth of grasses, grains and vegetables of the northern temperate zone. The county is mostly well settled by a thrifty class of young Americans. The Chicago, Milwaukee and St Paul Railway passes through the county near its center, affording good shipping facilities and aiding in the rapid development of the county. ORGANIZATION The county was created by an act passed at the session of 1880-1881. The commissioners appointed by the Governor were E H McIntosh, J B Smart and Charles Brudenbach, who met in Plankinton, August 20,1881 and appointed the following officers: Register of deeds and ex-officio County Clerk C J Anderson, Judge of Probate J J Kibbe, Sheriff J Siffler, Treasurer J Thorp, Surveyor J D Miracle, Assessor J W Thomas, Coroner S H Bakewell, Justices D W Shyrock, George Saville, R Hooper, Constables Charles Palmer, W H Webster, C W P Osgood, D N Shepard. At this meeting the county seat was temporarily locates at Plankinton. On the 20th of August 1882 the county was divided into five voting precincts and judges of election were appointed for each precinct. The county officers chosen at the first regular election held in November 1882,were the following: Commissioners R S Bateman, Charles Brudenbach, W H Hooper, Sheriff J Stiffler, Register of Deeds C J Anderson, Judge of Probate W M Smith, Treasurer J M Campbell, Assessor L G Wilson, Surveyor J H Rogers, Superintendent of Schools A G Owen, CoronerR F Brown, Justices R V Burnham, F Keiser and M Ryan, Constable A C Solberg. At this election Plankinton was made permanent county seat. In February 1882, Judge Edgerton appointed G L Beckett clerk of the district court. The following are the present county officers, Register of Deeds C J Anderson, Clerk of Court B H Sullivan, Judge of Probate W M Smith Sheriff Joseph Stiffler, Coroner R F Brown, Treasurer James M Campbell, Surveyor J H Rogers, Superintendent of Schools A G Owen, Assessor W L Anderson. The county has a court house and jail, altogether costing about$20,000. EARLY HISTORY The following interesting statements relating to the early settlement of the county were furnished by Sheriff Joseph Stiffler. In February 1880 Joseph Stiffler made claim of the south half of Section 22, Town 103, Range 64. At that time, with the exception of the Firesteel settlement, there were no other settlers in the county. In April following, G F Francis located on the west half of Section 27 Town 103 Range 64 and in the same month J M Campbell located land in Sections 23 and 24 town 103 Range 64. In June E H McIntosh and J D Miracle arrived within a week of each other, the former locating on the southeast quarter of Section 14 and the latter on the northwest quarter of the same Section Town 103 Range 64. These were all settlements made during that summer. In the month of October T C Granger, H B Lovejoy, C Johnson, E Nye, William Anderson, C J Anderson, E Vrooman and others made settlement. During the winter of 1880-81, E H McIntosh, J M Campbell, J DMiracle, T C Granger, H B Lovejoy, C Johnson, E Nye, E Vrooman, Joseph Stiffler, O Wiekert, William anderson and William Sutherby remained in the county, mostly in the vicinity of Plankinton. The winter in Dakota , as well as other sections of the United States was very cold. FIRESTEEL SETTLEMENT In May or June of 1879 J Breidenbach, A P Ames and -- McKinley made permanent settlement in town 104 range 63 and during that year George Saville, George T Gibbs,C Breidenbach and P McGovern made claims and settled permanently in the spring of 1880. PLANKINTON The land covering the site of Plankinton was pre-emted by Ira Woolen, who built a claim shanty very early in 1880,about one block south and one west of the present depot grounds of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St Paul Railway Company. He proved his claim on the 10th of August following and on the same day sold his right and title to General Lawler of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St Paul Railway Company, who proceeded to lay out a town. On the first of July 1881, General Lawler sold the property to G E Dibble and C F Wick and the latter gentleman, in January 1882 sold half interest to F H Clark. The original town plat covered eleven blocks, eight north of the railway and three south. The first edition consisting of twelve blocks north of the railway was made by Miracle and Clark, March 2,1882. An addition of nine blocks on the south was made the same day by Miracle & Clark and there have been several later additions. In August 1880, T J Ball erected a one-story frame building, about 14 by 20 feet in size, on the ground where the present Commercial House stands, which was occupied as a saloon. In September following he sold the building to C J Anderson who moved it to the corner of Main and First streets, now occupied by the Plankinton House, where he opened a stock of groceries in charge of his brother, Wm L Anderson. A Post Office was established in September 1880 and J D Miracle was appointed first Postmaster. The office was kept in Andersons store. In October 1880 T C Granger erected the original Plankinton House adjoining Anderson's store and in the same month H B Lovejoy moved a small building from Michell and set it on the ground where the First National Bank now stands. C Johnston wintered in 1880-81, in a small building which he put on the rear end of the First National Bank lot. In October, Joseph Stiffler built a livery barn 24 by 36, near where his present structure stands. At that time it was the largest building in the city. The railway company erected a depot and section house the same fall. In the summer of 1881, J J Kibbe erected a building for a drugstore on the site now occupied by R Brown's store and about the same time the Mansion House was built. D Evans and F R Eaton also erected business houses and from that time to the present the progress of the town has been steady and continuous. Plankinton was incorporated as a village under authority of the board of county commissioners, the people voting unanimously in favor of organization at an election held September7,1882. At the first charter election held September 22nd of the same year, the following persons were elected. Trustees C Thompson, President C C Irons, T C Granger, W H Ferguson, Clerk F P Baum, Treasurer George G Welch, Marshal J T Thompson, Justice John Rogers, Assessor E J Marvin. The present board ( spring of 1884 ) is constituted as follows; Trustees H C Holmes, President S B Clark, F H Clark, T M Lindsey, J D McCormack, Clerk F P Baum, Treasurer G G Welch, Justice John Rogers, Marshal D W Shepard, Assessor, vacancy. CHURCHES The first church organization in the place was effected by the Congregationalists, in June 1882 under the supervision of Rev. P E Holp and include seventeen members. A fine church was erected in 1883. The Methodists followed in December of the same year, under the management of Rev. E O Murray and the society built a house of worship in 1883. The Catholics organized in the fall of 1882, Rev. Father F Flannigan in charge. The communicants include about sixty families. Of secret orders there are a lodge of Knights of Honor organized December 29,1882 with thirty charter members, O O H organized in August 1882 having a present membership of 175 and I O G T organized in October 1882 with fifty members. A board of trade was organized in March 1882. The present officers are, R W Welch president, S B Clark vice president, Capt. Brown treasurer, T F Rigg secretary. An agricultural society was incorporated under the general law July 7, 1883, with the following charter members Gideon E Clark president, S B Clark vice president, T C DeJean second vice president, John Rogers secretary, C F Francis treasurer, Capital stock $5000. The association owns seventy acres of land near the town, with a good half-mile track. Its first fair and exhibition was held October 3, 4 and 5 and resulted very successfully. $2500 were paid in premiums. NEWSPAPERS The Aurora County Standard was first issued February 17,1882 by A M Amdrews. On the 17th of March 1883, T F Rigg purchased half interest and on the 5th of February 1884 became sole owner. It is a large size quarto sheet, printed on a steam power press and the office is extensively fitted up for every variety of job work. The Dakota Free Press was established in November 1882 by F Kibbe, the first issue appearing the 22nd of the month. In July 1883 a half interest was purchased by C J Stockwell and on the 1st of December following, I G Hardin became joint owner with Mr. Stockwell. The paper is six-column quarto, handsomely printed and well edited. The Plankinton post office under the administration of A M Andrews has become one of the important institutions of this region. It has been fitted up solely by Mr. Andrews at a heavy expense and now ranks as one of the best appointed in the territory. The Bank of Plankinton was established in February 1882 with the following officers, R W Welch cashier, G G Welch assistant cashier. The building is constructed of chalkstone of the Cretaceous formation and considered fireproof. It is 25 by 40 feet in dimensions and two stories in height, has a plate-glass front, a fire and burgler-proof safe with a time lock and cost complete $4500. From a private banking house it was changed to a national bank on the 10th of March 1884 with the following board of directors. R W Welch president, B H Sullivan vice president, G G Welch cashier, C F Hatton, J D Barton, W M Smith, A D Nelson. Mason's Bank ( John and Arion Mason proprietor's ) was organized June 1,1883 with capital of $100,000. Messrs. Bassett, Hunting and Co of McGregor, Iowa erected agrain elevator with a grain capacity of 40,000 bushels in August 1883.The business in Plankinton managed by D D Fraser. D R Putnam of Iowa also erected a steam elevator with a capacity of 20,000 bushels in September 1883, Nelson and James are agents at Plankinton. A post of the Grand Army of the Republic no. 27 was organized in July 1883, chartered September 15. Its membership numbers 216. A lodge of the A O U W was organized December 7, 1882. The present membership is about thirty. A lodge of the I O O F was organized March 8,1883 and has a membership of between thirty and forty. SCHOOLS A school was organized in the fall of 1881. Henry Hoffman was the first teacher. The present fine building was erected in 1882 at an expense of $2500. The school is a graded one. The city of Plankinton though scarcely three years of age may boast of numerous features both of a public and private nature of which any place might well be proud. Among the notable improvements maybe mentioned a fine three story courthouse building 42 by 62 feet in dimensions to cost $15000, in process of construction a good jail with cells constructed of the best steel and costing the county $5000, a good frame school building with four departments, two handsome church edifices Congregational and Methodist, a steam roller flour mill with a capacity of seventy-five barrels per day, two banks, a large number of well stocked business houses, two live newspapers the peers of any in the country, three good hotels and a general air of energy and thrift which indicates continued progress in all legitimate enterprises. WHITE LAKE The following information regarding this place was furnished by Mr. W H Hooper a prominent citizen of the place. In May 1880 he left Winnesheik County, Iowa and came through Dakota with a team. After a careful examination of Aurora County he finally filed a soldiers declaratory statement on a portion of Section 35, Town 105, Range 64 and in July following returned to Iowa. At this time Ames, Bradenbach brothers and McKinley were settled on Firesteel Creek. In May 1881 he returned to Dakota where in June following he was joined by his brother George F. In July the brothers filed their claims, W H on the northeast quarter of Section 14, Town 103, Range 66 and George F on the north-west quarter of the same section, town and range. In August James H McFarland traveled on foot from Yankton and filed on a tree claim and also preempted a quarter section a half mile north of the town site of White Lake. In September 1880 John Tovey, Miss Emma Goodykoontz and Henry Lamont settled on Platte Creek in Town 103 Range 66.During the same fall John Hanten, Michael Wagner, M. Oppel and Henry Lucas located in the same town. During the winter of 1880-81 Ansel Goodykoontz settled on a portion of the Cloverdale Ranch and in the summer of 1881 the Herrick settlement, in Town 104 Range 66, was made on the banks of White Lake. The first settlers were Arthur Herrick, his father and Dr Cole. These were the only settlements in the vicinity previous to 1882. A post office was established at W H Hooper's residence, with Mr Hooper as Postmaster, on the 31st of October 1881. It was named Windsor. The regular mail service began on the 1st of January 1882, the route being from Canton in Lincoln County to Chamberlin in Brule County. At this date the Chicago, Milwakee, & St Paul Railway was completed some distance west of White Lake and the mail was thrown from the train as it passed. The first mail for the place consisted of a letter and a postal card addressed to Postmaster Hooper. In April 1882 G F Hooper laid out into a town plat the east half of the northwest quarter of Section 14 and the post office was immediately removed to the new town, which was called Yorktown and the name of the post office changed to correspond soon after. In June 1882 the Hooper Bros. and Robey put up the first building erected on the town site, which was occupied as a land and loan office and also for a post office. Soon after Brown and Cook built a drug store, L H Caulum a hardware store, T Tryon a flour and feed store, C W Hardy a harness shop, G Griffith a boot and shoe store, H Swenson a shoe shop, Foster a blacksmith shop and Lucas and Braught a livery stable. These all stood on the east half of the northwest quarter of Section 14. In November 1881 G L Beckett relinquished his claim to the east half of the northeast quarter of Section 15 and in November John Haten, in connection with M Oppel made an arrangement with the railway company and the two, placing script on the 160 acres before mentioned, laid out a new town adjoining Yorktown and named it White Lake. This was in January 1882. The White Lake House was erected by M Oppel in the same month and a saloon was opened about the same time. The town site proprietors erected a large store, since known as the Johnson and Tatman block. In July or August following most of the buildings on the old town site were removed to the new town. In April 1883 Messrs. Mizner, Hager, Windle, and Hooper laid out an addition to the town on part of the southwest quarter of the southwest quarter of Section 11, Town 103, Range 63. The first building erected on this addition was Messrs. Reed and Sons land office. In June or July the Baker House was put up by S L Baker of Bellview, Iowa. On the 1st of January 1883 the name of the post office was changed to White Lake and on the 1st of April that same year F. L Pratt was appointed Postmaster. In November 1881 G F Hooper sold the west half of the northwest quarter of Section 14 to the railway company in consideration for the location of a station here. The company transferred to John Hanten and the latter covered it with script. The railway company also secured the right to the east half of the northeast quarter of Section 15 which they sold to Mr. Hanten who covered the same with script. Soon after Messrs, Hanten, Oppel, Johnson and Tatman formed a company and laid out an addition of nine blocks, south of the railway, near the center of town partly on Sections 14 and 15 in January 1882. In March 1883, Gillis and Co purchased from Hanten and Co their interest and in June following, Gillis' first addition was platted, covering the land between the railway and the section line on the north. Gillis' second addition was laid out June 15,1883, comprising the remainder of the northwest quarter of Section 14 and the northeast quarter of 15 lying around the nine blocks before mentioned. On the 15th day of June 1883,the firm of Hooper, Baker, Hager and Page purchased the Gillis additions to White Lake. W H Hooper's original homestead residence was a frame building14 by 16 feet with a sod addition 12 by 10 feet. It was known as the "sod hotel at 36" being located at the 36 mile siding on the railway. It was a rendezvous for all settlers coming to the region. Mrs. Hooper was the first female settler in the Township and Mrs Herrick and daughter were the first in Town 103 Range 66. SCHOOLS The first school building was erected in the summer of 1883 at an expense of $200. It stood on the Hanten and Oppel town site. the first teacher was Miss Mary Ryan. NEWSPAPERS There are two papers in White Lake, the Times established August 28,1882 by F M Pratt and the Dispatch established in July 1883 by Nevin and Merritt. BANKS The White Lake branch of Michell was established August 28, 1883. E Butterfield president and H Huyssen cashier. The Aurora County Bank was organized in September 1883, E S Rowley president and W S Sinclair cashier. There is a grain elevator of 20,000 bushels capacity erected by Bassett Huntting and Co in July 1883. The only religious organization in the place is the Methodist Episcopal. The place is well situated for trade, with fine agricultural and grazing country surrounding it and has a present population of 500 or more.