"The climate in the Black Hills is so damn healthy that you would have to kill a man to start a cemetery."
George V. Ayres, Deadwood businessman and longtime resident.
-------------------------
GEORGE V. AYRES.
When the good roads movement commenced in western South Dakota about five years ago, George V. Ayres, shell chairman of the board of county commissioners of Lawrence county, took an active part as a pioneer in modern highway progress. His activity and his well known ability soon made him a header in a movement that grew rapidly, and today Lawrence county has mountain highways that are the admiration of the west, while others are in course of construction throughout western South Dakota that are destined to mean the greatest prosperity for this region; and to George V. Ayres, more than to any other one man, is due the credit for this progress. He is justly proud of his achievement as a constructive designer and builder of good roads; probably more so than of any other success he has attained during his long and useful career. Mr. Ayres has labored long and earnestly in behalf of the movement, recognizing clearly the relation between commercial development and good roads. He was a delegate to and chairman of the first and second good roads conventions which started the work west of the river on the Black and Yellow Trail (Chicago, Black Hills and Yellowstone Park highway extending from Yellowstone Park to Chicago), and the Deadwood and Denver highway, from Deadwood, South Dakota, to Denver, Colorado.
In political belief, Mr. Ayres is a republican and has taken a prominent part in the affairs of the party in South Dakota. He was for four years chairman of the board of county commissioners and is still serving as a member of the board. Under President Harrison he served as receiver of public moneys at the United States land office at Rapid City for three and a half years, proving himself to be a capable and conscientious official. He was a member of the Deadwood city council for two years, and for six years served as chairman of the republican county committee for four consecutive years the republican state committee enjoyed his services as vice chairman.
Mr. Ayres has for years been recognized as one of the very active members of the Society of Black Hills Pioneers of '76. he served as president of that body in 1900 and again in 1914 and 1915. He is a member of Deadwood Lodge, No 508, B.P.O.E.
He is a stockholder and director in the Franklin Hotel; stockholder in the First National Bank; and an active member of the Deadwood Business Club, having served on the board of directors and as its president for several years. He is president of the Deadwood-Heidelberg Mining Company and is connected with a number of other local mining enterprises. He is also a member of the South Dakota Retail Hardware Association and one of the board of directors of the South Dakota Children's Home Society.
He has utilized wisely the opportunities that have presented themselves, and his busy life has not only won him individual success but has been decidedly instrumental in promoting the public welfare along many lines of endeavor, and all who know him give him the respect which true worth alone can command.
For forty-one years Mr. Ayres has been a Mason, and if he had done nothing else in his life than the service he has rendered to Masonry in unselfish loyalty and good hard work be could well be remembered for this alone. He joined the order in 1874 and has been one of the few men who has been prominent in Masonic circles of the state for many years. He served his lodge as master for three years, being first elected to that office in 1884. On June 13, 1888, he was elected deputy grand master of the Grand Lodge of Dakota, and on June 12, 1889, grand master of the Grand Lodge of South Dakota, serving one year. He was elected high priest January 10, 1894, and served for two years. On June 13, 1895, he was elected deputy grand high priest of the Grand Chapter of South Dakota, and grand high priest June 12, 1896, serving for one year. He has served as deputy master of Lakota Council U. D. Royal and Select Masters. After serving in minor offices of his commandery he was elected eminent commander in 1888 and later served as grand commander of South Dakota and in various other offices in the Grand Commandery.
Mr. Ayres has been a member of the Scottish Rite since 1893 and is now an honorary thirty-third degree and deputy of the S.G. Inspector General for South Dakota. He is registrar and secretary of the four bodies in the Black Hills Consistory. He crossed the burning sands of Naja Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., at Deadwood in 1893 and served as potentate in 1897. He represented Naja Temple at the Imperial Council in 1898. He is also past worthy patron of Deadwood Chapter, No. 23, O. E. S. During the term of his office as grand master of the State Grand Lodge, Mr. Ayres was very rigid in enforcing a resolution which bad been adopted by the Grand Lodge and drove the so-called "Cerneau Rite" out of the state. He also established the "Grand Charity Fund."
George Vincent Ayres was born in Monroe township, Wyoming county, Pennsylvania, November 1, 1852, a son of James L. and Patience M. (Vincent) Ayres, both of whom were natives of the Empire state, the mother born in Beakman township, Dutchess county on the 9th of October, 1819, and the father in New York city on the 11th of May, 1810. In early life the latter engaged in the logging business but later turned his attention to farming. James Leonard Ayres and Patience Maria Vincent were married November 11, 1837, at Kingston, Luzerne county, Pennsylvania, by the Rev. Benjamin Bidlack. In 1857 the family emigrated from Pennsylvania to De Kalb county, Illinois, and resided in Illinois for over a year, moving from there to Buchanan county, Missouri, in the fall of 1858, and from there to Nemaha county, Kansas, in the spring of 1859, and thence to Gage county, Nebraska, in the spring of 1860 and located on a farm five miles east of Blue Springs, where the family resided until the spring of 1866, when they moved into Beatrice, Nebraska, in order to give the children school advantages. There the father engaged in the
hotel business for a number of years but sold out and lived retired during the later years of his life. Both he and his wife passed away in that city, the father on the 11th of December, 1892, and the mother on the 12th of December, 1905.
George V. Ayres is the fifth in order of birth in the family of seven children born to his parents and received his schooling in Beatrice, Nebraska, When seventeen years of age he accepted a position as clerk in a drug store in Beatrice in order to learn the business and was so engaged until 1876, when he resigned and went to the Black Hills.
He left Beatrice, Nebraska, March 1, 1876, and proceeded to Cheyenne, Wyoming, by rail and there he and five others hired a team and driver to haul their provisions and outfit to Custer City, Black Hills, while they themselves walked. The party left Cheyenne, March 8, and arrived at Custer City March 25, 1876, having been on the road seventeen days, and although it snowed ten of those days and the weather was severe, they slept out of doors without even a tent to protect them from the weather. After prospecting in the vicinity of Custer City for a time, Mr. Ayres pushed on to Deadwood, arriving there May 26, and shortly after engaged in cutting saw logs near Deadwood for the firm of Thompson & Street, Rev. Henry Weston Smith, the "Pioneer Preacher of the Black Hills," who was killed by Indians on Sunday, August 20, 1876, was employed there at the same time, firing the boiler in the sawmill. Mr. Ayres remained there until July 8, 1876, when he returned to Custer City and worked for a year in the general store of Harlow & Company, and the Cheyenne & Black Hills Stage Company's office. At the end of that time he prospected for a few months on Spring creek, and in September, 1877, returned to Deadwood and secured employment in Richard C. Lake's hardware store, thoroughly familiarizing himself with all the aspects of that business. He saved his money and in 1882 purchased an interest in the business and is now its sole owner. He has a full stock of shelf and heavy hardware and specializes in mining supplies, carrying the largest stock in that line of any store in the Black Hills. He conforms his business methods to the highest standard of ethics, and his fair dealing and reasonable prices have been largely responsible for the increased patronage of his store.
Mr. Ayres was married on the 23d of April, 1885, to Miss Kate Towle, a native of Beatrice, Nebraska. She was born August 15, 1859, and was the first white child whose birth occurred in Gage county, Nebraska. Her parents were Albert and Catherine (Holt) Towle, the former a native of Russellville, Logan county, Kentucky, born May 13, 1822, and the latter of Warren county, New York, born January 6, 1817. The Lather was one of the founders of Beatrice and engaged in the hotel business there for a number of years. For nineteen years he served efficiently and conscientiously as postmaster of that city, His death occurred on the 8th of March, 1879, and his widow survived him for ten years, her death occurring on the 10th of March, 1889. Mrs. Ayres passed away at Rapid City on the 28th of March, 1892. She was the mother of two children: James Albert, who was born in Deadwood, March 29, 1886, and is now a Presbyterian minister at Lead, South Dakota; and Helen, who was born January 1, 1888, and died June 13th of the same year. Mr. Ayres was married at Omaha, Nebraska, on the 21st of December, 1898, to Miss Myrtle Coon, a native of Hebron, Nebraska, and a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Charles B. Coon, who were early residents of Nebraska, the father serving as county treasurer for a number of years, also as member of the state legislature and is now government gauger, and still living in Omaha. Five children were born to the second marriage of Mr. Ayres, namely: George Vincent, Jr., born August 18, 1899; Frances Glenn, born August 11, 1900; Alice, born December 19, 1902; Albro Charles, born July 1, 1907; and Lloyd Richard born December 7, 1909.
Source- History of Dakota Territory IV, by George W Kingsbury, 1915
George V. Ayres, Deadwood businessman and longtime resident.
-------------------------
GEORGE V. AYRES.
When the good roads movement commenced in western South Dakota about five years ago, George V. Ayres, shell chairman of the board of county commissioners of Lawrence county, took an active part as a pioneer in modern highway progress. His activity and his well known ability soon made him a header in a movement that grew rapidly, and today Lawrence county has mountain highways that are the admiration of the west, while others are in course of construction throughout western South Dakota that are destined to mean the greatest prosperity for this region; and to George V. Ayres, more than to any other one man, is due the credit for this progress. He is justly proud of his achievement as a constructive designer and builder of good roads; probably more so than of any other success he has attained during his long and useful career. Mr. Ayres has labored long and earnestly in behalf of the movement, recognizing clearly the relation between commercial development and good roads. He was a delegate to and chairman of the first and second good roads conventions which started the work west of the river on the Black and Yellow Trail (Chicago, Black Hills and Yellowstone Park highway extending from Yellowstone Park to Chicago), and the Deadwood and Denver highway, from Deadwood, South Dakota, to Denver, Colorado.
In political belief, Mr. Ayres is a republican and has taken a prominent part in the affairs of the party in South Dakota. He was for four years chairman of the board of county commissioners and is still serving as a member of the board. Under President Harrison he served as receiver of public moneys at the United States land office at Rapid City for three and a half years, proving himself to be a capable and conscientious official. He was a member of the Deadwood city council for two years, and for six years served as chairman of the republican county committee for four consecutive years the republican state committee enjoyed his services as vice chairman.
Mr. Ayres has for years been recognized as one of the very active members of the Society of Black Hills Pioneers of '76. he served as president of that body in 1900 and again in 1914 and 1915. He is a member of Deadwood Lodge, No 508, B.P.O.E.
He is a stockholder and director in the Franklin Hotel; stockholder in the First National Bank; and an active member of the Deadwood Business Club, having served on the board of directors and as its president for several years. He is president of the Deadwood-Heidelberg Mining Company and is connected with a number of other local mining enterprises. He is also a member of the South Dakota Retail Hardware Association and one of the board of directors of the South Dakota Children's Home Society.
He has utilized wisely the opportunities that have presented themselves, and his busy life has not only won him individual success but has been decidedly instrumental in promoting the public welfare along many lines of endeavor, and all who know him give him the respect which true worth alone can command.
For forty-one years Mr. Ayres has been a Mason, and if he had done nothing else in his life than the service he has rendered to Masonry in unselfish loyalty and good hard work be could well be remembered for this alone. He joined the order in 1874 and has been one of the few men who has been prominent in Masonic circles of the state for many years. He served his lodge as master for three years, being first elected to that office in 1884. On June 13, 1888, he was elected deputy grand master of the Grand Lodge of Dakota, and on June 12, 1889, grand master of the Grand Lodge of South Dakota, serving one year. He was elected high priest January 10, 1894, and served for two years. On June 13, 1895, he was elected deputy grand high priest of the Grand Chapter of South Dakota, and grand high priest June 12, 1896, serving for one year. He has served as deputy master of Lakota Council U. D. Royal and Select Masters. After serving in minor offices of his commandery he was elected eminent commander in 1888 and later served as grand commander of South Dakota and in various other offices in the Grand Commandery.
Mr. Ayres has been a member of the Scottish Rite since 1893 and is now an honorary thirty-third degree and deputy of the S.G. Inspector General for South Dakota. He is registrar and secretary of the four bodies in the Black Hills Consistory. He crossed the burning sands of Naja Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., at Deadwood in 1893 and served as potentate in 1897. He represented Naja Temple at the Imperial Council in 1898. He is also past worthy patron of Deadwood Chapter, No. 23, O. E. S. During the term of his office as grand master of the State Grand Lodge, Mr. Ayres was very rigid in enforcing a resolution which bad been adopted by the Grand Lodge and drove the so-called "Cerneau Rite" out of the state. He also established the "Grand Charity Fund."
George Vincent Ayres was born in Monroe township, Wyoming county, Pennsylvania, November 1, 1852, a son of James L. and Patience M. (Vincent) Ayres, both of whom were natives of the Empire state, the mother born in Beakman township, Dutchess county on the 9th of October, 1819, and the father in New York city on the 11th of May, 1810. In early life the latter engaged in the logging business but later turned his attention to farming. James Leonard Ayres and Patience Maria Vincent were married November 11, 1837, at Kingston, Luzerne county, Pennsylvania, by the Rev. Benjamin Bidlack. In 1857 the family emigrated from Pennsylvania to De Kalb county, Illinois, and resided in Illinois for over a year, moving from there to Buchanan county, Missouri, in the fall of 1858, and from there to Nemaha county, Kansas, in the spring of 1859, and thence to Gage county, Nebraska, in the spring of 1860 and located on a farm five miles east of Blue Springs, where the family resided until the spring of 1866, when they moved into Beatrice, Nebraska, in order to give the children school advantages. There the father engaged in the
hotel business for a number of years but sold out and lived retired during the later years of his life. Both he and his wife passed away in that city, the father on the 11th of December, 1892, and the mother on the 12th of December, 1905.
George V. Ayres is the fifth in order of birth in the family of seven children born to his parents and received his schooling in Beatrice, Nebraska, When seventeen years of age he accepted a position as clerk in a drug store in Beatrice in order to learn the business and was so engaged until 1876, when he resigned and went to the Black Hills.
He left Beatrice, Nebraska, March 1, 1876, and proceeded to Cheyenne, Wyoming, by rail and there he and five others hired a team and driver to haul their provisions and outfit to Custer City, Black Hills, while they themselves walked. The party left Cheyenne, March 8, and arrived at Custer City March 25, 1876, having been on the road seventeen days, and although it snowed ten of those days and the weather was severe, they slept out of doors without even a tent to protect them from the weather. After prospecting in the vicinity of Custer City for a time, Mr. Ayres pushed on to Deadwood, arriving there May 26, and shortly after engaged in cutting saw logs near Deadwood for the firm of Thompson & Street, Rev. Henry Weston Smith, the "Pioneer Preacher of the Black Hills," who was killed by Indians on Sunday, August 20, 1876, was employed there at the same time, firing the boiler in the sawmill. Mr. Ayres remained there until July 8, 1876, when he returned to Custer City and worked for a year in the general store of Harlow & Company, and the Cheyenne & Black Hills Stage Company's office. At the end of that time he prospected for a few months on Spring creek, and in September, 1877, returned to Deadwood and secured employment in Richard C. Lake's hardware store, thoroughly familiarizing himself with all the aspects of that business. He saved his money and in 1882 purchased an interest in the business and is now its sole owner. He has a full stock of shelf and heavy hardware and specializes in mining supplies, carrying the largest stock in that line of any store in the Black Hills. He conforms his business methods to the highest standard of ethics, and his fair dealing and reasonable prices have been largely responsible for the increased patronage of his store.
Mr. Ayres was married on the 23d of April, 1885, to Miss Kate Towle, a native of Beatrice, Nebraska. She was born August 15, 1859, and was the first white child whose birth occurred in Gage county, Nebraska. Her parents were Albert and Catherine (Holt) Towle, the former a native of Russellville, Logan county, Kentucky, born May 13, 1822, and the latter of Warren county, New York, born January 6, 1817. The Lather was one of the founders of Beatrice and engaged in the hotel business there for a number of years. For nineteen years he served efficiently and conscientiously as postmaster of that city, His death occurred on the 8th of March, 1879, and his widow survived him for ten years, her death occurring on the 10th of March, 1889. Mrs. Ayres passed away at Rapid City on the 28th of March, 1892. She was the mother of two children: James Albert, who was born in Deadwood, March 29, 1886, and is now a Presbyterian minister at Lead, South Dakota; and Helen, who was born January 1, 1888, and died June 13th of the same year. Mr. Ayres was married at Omaha, Nebraska, on the 21st of December, 1898, to Miss Myrtle Coon, a native of Hebron, Nebraska, and a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Charles B. Coon, who were early residents of Nebraska, the father serving as county treasurer for a number of years, also as member of the state legislature and is now government gauger, and still living in Omaha. Five children were born to the second marriage of Mr. Ayres, namely: George Vincent, Jr., born August 18, 1899; Frances Glenn, born August 11, 1900; Alice, born December 19, 1902; Albro Charles, born July 1, 1907; and Lloyd Richard born December 7, 1909.
Source- History of Dakota Territory IV, by George W Kingsbury, 1915
"The climate in the Black Hills is so damn healthy that you would have to kill a man to start a cemetery."
George V. Ayres, Deadwood businessman and longtime resident.
-------------------------
GEORGE V. AYRES.
When the good roads movement commenced in western South Dakota about five years ago, George V. Ayres, shell chairman of the board of county commissioners of Lawrence county, took an active part as a pioneer in modern highway progress. His activity and his well known ability soon made him a header in a movement that grew rapidly, and today Lawrence county has mountain highways that are the admiration of the west, while others are in course of construction throughout western South Dakota that are destined to mean the greatest prosperity for this region; and to George V. Ayres, more than to any other one man, is due the credit for this progress. He is justly proud of his achievement as a constructive designer and builder of good roads; probably more so than of any other success he has attained during his long and useful career. Mr. Ayres has labored long and earnestly in behalf of the movement, recognizing clearly the relation between commercial development and good roads. He was a delegate to and chairman of the first and second good roads conventions which started the work west of the river on the Black and Yellow Trail (Chicago, Black Hills and Yellowstone Park highway extending from Yellowstone Park to Chicago), and the Deadwood and Denver highway, from Deadwood, South Dakota, to Denver, Colorado.
In political belief, Mr. Ayres is a republican and has taken a prominent part in the affairs of the party in South Dakota. He was for four years chairman of the board of county commissioners and is still serving as a member of the board. Under President Harrison he served as receiver of public moneys at the United States land office at Rapid City for three and a half years, proving himself to be a capable and conscientious official. He was a member of the Deadwood city council for two years, and for six years served as chairman of the republican county committee for four consecutive years the republican state committee enjoyed his services as vice chairman.
Mr. Ayres has for years been recognized as one of the very active members of the Society of Black Hills Pioneers of '76. he served as president of that body in 1900 and again in 1914 and 1915. He is a member of Deadwood Lodge, No 508, B.P.O.E.
He is a stockholder and director in the Franklin Hotel; stockholder in the First National Bank; and an active member of the Deadwood Business Club, having served on the board of directors and as its president for several years. He is president of the Deadwood-Heidelberg Mining Company and is connected with a number of other local mining enterprises. He is also a member of the South Dakota Retail Hardware Association and one of the board of directors of the South Dakota Children's Home Society.
He has utilized wisely the opportunities that have presented themselves, and his busy life has not only won him individual success but has been decidedly instrumental in promoting the public welfare along many lines of endeavor, and all who know him give him the respect which true worth alone can command.
For forty-one years Mr. Ayres has been a Mason, and if he had done nothing else in his life than the service he has rendered to Masonry in unselfish loyalty and good hard work be could well be remembered for this alone. He joined the order in 1874 and has been one of the few men who has been prominent in Masonic circles of the state for many years. He served his lodge as master for three years, being first elected to that office in 1884. On June 13, 1888, he was elected deputy grand master of the Grand Lodge of Dakota, and on June 12, 1889, grand master of the Grand Lodge of South Dakota, serving one year. He was elected high priest January 10, 1894, and served for two years. On June 13, 1895, he was elected deputy grand high priest of the Grand Chapter of South Dakota, and grand high priest June 12, 1896, serving for one year. He has served as deputy master of Lakota Council U. D. Royal and Select Masters. After serving in minor offices of his commandery he was elected eminent commander in 1888 and later served as grand commander of South Dakota and in various other offices in the Grand Commandery.
Mr. Ayres has been a member of the Scottish Rite since 1893 and is now an honorary thirty-third degree and deputy of the S.G. Inspector General for South Dakota. He is registrar and secretary of the four bodies in the Black Hills Consistory. He crossed the burning sands of Naja Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., at Deadwood in 1893 and served as potentate in 1897. He represented Naja Temple at the Imperial Council in 1898. He is also past worthy patron of Deadwood Chapter, No. 23, O. E. S. During the term of his office as grand master of the State Grand Lodge, Mr. Ayres was very rigid in enforcing a resolution which bad been adopted by the Grand Lodge and drove the so-called "Cerneau Rite" out of the state. He also established the "Grand Charity Fund."
George Vincent Ayres was born in Monroe township, Wyoming county, Pennsylvania, November 1, 1852, a son of James L. and Patience M. (Vincent) Ayres, both of whom were natives of the Empire state, the mother born in Beakman township, Dutchess county on the 9th of October, 1819, and the father in New York city on the 11th of May, 1810. In early life the latter engaged in the logging business but later turned his attention to farming. James Leonard Ayres and Patience Maria Vincent were married November 11, 1837, at Kingston, Luzerne county, Pennsylvania, by the Rev. Benjamin Bidlack. In 1857 the family emigrated from Pennsylvania to De Kalb county, Illinois, and resided in Illinois for over a year, moving from there to Buchanan county, Missouri, in the fall of 1858, and from there to Nemaha county, Kansas, in the spring of 1859, and thence to Gage county, Nebraska, in the spring of 1860 and located on a farm five miles east of Blue Springs, where the family resided until the spring of 1866, when they moved into Beatrice, Nebraska, in order to give the children school advantages. There the father engaged in the
hotel business for a number of years but sold out and lived retired during the later years of his life. Both he and his wife passed away in that city, the father on the 11th of December, 1892, and the mother on the 12th of December, 1905.
George V. Ayres is the fifth in order of birth in the family of seven children born to his parents and received his schooling in Beatrice, Nebraska, When seventeen years of age he accepted a position as clerk in a drug store in Beatrice in order to learn the business and was so engaged until 1876, when he resigned and went to the Black Hills.
He left Beatrice, Nebraska, March 1, 1876, and proceeded to Cheyenne, Wyoming, by rail and there he and five others hired a team and driver to haul their provisions and outfit to Custer City, Black Hills, while they themselves walked. The party left Cheyenne, March 8, and arrived at Custer City March 25, 1876, having been on the road seventeen days, and although it snowed ten of those days and the weather was severe, they slept out of doors without even a tent to protect them from the weather. After prospecting in the vicinity of Custer City for a time, Mr. Ayres pushed on to Deadwood, arriving there May 26, and shortly after engaged in cutting saw logs near Deadwood for the firm of Thompson & Street, Rev. Henry Weston Smith, the "Pioneer Preacher of the Black Hills," who was killed by Indians on Sunday, August 20, 1876, was employed there at the same time, firing the boiler in the sawmill. Mr. Ayres remained there until July 8, 1876, when he returned to Custer City and worked for a year in the general store of Harlow & Company, and the Cheyenne & Black Hills Stage Company's office. At the end of that time he prospected for a few months on Spring creek, and in September, 1877, returned to Deadwood and secured employment in Richard C. Lake's hardware store, thoroughly familiarizing himself with all the aspects of that business. He saved his money and in 1882 purchased an interest in the business and is now its sole owner. He has a full stock of shelf and heavy hardware and specializes in mining supplies, carrying the largest stock in that line of any store in the Black Hills. He conforms his business methods to the highest standard of ethics, and his fair dealing and reasonable prices have been largely responsible for the increased patronage of his store.
Mr. Ayres was married on the 23d of April, 1885, to Miss Kate Towle, a native of Beatrice, Nebraska. She was born August 15, 1859, and was the first white child whose birth occurred in Gage county, Nebraska. Her parents were Albert and Catherine (Holt) Towle, the former a native of Russellville, Logan county, Kentucky, born May 13, 1822, and the latter of Warren county, New York, born January 6, 1817. The Lather was one of the founders of Beatrice and engaged in the hotel business there for a number of years. For nineteen years he served efficiently and conscientiously as postmaster of that city, His death occurred on the 8th of March, 1879, and his widow survived him for ten years, her death occurring on the 10th of March, 1889. Mrs. Ayres passed away at Rapid City on the 28th of March, 1892. She was the mother of two children: James Albert, who was born in Deadwood, March 29, 1886, and is now a Presbyterian minister at Lead, South Dakota; and Helen, who was born January 1, 1888, and died June 13th of the same year. Mr. Ayres was married at Omaha, Nebraska, on the 21st of December, 1898, to Miss Myrtle Coon, a native of Hebron, Nebraska, and a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Charles B. Coon, who were early residents of Nebraska, the father serving as county treasurer for a number of years, also as member of the state legislature and is now government gauger, and still living in Omaha. Five children were born to the second marriage of Mr. Ayres, namely: George Vincent, Jr., born August 18, 1899; Frances Glenn, born August 11, 1900; Alice, born December 19, 1902; Albro Charles, born July 1, 1907; and Lloyd Richard born December 7, 1909.
Source- History of Dakota Territory IV, by George W Kingsbury, 1915
George V. Ayres, Deadwood businessman and longtime resident.
-------------------------
GEORGE V. AYRES.
When the good roads movement commenced in western South Dakota about five years ago, George V. Ayres, shell chairman of the board of county commissioners of Lawrence county, took an active part as a pioneer in modern highway progress. His activity and his well known ability soon made him a header in a movement that grew rapidly, and today Lawrence county has mountain highways that are the admiration of the west, while others are in course of construction throughout western South Dakota that are destined to mean the greatest prosperity for this region; and to George V. Ayres, more than to any other one man, is due the credit for this progress. He is justly proud of his achievement as a constructive designer and builder of good roads; probably more so than of any other success he has attained during his long and useful career. Mr. Ayres has labored long and earnestly in behalf of the movement, recognizing clearly the relation between commercial development and good roads. He was a delegate to and chairman of the first and second good roads conventions which started the work west of the river on the Black and Yellow Trail (Chicago, Black Hills and Yellowstone Park highway extending from Yellowstone Park to Chicago), and the Deadwood and Denver highway, from Deadwood, South Dakota, to Denver, Colorado.
In political belief, Mr. Ayres is a republican and has taken a prominent part in the affairs of the party in South Dakota. He was for four years chairman of the board of county commissioners and is still serving as a member of the board. Under President Harrison he served as receiver of public moneys at the United States land office at Rapid City for three and a half years, proving himself to be a capable and conscientious official. He was a member of the Deadwood city council for two years, and for six years served as chairman of the republican county committee for four consecutive years the republican state committee enjoyed his services as vice chairman.
Mr. Ayres has for years been recognized as one of the very active members of the Society of Black Hills Pioneers of '76. he served as president of that body in 1900 and again in 1914 and 1915. He is a member of Deadwood Lodge, No 508, B.P.O.E.
He is a stockholder and director in the Franklin Hotel; stockholder in the First National Bank; and an active member of the Deadwood Business Club, having served on the board of directors and as its president for several years. He is president of the Deadwood-Heidelberg Mining Company and is connected with a number of other local mining enterprises. He is also a member of the South Dakota Retail Hardware Association and one of the board of directors of the South Dakota Children's Home Society.
He has utilized wisely the opportunities that have presented themselves, and his busy life has not only won him individual success but has been decidedly instrumental in promoting the public welfare along many lines of endeavor, and all who know him give him the respect which true worth alone can command.
For forty-one years Mr. Ayres has been a Mason, and if he had done nothing else in his life than the service he has rendered to Masonry in unselfish loyalty and good hard work be could well be remembered for this alone. He joined the order in 1874 and has been one of the few men who has been prominent in Masonic circles of the state for many years. He served his lodge as master for three years, being first elected to that office in 1884. On June 13, 1888, he was elected deputy grand master of the Grand Lodge of Dakota, and on June 12, 1889, grand master of the Grand Lodge of South Dakota, serving one year. He was elected high priest January 10, 1894, and served for two years. On June 13, 1895, he was elected deputy grand high priest of the Grand Chapter of South Dakota, and grand high priest June 12, 1896, serving for one year. He has served as deputy master of Lakota Council U. D. Royal and Select Masters. After serving in minor offices of his commandery he was elected eminent commander in 1888 and later served as grand commander of South Dakota and in various other offices in the Grand Commandery.
Mr. Ayres has been a member of the Scottish Rite since 1893 and is now an honorary thirty-third degree and deputy of the S.G. Inspector General for South Dakota. He is registrar and secretary of the four bodies in the Black Hills Consistory. He crossed the burning sands of Naja Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., at Deadwood in 1893 and served as potentate in 1897. He represented Naja Temple at the Imperial Council in 1898. He is also past worthy patron of Deadwood Chapter, No. 23, O. E. S. During the term of his office as grand master of the State Grand Lodge, Mr. Ayres was very rigid in enforcing a resolution which bad been adopted by the Grand Lodge and drove the so-called "Cerneau Rite" out of the state. He also established the "Grand Charity Fund."
George Vincent Ayres was born in Monroe township, Wyoming county, Pennsylvania, November 1, 1852, a son of James L. and Patience M. (Vincent) Ayres, both of whom were natives of the Empire state, the mother born in Beakman township, Dutchess county on the 9th of October, 1819, and the father in New York city on the 11th of May, 1810. In early life the latter engaged in the logging business but later turned his attention to farming. James Leonard Ayres and Patience Maria Vincent were married November 11, 1837, at Kingston, Luzerne county, Pennsylvania, by the Rev. Benjamin Bidlack. In 1857 the family emigrated from Pennsylvania to De Kalb county, Illinois, and resided in Illinois for over a year, moving from there to Buchanan county, Missouri, in the fall of 1858, and from there to Nemaha county, Kansas, in the spring of 1859, and thence to Gage county, Nebraska, in the spring of 1860 and located on a farm five miles east of Blue Springs, where the family resided until the spring of 1866, when they moved into Beatrice, Nebraska, in order to give the children school advantages. There the father engaged in the
hotel business for a number of years but sold out and lived retired during the later years of his life. Both he and his wife passed away in that city, the father on the 11th of December, 1892, and the mother on the 12th of December, 1905.
George V. Ayres is the fifth in order of birth in the family of seven children born to his parents and received his schooling in Beatrice, Nebraska, When seventeen years of age he accepted a position as clerk in a drug store in Beatrice in order to learn the business and was so engaged until 1876, when he resigned and went to the Black Hills.
He left Beatrice, Nebraska, March 1, 1876, and proceeded to Cheyenne, Wyoming, by rail and there he and five others hired a team and driver to haul their provisions and outfit to Custer City, Black Hills, while they themselves walked. The party left Cheyenne, March 8, and arrived at Custer City March 25, 1876, having been on the road seventeen days, and although it snowed ten of those days and the weather was severe, they slept out of doors without even a tent to protect them from the weather. After prospecting in the vicinity of Custer City for a time, Mr. Ayres pushed on to Deadwood, arriving there May 26, and shortly after engaged in cutting saw logs near Deadwood for the firm of Thompson & Street, Rev. Henry Weston Smith, the "Pioneer Preacher of the Black Hills," who was killed by Indians on Sunday, August 20, 1876, was employed there at the same time, firing the boiler in the sawmill. Mr. Ayres remained there until July 8, 1876, when he returned to Custer City and worked for a year in the general store of Harlow & Company, and the Cheyenne & Black Hills Stage Company's office. At the end of that time he prospected for a few months on Spring creek, and in September, 1877, returned to Deadwood and secured employment in Richard C. Lake's hardware store, thoroughly familiarizing himself with all the aspects of that business. He saved his money and in 1882 purchased an interest in the business and is now its sole owner. He has a full stock of shelf and heavy hardware and specializes in mining supplies, carrying the largest stock in that line of any store in the Black Hills. He conforms his business methods to the highest standard of ethics, and his fair dealing and reasonable prices have been largely responsible for the increased patronage of his store.
Mr. Ayres was married on the 23d of April, 1885, to Miss Kate Towle, a native of Beatrice, Nebraska. She was born August 15, 1859, and was the first white child whose birth occurred in Gage county, Nebraska. Her parents were Albert and Catherine (Holt) Towle, the former a native of Russellville, Logan county, Kentucky, born May 13, 1822, and the latter of Warren county, New York, born January 6, 1817. The Lather was one of the founders of Beatrice and engaged in the hotel business there for a number of years. For nineteen years he served efficiently and conscientiously as postmaster of that city, His death occurred on the 8th of March, 1879, and his widow survived him for ten years, her death occurring on the 10th of March, 1889. Mrs. Ayres passed away at Rapid City on the 28th of March, 1892. She was the mother of two children: James Albert, who was born in Deadwood, March 29, 1886, and is now a Presbyterian minister at Lead, South Dakota; and Helen, who was born January 1, 1888, and died June 13th of the same year. Mr. Ayres was married at Omaha, Nebraska, on the 21st of December, 1898, to Miss Myrtle Coon, a native of Hebron, Nebraska, and a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Charles B. Coon, who were early residents of Nebraska, the father serving as county treasurer for a number of years, also as member of the state legislature and is now government gauger, and still living in Omaha. Five children were born to the second marriage of Mr. Ayres, namely: George Vincent, Jr., born August 18, 1899; Frances Glenn, born August 11, 1900; Alice, born December 19, 1902; Albro Charles, born July 1, 1907; and Lloyd Richard born December 7, 1909.
Source- History of Dakota Territory IV, by George W Kingsbury, 1915
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