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SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 28'?IQSouthern Beadle County After 40 Years.field iri: esteem by thejnaiqy people b£ southern Beadle County whom he has served, James Scow July 5 began his 41st year as blacksmith in the' little rural district of Rayville.Belfcpd these; 40 years lies a story of fine work and machinery,- some of which is Mr. Scow’s own planning. A master craftsman, inventor and worker, he fcas: witnessed a good number of changes. As the changes came, Scow acquired and invented var-parts of machinery and equipment for his own use in owter to serve the demanding pufhbc. Inventor of a power mow-er.fie wants absolutely no publicity }*nd was reluctant to tell lhoai of his work, during the part ^otir decades, except the affirmation that he had thoroughly en-itInvaluable ServiceComments from residents of the vicinity and Scow’s patrons say thiefJ the country owed a lot to the blacksmith, now W'years old, far his invaluable service and Efforts daring the years. On July 4 this- year they gathered for a specND celebration for his 40 years of continual work in the same location.Jim, as he is commonly known, has'two-daughters: Mrs, Harley Rauch, Lake Preston and Mrs. Leon Cunningham, T a c o m a,Wash.With the mention of Scow and his blacksmith shop, comes a. bit of history on Rayville itself, obtained mostly from George Rhoads pioneer homesteader of the dist-rict.'U.ow living just across the line in Sanborn County.Ifow consisting of but the blacksmith shop and telephone exchange office and two residences, besides a few other small buildings, • Rayville is located about 12 miles south of Cavour, on the southernmost tip of Beadle County.Pioneering here from Iowa in the spring of 1883 was a group of seWers including George Bon-ney §,d father; Alex and George Alley, Ed Dean, Charles Ray, for whchn the settlement was named, now all believed dead and our hirtorian, Mr. Rhoads.‘Mr. Rhoads says that it was in }882 that Charles Ray, then abont 22, came to Beadle County and homesteaded at what was later to be named in his honor. A few years after his arrivalher* Ray was married to a girl fromoperates a grocery store in Bancroft.During the course of time * postoffice was also located at Ray ville, first in charge of a Mr. Druary and later run by Mr. and Mrs. Rhoads until the introduction of rural free delivery.Farmers bought shares and the present telephone office, formerly known as the Farnsworth Exchange, located about one fourth of a mile from the ..present location was moved to Rayvillb. Serving between 12 and 15 patrons the exchange has been operating for some 15 years. First managers were Mr. and, Mrs. Victor Gilstrom and the present operator is Mrs. Robert:; Olson, who with Jier husband and family, reside in the tiny settlement.IcwaJ’irst starting’ a small black-smh^shop, Ray, as times grewbetter, opened a general grocery store. In later years he was assisted by a son George who was born on the homestead.Buys Business In 1981 Coming from Moorehead, la., to Rayville in 1906 Scow began, work for Ray in the blacksmith shop. In 1909 Scow purchased the business of Ray, constructing r building of his own! This was de strbral by fire in 1932, at which limeVjg present blacksmith shop was constructed. Though he has had various assistants for. the; past four years Scow has run his business alone and is kept most busy serving his cutsoraers to an estimated half distance radius in the four directions from the ^settlement; Forestburg to the south; Cavour to.the north; Carthage to the east and Alpena to tlto^west. Putting in long, irregular henrs, Mr. Scow has found it neceary to refuse work at times ahff says he could handle much more were help obtainable.The elder Mr. Ray went to Texas for a couple years about 1945 and left the grocery business in charge of his son. In 1917 hertetumed and a deal was com pleted whereby the. store . was boM to the Bevier. Brothers, Guy and Lester, who lived on a nearly farm. Guy, now a desk ser-: geanWat the police department here™ Huron, says that business was' really thriving. Selling to Clyde Rose the Bevier Brothers moved to Huron and Lester, now on the police force in Turlock; Calif., left here in 1925.Though the exact dates of change of ownership are not known Mr. Rose sold .the store to Erwin Zell, who later Sold it tq * brother who operated it for period of over 10 years, before altering the Army some four 'JWewears ago during the second world war. Since that time Rayville has been without . grocery store. Erwin Zell nowOld 8od ChurchIn a re m in i sreent way, Mr. Rhoads recalling events the little rural district, tells of the old sod church erected there in the early days which was attended regularly by ah avm’age 75 member congregation. This was used for four or five years, he says, before the erection of the present Pearl Methodist Church at a different site. He. also - recalls the 'thrill of attending the early day 'literary society meetings when he said many came long distances meet in the various sod homes.Rhoads, now 87, was born in Juanita County, Pa., 90 miles west: of Philadelphia, March 5, 1859. At the age of 19 he came west to the state of Iowa and and for fouryears worked on a farm near Strawberry Point. Then for two years he farmed for himself : before coming to Beadle County in the spring of 1883. Four years later he was united in marriage to a young; woman from Iowa, who died nine’ years ago. Mr. Rhoads has two daughters:' Mrs. (Agnes) Thomas Newman, Mrs. (Myrtle) Earl Dil Ion. both of ,the Rayville territory and two 'sons: Ralph, with whom he makes his home one mile west and one mile south of Rayville and George A. Rhoads, Corona.During his life here Mr. Rhoads recalls many events and tells of how he well remembers his first year of farming. With three old plug horses he broke up 65 acres of ground. This he did for two years, “back setting” ft the second fall. The third year spring came early and he seeded it to wheat. The .crop grew extremely high and was tremendously, thick, he said- Just about the .time , it was-riipe. Mr. Rhoads went ’frito Cavour and bought a binder. Together with an agent he took the machine to the farm to set it up. The two worked for three days putting it together, when on the last day,; just about the time it was finished being assembled, a black cloud came up in the west and northwest and the crop was hailed out. Included in the loss was the entire 65 acres of an estimated 45 bushels to the acre crop. That same year he had*rented land of a fellow to the south of him and broke up one acre of land for the use of two. This 20 acre crop was likewise hailed out. Though he has experienced numerous other crop failures and years of depression, as well as years- of success and properity, Mr, Rhoads says that was one of fee best crops he has' ever seen.Recalling the days when a good many more cows were milked than at present; how they peddled butter and eggs, beef and pork on the streets of Hurdh'r''''Mh. Rhoads, who has watched the progress of farming with eager says that he considers the modern methods quite all right. And he further adds that he knows of no better farming country than Beadle, Sanborn and surrounding counties. ‘With an estimated average, population of eight, the little southern- Beadle County establishment, Rayville; I whose history and development is belived to be unrecorded:, remains .vivid, in the minds of its remaining homesteaders and by tales handed down from thd older generation to their children, many the present neighboring residents.r P «4M« LPMMINOTICEBids will be received for the sale of the G. A. R and W. R. a Building 26x35 on the State Fair Grounds in Huron South Dakota, up to October 1946.
Newspaper Details
Huron Daily Huronite and Plainsman
Huron, South Dakota, US
Sun, Sep 01, 1946
Page 9
Full Page
Clipped by
Huron P.
SD, USA 15 Apr 2024
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