Alida Pruyn and Nathan Noble were from well-to-do farming families living near Aledo, Illinois, not far from the Mississippi River. A sense of adventure led them to become early pioneers in the Dakota Territory. In the spring of 1872, twenty-one year old Nathan, accompanied by an older brother, drove a team of horses hitched to a covered wagon to what is now South Dakota. He was searching for land growing enough grass to keep a team of horses and a cow. This he found in the Delaware Township of Lincoln County. He proceeded to file a homestead claim for the land and plan for a home.That same year he returned to Illinois and in October married Alida.
The couple started for South Dakota with a rail car loaded with freight including machinery, farm, garden, and flower seeds, and also a bundle of tree cuttings for the start of a tree nursery. This was the first carload of goods shipped into the Dakota Territory according to records of the state historical department. At that time, Sioux City, Iowa, was the end of the regular rail line. However, the work crew had completed the tracks to Elk Point, South Dakota, and they kindly took the newlyweds the additional 30 miles. Since there were no passenger facilities beyond Sioux City, Alida rode in the cab of the work engine, while Nathan rode in the box car with their household goods and livestock. From Elk Point to the homestead site, a distance of more than thirty miles, the goods were hauled by wagon.
Their first dwelling was a 12' X 14' tar paper and sod hut which they built on their homestead land. This was their home until they were able to erect better living facilities on a hilltop, later known as Mount Zion.
For eight months they were the only settlers in Delaware Township. During this time Alida and Nathan twisted and burned prairie hay for fuel. Wood had to be hauled from the town of Vermillion, thirty miles away. Once when a sudden storm delayed her husband's return from Vermillion, Alida and her small children needed to stay in bed to keep warm. At another time, she burned the precious seed corn to try to gain a little warmth. They lived through grasshoppers and drought, through summer storms and winter blizzards.
They lived on this farm from 1872 until 1881 at which time they moved to Canton. There Nathan worked as a lumber and coal salesman, later becoming manager, and ultimately going into this same kind of business for himself. In Canton he became a County Commissioner, Justice of the Peace, Chairman of the City Council and acting Mayor for a time. In 1891 the family moved to Centerville when the Northwest Railroad was built and the city established. Here Nathan continued his lumber and coal business, but also took up stock buying and shipping. He established a general store in 1895, and the following year he turned over its management to his son Walter. He became City Alderman and Mayor, and was also made a trustee of Dakota Wesleyan University.
In 1913 the family moved to Woonsocket where Nathan and Alida lived out the remainder of their lives. Here Nathan became president of the Citizen's Bank, later named the First National Bank. Along with his son Ralph, who became cashier of this bank, Nathan acquired considerable land holdings west of the Missouri River. He also acquired a 1200 acre Ranch in Hand County where he bred Hereford cattle.
The First National Bank was closed in the late 1920's. Nathan died at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, in 1928, and Alida in 1929. They had been married for 55 years. Both are buried in Eventide Cemetery in Woonsocket.
The couple started for South Dakota with a rail car loaded with freight including machinery, farm, garden, and flower seeds, and also a bundle of tree cuttings for the start of a tree nursery. This was the first carload of goods shipped into the Dakota Territory according to records of the state historical department. At that time, Sioux City, Iowa, was the end of the regular rail line. However, the work crew had completed the tracks to Elk Point, South Dakota, and they kindly took the newlyweds the additional 30 miles. Since there were no passenger facilities beyond Sioux City, Alida rode in the cab of the work engine, while Nathan rode in the box car with their household goods and livestock. From Elk Point to the homestead site, a distance of more than thirty miles, the goods were hauled by wagon.
Their first dwelling was a 12' X 14' tar paper and sod hut which they built on their homestead land. This was their home until they were able to erect better living facilities on a hilltop, later known as Mount Zion.
For eight months they were the only settlers in Delaware Township. During this time Alida and Nathan twisted and burned prairie hay for fuel. Wood had to be hauled from the town of Vermillion, thirty miles away. Once when a sudden storm delayed her husband's return from Vermillion, Alida and her small children needed to stay in bed to keep warm. At another time, she burned the precious seed corn to try to gain a little warmth. They lived through grasshoppers and drought, through summer storms and winter blizzards.
They lived on this farm from 1872 until 1881 at which time they moved to Canton. There Nathan worked as a lumber and coal salesman, later becoming manager, and ultimately going into this same kind of business for himself. In Canton he became a County Commissioner, Justice of the Peace, Chairman of the City Council and acting Mayor for a time. In 1891 the family moved to Centerville when the Northwest Railroad was built and the city established. Here Nathan continued his lumber and coal business, but also took up stock buying and shipping. He established a general store in 1895, and the following year he turned over its management to his son Walter. He became City Alderman and Mayor, and was also made a trustee of Dakota Wesleyan University.
In 1913 the family moved to Woonsocket where Nathan and Alida lived out the remainder of their lives. Here Nathan became president of the Citizen's Bank, later named the First National Bank. Along with his son Ralph, who became cashier of this bank, Nathan acquired considerable land holdings west of the Missouri River. He also acquired a 1200 acre Ranch in Hand County where he bred Hereford cattle.
The First National Bank was closed in the late 1920's. Nathan died at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, in 1928, and Alida in 1929. They had been married for 55 years. Both are buried in Eventide Cemetery in Woonsocket.
Alida Pruyn and Nathan Noble were from well-to-do farming families living near Aledo, Illinois, not far from the Mississippi River. A sense of adventure led them to become early pioneers in the Dakota Territory. In the spring of 1872, twenty-one year old Nathan, accompanied by an older brother, drove a team of horses hitched to a covered wagon to what is now South Dakota. He was searching for land growing enough grass to keep a team of horses and a cow. This he found in the Delaware Township of Lincoln County. He proceeded to file a homestead claim for the land and plan for a home.That same year he returned to Illinois and in October married Alida.
The couple started for South Dakota with a rail car loaded with freight including machinery, farm, garden, and flower seeds, and also a bundle of tree cuttings for the start of a tree nursery. This was the first carload of goods shipped into the Dakota Territory according to records of the state historical department. At that time, Sioux City, Iowa, was the end of the regular rail line. However, the work crew had completed the tracks to Elk Point, South Dakota, and they kindly took the newlyweds the additional 30 miles. Since there were no passenger facilities beyond Sioux City, Alida rode in the cab of the work engine, while Nathan rode in the box car with their household goods and livestock. From Elk Point to the homestead site, a distance of more than thirty miles, the goods were hauled by wagon.
Their first dwelling was a 12' X 14' tar paper and sod hut which they built on their homestead land. This was their home until they were able to erect better living facilities on a hilltop, later known as Mount Zion.
For eight months they were the only settlers in Delaware Township. During this time Alida and Nathan twisted and burned prairie hay for fuel. Wood had to be hauled from the town of Vermillion, thirty miles away. Once when a sudden storm delayed her husband's return from Vermillion, Alida and her small children needed to stay in bed to keep warm. At another time, she burned the precious seed corn to try to gain a little warmth. They lived through grasshoppers and drought, through summer storms and winter blizzards.
They lived on this farm from 1872 until 1881 at which time they moved to Canton. There Nathan worked as a lumber and coal salesman, later becoming manager, and ultimately going into this same kind of business for himself. In Canton he became a County Commissioner, Justice of the Peace, Chairman of the City Council and acting Mayor for a time. In 1891 the family moved to Centerville when the Northwest Railroad was built and the city established. Here Nathan continued his lumber and coal business, but also took up stock buying and shipping. He established a general store in 1895, and the following year he turned over its management to his son Walter. He became City Alderman and Mayor, and was also made a trustee of Dakota Wesleyan University.
In 1913 the family moved to Woonsocket where Nathan and Alida lived out the remainder of their lives. Here Nathan became president of the Citizen's Bank, later named the First National Bank. Along with his son Ralph, who became cashier of this bank, Nathan acquired considerable land holdings west of the Missouri River. He also acquired a 1200 acre Ranch in Hand County where he bred Hereford cattle.
The First National Bank was closed in the late 1920's. Nathan died at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, in 1928, and Alida in 1929. They had been married for 55 years. Both are buried in Eventide Cemetery in Woonsocket.
The couple started for South Dakota with a rail car loaded with freight including machinery, farm, garden, and flower seeds, and also a bundle of tree cuttings for the start of a tree nursery. This was the first carload of goods shipped into the Dakota Territory according to records of the state historical department. At that time, Sioux City, Iowa, was the end of the regular rail line. However, the work crew had completed the tracks to Elk Point, South Dakota, and they kindly took the newlyweds the additional 30 miles. Since there were no passenger facilities beyond Sioux City, Alida rode in the cab of the work engine, while Nathan rode in the box car with their household goods and livestock. From Elk Point to the homestead site, a distance of more than thirty miles, the goods were hauled by wagon.
Their first dwelling was a 12' X 14' tar paper and sod hut which they built on their homestead land. This was their home until they were able to erect better living facilities on a hilltop, later known as Mount Zion.
For eight months they were the only settlers in Delaware Township. During this time Alida and Nathan twisted and burned prairie hay for fuel. Wood had to be hauled from the town of Vermillion, thirty miles away. Once when a sudden storm delayed her husband's return from Vermillion, Alida and her small children needed to stay in bed to keep warm. At another time, she burned the precious seed corn to try to gain a little warmth. They lived through grasshoppers and drought, through summer storms and winter blizzards.
They lived on this farm from 1872 until 1881 at which time they moved to Canton. There Nathan worked as a lumber and coal salesman, later becoming manager, and ultimately going into this same kind of business for himself. In Canton he became a County Commissioner, Justice of the Peace, Chairman of the City Council and acting Mayor for a time. In 1891 the family moved to Centerville when the Northwest Railroad was built and the city established. Here Nathan continued his lumber and coal business, but also took up stock buying and shipping. He established a general store in 1895, and the following year he turned over its management to his son Walter. He became City Alderman and Mayor, and was also made a trustee of Dakota Wesleyan University.
In 1913 the family moved to Woonsocket where Nathan and Alida lived out the remainder of their lives. Here Nathan became president of the Citizen's Bank, later named the First National Bank. Along with his son Ralph, who became cashier of this bank, Nathan acquired considerable land holdings west of the Missouri River. He also acquired a 1200 acre Ranch in Hand County where he bred Hereford cattle.
The First National Bank was closed in the late 1920's. Nathan died at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, in 1928, and Alida in 1929. They had been married for 55 years. Both are buried in Eventide Cemetery in Woonsocket.
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