William Kruse (1872 - 1926)

Born 2 Jun 1872 in Wellsburg, Grundy, Iowa, United States

Husband of Lena A. (Schluter) Kruse — married 20 Dec 1899 in Emery, Hanson, South Dakota, United States

Died 15 Oct 1926 at age 54 in Montana, United States

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Biography

William was born in 1872 in Iowa but lived in South Dakota by 1878. He married Lena Schluter, also an Iowan by birth, in 1899, and they lived in South Dakota from then on. William is probably the William Kruse who in 1902 paid $1950 to Mary Bradshaw for a parcel described as "S.W. 1/4 Sec. 26, Twp. 102, R 60." This was evidently in Davison County. By 1905, the Kruses farmed in Prosper Township, Davison County, according to a newspaper. The 1910 Census recorded that they had five daughters and one son. In 1918, he and Lena purchased about 434 acres in Pennington County, SD. In 1920, they lived with their 11 children on what the Census described as a "farm and stock ranch." They were unable to keep up the mortgage payments and the note was auctioned in 1924. However, they continued to farm. At the time of his death, William's residence was six miles from Conata, in Quinn County, SD, but he died in Montana, where he had been working "for some time." The cause was a stroke. He is buried in Mount Hope Cemetery, Quinn, Pennington, SD.

Confusingly, the 1905 South Dakota Census recorded only one William Kruse, also born in Iowa in 1872, but he worked as a farm hand in Minnehaha County. This is probably the same William Kruse recorded in the 1910 U.S. Census as living in Minnehaha County with his parents.

Sources

• Marriage record
• 1910, 1920 U.S. Census
• 1905 South Dakota Census, folder 4245161, film 2281688, image 3210
• Mitchell (SD) Capital, 25 Jul 1902, p. 3, entry under "Real Estate Transfers"
• Mitchell (SD) Capital, 3 Mar 1, 1905, p. 9 (notes under "Prosper")
• Rapid City (SD) Record, 12 Jul 1924, p. 6, "Notice of Mortgage Sale"
• Rapid City (SD) Journal, 1 Nov 1926, p. 7, funeral noted under Conata
• Mitchell (SD) Evening Republican, 27 Oct 1926, p. 12, "Resident of Quinn Dies while Working in Western State"
• FindaGrave Memorial ID 80268500