William R. Borst, born on January 15, 1860, in Marquette County, Wisconsin, was a prominent rancher and businessman in South Dakota. Son of Daniel and Emma (Kelly) Borst, he moved to South Dakota in 1869. William engaged in freighting to the Black Hills and later established a successful cattle ranch. In 1903, he expanded into the hardware business in Pierre, where he resided from 1896. Active in the Republican Party, Borst was also a member of the Knights of Pythias and the Ancient Order of United Workmen. He married Matilda A. Mason in 1889, and they had three children: Olney H., Margaret, and Jessie.
William R. Borst was born in Marquette County, Wisconsin, on the 15th of January, 1860, and is a son of Daniel and Emma (Kelly) Borst, the former of whom was born in Pennsylvania and the latter in Ireland. R. Borst, the grandfather of the subject, was born in Germany, whence he emigrated to America and settled in Pennsylvania, where he made his home for a number of years, after which he removed with his family to Wisconsin, becoming one of the sterling pioneers of that state, where he engaged in farming. Eventually, he removed to Caldwell County, Missouri, where he bought land and also a flouring mill, the latter being located in the village of Kingston. There he passed the remainder of his life, his death occurring in 1866, and later his widow removed to Valparaiso, Indiana, where she died at the venerable age of ninety-two years. The father of the subject continued to be engaged in agricultural pursuits in South Dakota until 1886, when he removed to the state of Washington, where he has since been engaged in general farming and cattle raising. It should be noted that he was numbered among the pioneers of what is now the state of South Dakota, since he came here in 1869, taking up land in Minnehaha County, three miles west of old Fort Dacotah, and there developing a good farm, upon which he continued to reside until his removal to Washington, as previously noted. In his family were nine children, of whom eight are living at the present time.
William R. Borst secured his rudimentary education in the public schools of Wisconsin and was a lad of about nine years at the time of the family removal to South Dakota, where he was reared to manhood on the homestead farm and under the conditions of the pioneer era, in the meanwhile continuing his educational work as opportunity presented. In the spring of 1877, he came to Fort Pierre, and from this point and Cheyenne and Bismarck, engaged in freighting to the Black Hills, in which connection he met with a number of hazardous experiences. In the fall of 1877, his cousin, Curtis Borst, who was likewise a freighter, was murdered near Frozen Man Creek, robbery undoubtedly being the cause which led to his death. Attempts were made to apprehend and convict the murderers, but all proved futile, owing to the lack of conclusive evidence. Our subject himself met with several narrow escapes, and he was upon the scene shortly after the massacre of the family at Bear Butte. The atrocities of the Indians led the residents of the Black Hills district to offer a reward of one hundred dollars a head for every Indian killed west of the Cheyenne River, but the wily savages learned of this and thereafter confined their operations to the country east of that stream. Mr. Borst continued to be actively engaged in the freighting business until 1883, when he secured and opened up the ranch now occupied by C. K. Howard, on the Cheyenne River, in Meade County. He there remained four years, giving his attention principally to the raising of livestock. In 1889, he disposed of his cattle and ranch property to Mr. Howard and located in the northeastern part of Ziebach County, adjoining the Big Foot camp, where occurred the trouble with the Indians in connection with the battle at Wounded Knee, and the post office of Pedro is located on the site of the Indian village which was there at the time the subject came to the locality. Here he has since continued to be engaged in the raising of cattle upon an extensive scale, having at times as many as thirty-five hundred head, and being known as one of the progressive and successful stock growers of this section, while he has made good improvements upon his ranch and controls an excellent grazing range. In May, 1903, Mr. Borst established himself in the hardware business in the city of Pierre, also handling farming implements and machinery, and the enterprise has proved a successful one, while he still gives a general supervision to his cattle business. He has maintained his home in Pierre since 1896, and his is one of the attractive residences of the place. His principal object in removing to the capital city was that his children might secure better educational advantages. In politics, he gives his allegiance to the Republican Party and fraternally is identified with the Knights of Pythias and the Ancient Order of United Workmen, while he is held in high regard in both business and social circles.
On the 12th of October, 1889, Mr. Borst was united in marriage to Miss Matilda A. Mason, who was born and reared in Minnehaha County, this state, the date of her nativity having been February, 1871, and so far as can be learned she has the distinction of being the first white child born in said County. She is a daughter of William and Mary (Powell) Mason, sterling pioneers of the state, who now reside in the city of Sioux Falls. Mr. and Mrs. Borst have three children, Olney H., Margaret, and Jessie.
Source: Robinson, Doane, History of South Dakota: together with mention of Citizens of South Dakota, [Logansport? IN] : B. F. Bowen, 1904.