James D. Elliott, born on October 7, 1859, in Mount Sterling, Illinois, was a distinguished lawyer in South Dakota. The eldest of five surviving children, he relocated to Dakota Territory in 1872 with his family. Elliott studied law under Colonel John L. Jolley and was admitted to the bar in 1884. He practiced in Springfield and later in Tyndall, where he served as state’s attorney and, starting in 1897, as United States district attorney. A staunch Republican, Elliott was also active in banking and landholding. He married Agnes Stilwell in 1890, and they had four children: Marion, Douglas, Hiram, and Mary.
James D. Elliott, of Tyndall, Bon Homme County, stands distinctively forward as one of the able and honored members of the bar of the state of South Dakota. Mr. Elliott is a native of the state of Illinois, having been born in Mount Sterling, Brown County, on the 7th of October, 1859, a son of William and Mary (McPhail) Elliott, of whose seven children he is the eldest of the five surviving, the others being as follows: Belle, who is the wife of Charles E. Baker, of Condon, Oregon; Effie, who is the wife of Thomas D. Ferguson, of the same place; Lydia, who is the wife of John Stanley, of Parker, South Dakota; and Cliffe, who is the wife of Louis L. Fleeger, also of Parker. The father of the subject was born in England, in the year 1833, and as a child he accompanied his parents on their removal to the United States, the family locating in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. His father was a skilled mechanic, and for many years after locating in Pennsylvania he was superintendent of the Sligo iron works, understanding the secret processes in the manufacture of iron, steel, etc. Early in the ‘fifties he removed to Brown County, Illinois, where he purchased land and turned his attention to agricultural pursuits, with which he there continued to be identified during the remainder of his life, attaining an advanced age. The father of the subject received his early educational training in the city of Pittsburg, and there also he began the work of preparing himself for the profession of law, continuing his technical studies after the removal of the family to Illinois, where in due time he was admitted to the bar. Shortly afterward he took up his residence in Mount Ayr, Iowa, where he opened an office and engaged in the active practice of his profession. At the outbreak of the war of the Rebellion he enlisted in a Missouri regiment and served until the close of the great internecine conflict which determined the integrity of the Union, while he was mustered out as captain of his company. After his loyal and valiant military career Mr. Elliott returned to Mount Ayr and resumed the practice of the law, becoming one of the leading members of the bar of Iowa, while he also served as a member of the legislature of the state. In 1872 he came as a pioneer to the territory of Dakota, locating a claim in Clay County, where, by reason of impaired health, he continued to reside until 1883, when he removed to Hurley, Turner County, where he resumed the practice of law, soon gaining distinctive prestige. About 1891 he was elected County judge and removed to Parker, the County seat of Turner County, and he has ever since presided on the bench of that County, where he is known and honored as one of the leading legists and jurists of the state. Judge Elliott was a member of the constitutional convention and as such was appointed a member of the committee to which was assigned the work of determining as to the proper division of the territory into the two states, and he has long been prominent in public affairs and in the civic life of the territory and state. In politics he was originally a Democrat, but while serving in the war of the Rebellion he transferred his allegiance to the Republican party, of whose principles he has ever since been a staunch advocate. Fraternally, he is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, and he is known and honored as one of the representative citizens of the state of which he has been one of the founders and up-builders. Both he and his wife are members of the Christian church.
James D. Elliott, the immediate subject of this sketch, passed his boyhood days in the state of Iowa, and his early education was obtained in the public schools of Mount Ayr and Panora, that state. After the removal of the family to Dakota he continued his studies in the public schools of Vermillion, of which Professor Culver was superintendent at the time, and under this able educator he also received a course of special instruction during a period of two years, and while thus attending school he slept in an empty building, in order to protect the owner in the insurance carried on the same, while he also did janitor work to assist in defraying his expenses while carrying forward his studies. He was an ardent and ambitious student, and the burning of the midnight oil while pursuing his educational work was a common thing with him, the expression having no trite application in his case. After completing his more purely literary education Mr. Elliott was engaged in teaching in the public schools for a period of three years, and he invested his savings in cattle, which he placed on his father’s farm, his plan being to eventually place his stock, as appreciated in value, on the market and from the sale of the same secure the funds requisite for continuing his studies in the University of Michigan, at Ann Arbor. The flood of 1881, however, swept away and drowned all his cattle, and his plans being thus overthrown Mr. Elliott started for the Black Hills, driving through with a team and expecting to pass the summer in that district. In the autumn of that year he returned home and for the following year he was engaged in teaching in the public schools at Lakeport, Yankton County, while later he taught the winter term in the school at Meckling, Clay County. His father had met with most serious reverses by reason of the flood mentioned, and under these conditions it became necessary for our subject to return home and aid in rehabilitating the family fortunes. He thus abandoned his plans of attending the university, but was still determined to carry on his study of the law, which he had initiated some time previously, and while engaged in teaching he read law under the preceptorship of Colonel John L. Jolley, of Vermillion. In 1883 he entered the law office of Gamble Brothers, at Yankton, and in April of the following year he was duly admitted to the bar of the state, while he remained with the firm mentioned until October 14th of that year, when he located in Springfield, Bon Homme County, and entered upon the practice of his profession. In the spring of the following year Mr. Elliott came to Tyndall, the County seat, having been at the time removed from Springfield to this point, and here he has since continued to reside, while he has gained distinction and success in his chosen profession, to which he has applied himself with marked singleness of purpose, being a close student, an able advocate and one thoroughly grounded in the science of jurisprudence. In 1887 he was elected to the office of state’s attorney, in which capacity he served four years, and in 1897, under the administration of President McKinley, he was appointed United States district attorney, of which important office he has since remained incumbent, by successive reappointments, his last appointment having been made by President Roosevelt. He has proved a most capable and discriminating officer and is held in the highest confidence and regard by his professional confreres and by the people of the state at large. In politics Mr. Elliott has ever given an unqualified support to the Republican party and he has been an active and prominent worker in its cause, having been chairman of the state central committee in 1896, and as such having marshalled his forces most admirably during the presidential campaign of that year. He has been very successful in his profession and in his business affairs, and is distinctively the architect of his own fortunes. He is president of the Security Bank of Tyndall, is the owner of about fifteen hundred acres of land in Bon Homme County and is largely interested in the raising of live stock. Fraternally, Mr. Elliott is identified with Bon Homme Lodge, No. 101, Free and Accepted Masons; Scotland Chapter, Royal Arch Masons; Yankton Commandery, Knights Templar, at Yankton; Yankton Consistory, Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite, and El Riad Temple, Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, at Sioux Falls, while he is also affiliated with the Knights of Pythias and the Ancient Order of United Workmen, in Tyndall, and with Sioux Falls Lodge, No. 262, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, at Sioux Falls. He is well known throughout the state and enjoys a high degree of popularity in professional, business and social circles.
On the 29th of May, 1890, Mr. Elliott was united in marriage to Miss Agnes Stilwell, daughter of Charles H. Stilwell, the present postmaster of Tyndall and one of its leading citizens, individual mention of him being incorporated on other pages of this work. Mr. and Mrs. Elliott are the parents of four children, namely: Marion A., Douglas S., Hiram McP., and Mary H.
Source: Robinson, Doane, History of South Dakota: together with mention of Citizens of South Dakota, [Logansport? IN] : B. F. Bowen, 1904.