Stanley County - South Dakota Genealogy

Biography of Charles H. Fales

History of South Dakota vol 1 title page

Charles H. Fales, born on November 16, 1868, in St. Joseph, Missouri, served as postmaster of Fort Pierre, South Dakota. His parents, Richard P. and Mary F. Fales, relocated to Fort Pierre in 1881, where his father worked as a blacksmith until his death in 1898. Charles worked for stock growers before opening his store in 1894, remaining involved in the cattle industry. A dedicated Republican, he became postmaster in 1897. He was active in the Masons, attaining Scottish Rite degrees, and was a member of the Knights of Pythias.

Biography of Charles J. Lavery, M. D.

Dr. Charles J. Lavery, born on February 5, 1867, in Clinton, New York, was a prominent physician in Fort Pierre, South Dakota. He began his medical studies in 1885 and pursued advanced training in Ohio, Chicago, Toronto, and Montreal. Dr. Lavery served as county coroner, county physician, and was the first superintendent of Stanley County’s Board of Health. He was also involved in various professional and fraternal organizations. Dr. Lavery married Matilda I. Widmeyer in 1895, who passed away in 1896, and later married Margaret Ethel Whitney in 1897, with whom he had one child.

Biography of Ernest Jasper Lacy

Ernest Jasper Lacy, born on November 2, 1873, in Austin, Minnesota, is the official surveyor of Stanley County, South Dakota. He moved to South Dakota in 1881, where his father built the first hotel in Roscoe. Following his father’s financial struggles, Lacy began working to support his family at age 12. Initially joining a surveying party, he shifted his focus from law to civil engineering, eventually overseeing significant government land surveys. Lacy owns a successful sheep ranch and is vice-president of the South Dakota Horticultural Society. A dedicated Methodist, he is active in local church and charitable activities. He married Estelle Mae Lyman in 1900.