Charles F. Raymond, born in 1856 in Kane County, Illinois, was a prominent farmer and livestock breeder in Davison County, South Dakota. In 1883, he moved west and settled on 160 acres of government land, where he became known for his high-quality Hereford cattle and standard-bred horses. Raymond also played a significant role in local politics, serving in the South Dakota state legislature and senate during the early 1890s. He married Carrie Humiston in 1877, and the couple raised six children on their farm, contributing to the area’s agricultural development.
Charles F. Raymond, a representative farmer and stock grower of Davison County, is a native of the state of Illinois, having been born in Kane County on the 5th of April, 1856, and being a son of Granville C. and Sophia (Bumpus) Raymond, to whom were born seven children, namely: Laura, Albert, Harvey, Flora, Millie, Belle, and Charles F. The subject was reared on the homestead farm and early began to assist in its cultivation, waxing strong in mind and bodily vigor under the sturdy discipline, while he duly availed himself of the educational advantages afforded in the common schools. He continued to be associated with agricultural pursuits in his native state until he had attained the age of twenty-seven years, when he decided to follow the sage advice of Horace Greeley and “go west and grow up with the country.” Accordingly, in 1883, he came to what is now the state of South Dakota and forthwith took up one hundred and sixty acres of government land in Davison County, where he has ever since made his home and to whose industrial progress he has contributed in no slight degree. In addition to general farming, Mr. Raymond devotes special attention to the raising of high-grade livestock, and his herd of Hereford cattle is unexcelled in this section of the state, while he has gained a wide reputation in the raising of standard-bred horses, taking special pride and interest in this branch of his farm enterprise. Mr. Raymond is a staunch adherent of the Republican party and has been actively identified with the promotion of its cause in his county, while his distinctive eligibility for positions of trust and responsibility has not failed of recognition, since he served as a member of the lower house of the state legislature in 1891, and in 1893 was elected to represent the thirteenth district, comprising the county of Davison, in the state senate. He acquitted himself well in both branches of the legislative body and effectively represented the interests of his constituents and of the state at large.
In Kane County, Illinois, on the 15th of February, 1877, Mr. Raymond was united in marriage to Miss Carrie Humiston, who was born in that state, being a daughter of Clark M. Humiston, and of this union have been born six children, namely: Emily I., Jesse F., Clarence, Elliott, Charles, and Ethel, all of whom remain at the parental home.
Source: Robinson, Doane, History of South Dakota: together with mention of Citizens of South Dakota, [Logansport? IN] : B. F. Bowen, 1904.