W. E. Tipton, born June 10, 1854, in Schuyler County, Missouri, was a prominent figure in education and law. Son of Jabez B. and Isabel (Wright) Tipton, he descended from early American settlers. Tipton graduated with honors from the state normal school in Kirksville, Missouri, and served as superintendent in various schools. In 1883, he moved to South Dakota for health reasons, establishing himself in Douglas County’s legal community. Tipton contributed significantly to Armour’s development and held various public offices, including district attorney and county judge. He married twice, first to Myra Amsden and later to Emily Rogers, fathering five children.
W. E. Tipton, of Armour, Douglas County, is a native of the state of Missouri, having been born in Schuyler County, on the 10th of June, 1854, a son of Jabez B. and Isabel (Wright) Tipton. The ancestry in the agnatic line is traced back to two brothers who emigrated from England to America and landed in either Baltimore or Philadelphia, while finally one of them located in Virginia and the other in the state of New York, and the Virginian later came west and took up his permanent residence in Kentucky, and it is from this pioneer of that state that the subject of this sketch is descended. Joel Tipton, grandfather of the subject, was one of the colony which accompanied Daniel Boone from Kentucky to Missouri, and for a number of years he was an associate of that historic character, being a close personal friend. Jabez B. Tipton passed his entire life in Missouri, his vocation being that of farming. His wife, the mother of the subject, was an Illinoisan by birth.
W. E. Tipton was reared on the homestead farm in Missouri and after availing himself of the advantages afforded in the public schools, he continued his studies in the state normal school, at Kirksville. At the age of nineteen years, he began teaching in the public schools, and by this means, he earned the money with which he was enabled to carry forward his studies in the normal school, where he was graduated in 1880, with the highest honors in his class, and afterward taking the post-graduate course, with the degree of Master of Arts. He served as superintendent of schools at Queen City, Glenwood, Lathrop and Lamar, Missouri, and while in tenure of the position in Lamar, he also served as superintendent of schools of Barton County. At that time also, he began the study of law with the definite intention of preparing himself for the practice of this profession, having previously carried on his studies along the line, but in a somewhat desultory way. While at Lamar, he was elected a member of the faculty of the state normal school at Warrensburg, but the school board refused to accept his resignation, and such was the estimate of his value and ability as an instructor that the position as a member of the faculty of the normal school was held open for him for a period of two years. Within this time, however, Mr. Tipton had decided to withdraw from the pedagogic profession and devote his attention to that of the law, and in consonance with this decision he resigned the position at the normal without having actually filled it at any time. His duties in Lamar had been so varied and onerous that his health became seriously impaired, and this is not to be considered strange when we take cognizance of the fact that not only was he superintendent of the city and county schools, but was also associate editor of the State Teachers’ Journal, editor of the educational department of a local paper, interested in the real-estate business, and the while carefully continuing his legal studies. He was thus compelled to call a halt and endeavor to recuperate his wasted energies. In 1883, he resigned his position as county superintendent of schools and came to South Dakota for the benefit of his health, locating in Douglas County. He had been admitted to the bar of Missouri the preceding year, and after his removal to South Dakota, he opened an office in Grand View, which was then the county seat of Douglas County, and there continued to be successfully engaged in the practice of his profession until the town of Armour was projected. He then became one of the founders and builders of the new town, in which he was one of the early settlers, and here he has ever since maintained his home, having contributed materially to the advancement of its best interests and being one of its most honored and valued citizens, while he has gained a state reputation as one of the leading members of its bar, his talent and devotion to his profession having gained him distinctive prestige, while his clientage is of representative order. He is a staunch Republican in his political views, and he was appointed district attorney in 1884, serving two years, while he was elected to the office in 1886, for a term of two years. He also served one term as state’s attorney of Douglas County, while for two terms he presided with marked ability on the bench of the county court. Judge Tipton was president of the board of education of Armour for several years, and for five years was a member of the board of regents of the State University, having ever retained a lively interest in the cause of popular education. In 1901 he was appointed president of the state board of charities and corrections, serving two years, and recently the board was reorganized and our subject was chosen secretary, this executive position being one for which he is particularly well qualified, and he resigned the presidency because he felt that as secretary he could make his services of more definite value.
In politics, Judge Tipton is a stalwart advocate of the principles and policies of the Republican party, and he is prominently identified with the Masonic fraternity, being affiliated with the various bodies of the York Rite and having also attained the consistory degrees in the Scottish Rite. He also holds membership in the adjunct order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, and in the Knights of Pythias, in which he is now supreme representative, having held the highest offices in the lodge for the past eight years. He and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church and take a zealous interest in the various departments of its work.
On the 29th of December, 1881, Judge Tipton was united in marriage to Miss Myra Amsden, of Greene County, Iowa, who died in 1890, being survived by her only child, Gerald P., who is now in business in Quincy, Illinois. On the 10th of October, 1894, Judge Tipton contracted a second marriage, being then united to Miss Emily Rogers, of Mitchell, South Dakota, and they are the parents of four children, Bernice, Mark R., Sterling J., and Gwyneth.
Source: Robinson, Doane, History of South Dakota: together with mention of Citizens of South Dakota, [Logansport? IN] : B. F. Bowen, 1904.