Alexander Garrick, born June 8, 1845, in Delaware County, New York, is a second-generation American with deep Scottish roots. Son of William and Elisabeth Garrick, Alexander was raised on the family farm and educated in local schools. In 1874, he moved west to Cedar County and later to Faulk County, South Dakota, in 1883, where he claimed 160 acres near Cresbard. By 1890, he had acquired a large ranch near Faulkton, engaging in diversified farming and cattle raising. A dedicated public servant, he served on the county board of commissioners and school board. Alexander married Elizabeth Cowan in 1870, and they have five children: James, Isabella, William, Alexander A., and one unnamed.
Alexander Garrick justly takes pride in tracing his lineage through many generations of sturdy Scotchmen and is of the second generation of the family in America. He was born on a farm in Delaware County, New York, on the 8th of June, 1845, and is a son of William and Elisabeth Garrick. His father was born and reared in Scotland, being a scion of an old and prominent family, and as a young man, he emigrated thence to America, settling in New York state, where he passed the remainder of his long and useful life, devoting his attention to agricultural pursuits. He died in 1893, and his wife, who was born in Scotland and reared in New York, passed away in 1897. Of their five children, four are living.
Alexander Garrick was reared on the old home farm and early began to assume his quota of responsibility in connection with its cultivation, while his educational advantages were those of the common schools of the locality and period. He remained on the home farm until 1874, when he came to the West and located in Cedar County, where he purchased land, becoming the owner of a good farm, and there he continued to devote his attention to agricultural pursuits until 1883, when he disposed of his property and came to South Dakota, where he cast in his lot with the sterling pioneers of Faulk County, which was organized in that year. He first located near the present village of Cresbard, where he entered a claim to one hundred and sixty acres of government land, reclaiming much of the same to cultivation and there continuing his residence until 1890, when he sold the property at a profit and purchased his present finely improved ranch, one mile east of Faulkton, the county seat. The greater portion of his section of land is under effective cultivation, and he leases about six hundred acres in addition. During the past few years, he has been quite largely engaged in stock growing, in connection with his diversified farming, and he now runs on his range an average herd of about one hundred head of high-grade cattle. He is a man of signal energy and business sagacity and has thus secured the maximum returns from his efforts and is known as one of the public-spirited and substantial citizens of the county. He was a member of the first board of commissioners elected for the county, the preceding board having been filled by appointment, and he served three terms in this office, doing all in his power in an official and personal way to forward the best interests of the county and its people. He has been a member of the school board practically from the time of coming to the county up to the present time. In politics, he gives his support to the Republican Party, while his religious affiliation is with the Congregational Church.
On the 29th of December, 1870, in his native county in New York, Mr. Garrick took unto himself a wife in the person of Miss Elizabeth Cowan, who likewise was born and reared in Delaware County, New York, being a daughter of Adam and Elizabeth Cowan, both natives of Scotland, and both being now deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Garrick have five children, namely: James, who married Miss Eva Potter, is engaged in the grain business in Webster, Day County, being associated with his father-in-law in this enterprise, while they own a well-equipped elevator of good capacity; Isabella is the wife of William Plante, of La Foon, this county; William is associated with his father in the management of the home ranch; and Alexander A. is engaged in running an express business in Faulkton.
Source: Robinson, Doane, History of South Dakota: together with mention of Citizens of South Dakota, [Logansport? IN] : B. F. Bowen, 1904.