John Sutherland, born on February 18, 1858, in Charlotte County, New Brunswick, Canada, is a prominent lawyer in Pierre, South Dakota. After moving to Eau Claire, Wisconsin, around 1860, Sutherland attended the University of Chicago and graduated from Brown University in 1880 with a Bachelor of Laws degree. He taught Greek and Latin before relocating to Pierre in 1884. Sutherland has played a significant role in Pierre’s legal and real estate sectors, served as president of the board of education and board of trade, and was active in the Republican Party. He married Laura Paulina Aiken in 1881, and they had two children.
John Sutherland, who is successfully engaged in the practice of law in the capital city of the state, is a representative member of his profession, in which he has attained unequivocal prestige. He was born in the County of Charlotte, New Brunswick, Canada, on the 18th of February, 1858, and is a son of Andrew and Catherine (McVicar) Sutherland, who removed thence to Eau Claire, Wisconsin, about 1860, where they are now living. The subject attended the public schools of Eau Claire in his youthful days and in 1874 entered the University of Chicago, where he continued his studies until 1879, when he entered the classical department of Brown University, at Providence, Rhode Island, where he was graduated in 1880, with the degree of Bachelor of Laws. During the following four years, he was an instructor in Greek and Latin in Wayland University, at Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, and in August, 1884, he came to Pierre, Dakota Territory, in which place he has ever since been actively engaged in the practice of his chosen profession, while he also practically controls the abstract business in the capital city and has been prominently and successfully identified with real-estate enterprises for a number of years past. His loyalty to the city and state is unbounded and he has ever manifested a zealous interest in the advancement of both, being held in the highest esteem in business, professional, and social circles and being known as a lawyer of high ability, and a man of recondite knowledge. He was for six years president of the board of education of Pierre, served five terms as president of the board of trade, and was also president of the capital committee, being a prominent figure in public and civic affairs. He has ever been a stalwart advocate of the principles of the Republican Party and has done much to further its cause. His religious faith is that of the Baptist Church, of which Mrs. Sutherland likewise was, in her lifetime, a devoted member, and fraternally he is identified with the Knights of Pythias and the Ancient Order of United Workmen.
On the 5th of September, 1881, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Sutherland to Miss Laura Paulina Aiken, of Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, and to them were born two children, Martha Emma and Laura Paulina.
Source: Robinson, Doane, History of South Dakota: together with mention of Citizens of South Dakota, [Logansport? IN] : B. F. Bowen, 1904.