Alvin M. Shaw, who is incumbent of the responsible executive office of cashier of the Delmont State Bank, of Delmont, Douglas County, is recognized as one of the able young business men of the county, where he is held in high esteem and is personally popular. He was born on a farm in Joe Daviess County, Illinois, on the 3rd of February, 1876, being a son of Henry and Mary E. Shaw, of whose seven children four are living, namely: William H., who is cashier of the Hutchinson County Bank, at Parkston, this state; Ora P., who is a grain buyer at Scotland, Bon Homme County; Ida, who is the wife of Frank L. Wheeler, also a resident of Scotland; and Alvin M., who is the immediate subject of this sketch. Henry Shaw was born in the state of New York in 1828, and as a young man he removed thence to Joe Daviess County, Illinois, where he was engaged in agricultural pursuits until 1886, when he came to South Dakota and took up his residence in Parkston, where he became associated with his eldest son, William H., in the organization of the Hutchinson County Bank, of which he was president from the time of its inception until his death, which occurred in October, 1902. He also acquired considerable valuable farming land, to the supervision of which he gave his attention, while his son William, as cashier, had charge of the bank, of which he is still cashier. The father was an uncompromising Republican in his political proclivities, and his religious faith was that of the Presbyterian Church. He was a man of strong intellectual powers and marked business acumen, and his life was one of signal usefulness and honor. His widow, who is a native of the state of New York, retains her home in Scotland, this state.
Alvin M. Shaw was reared to the age of ten years in his native county in Illinois, where he secured his preliminary educational discipline in the public schools, and after the removal of the family to South Dakota he continued his studies in the Scotland Academy, from which he graduated as a member of the class of 1893. He shortly afterward went to Vermillion and entered the commercial department of the State University, where he completed a thorough course and was graduated in 1895. Shortly after his graduation, he became the assistant cashier in the Hutchinson County Bank, at Parkston, being thus engaged until the 1st of January, 1901, when he came to Delmont to assume the position of cashier of the Delmont State Bank, of which Alfred Shepard, a prominent manufacturer of threshing machines, is president. Since that time, he has ably managed the executive affairs of the institution in the capacity of cashier and manager. The bank does a heavy business in the extension of loans on farming property and is known as one of the strong monetary institutions of this part of the state. Mr. Shaw gives an unwavering allegiance to the Republican party, is progressive and public-spirited, and is one of the representative young business men of the county.
In July, 1901, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Shaw to Miss Nina P. Simmons, daughter of Frank Simmons, a prominent citizen of Parkston, and they are the parents of a winsome little daughter, Margaret.
Source: Robinson, Doane, History of South Dakota: together with mention of Citizens of South Dakota, [Logansport? IN] : B. F. Bowen, 1904.