John S. Mueller, a prominent businessman in Parkston, Hutchinson County, was born in southern Russia on March 24, 1870. His parents, Johann and Wilhelmina (Hass) Mueller, emigrated to America in May 1881, settling in South Dakota. Johann, a homesteader and pre-emption claimant, lived there until his death in 1898. John S. Mueller attended public schools and an academy in Scotland, South Dakota. After various employments, he served as deputy county treasurer and county auditor. In 1901, he became assistant cashier of Hutchinson County Bank, later co-founding Parkston Land and Implement Company. A Republican and Lutheran elder, he married Elizabeth C. Gall in 1892, and they had six children.
John S. Mueller, one of the prominent and essentially representative young businessmen of Parkston, Hutchinson County, was born in the southern part of Russia, on the 24th of March 1870, being a son of Johann and Wilhelmina (Hass) Mueller, who emigrated from the fatherland to America in May 1881, landing in New York City and thence coming to what is now the state of South Dakota. The father entered homestead, and pre-emption claims nine miles southeast of Parkston, becoming one of the pioneers of the county and continuing to reside there until his death on the 1st of September 1898, at the age of sixty-six. He was a Republican in politics, a member of the Lutheran church, and a man of inflexible integrity in all the relations of life. His widow has now attained the age of seventy years and still resides on the homestead farm, while she likewise is a devoted member of the Lutheran church.
The subject of this review was about eleven years of age at the time of his parents’ emigration to America, his early educational instruction having thus been secured in the fatherland. After locating in South Dakota, he was enabled to attend the public schools and also the academy at Scotland. In 1890 he secured employment as a salesman for a dealer in agricultural implements in Scotland, being thus employed during one summer, while during the following winter he was engaged in teaching, as he was also for two succeeding winters. During the intervening summers he found employment as an assessor and also in various mercantile establishments in a clerical capacity. In January 1893, he was appointed deputy county treasurer of Hutchinson County, continuing to retain this position for about four years. In the autumn of 1896, he was elected auditor of the county, and this incumbency he retained for two terms, giving a most able and satisfactory administration. During his last year of service, he was also engaged in the real estate and loan business. In March 1901, at the expiration of his second term, Mr. Mueller came to Parkston and purchased stock in the Hutchinson County Bank, of which he was made assistant cashier. The agreement made in this connection was that he might withdraw at any time within the year should he so desire. He was unable to secure as much stock in the institution as he wished and also found the sedentary occupation somewhat irksome, and thus, at the end of six months, he resigned his executive position and purchased the interest of Christian Rempfer in the implement business of the firm of Rempfer & Doering. The enterprise was then extended in scope and carried forward under the title of the Parkston Land and Implement Company. On the 11th of April 1903, the company was incorporated under the laws of the state, with Mr. Mueller as secretary and treasurer. By the time this work is issued from the press, the company will have completed their modern brick block, in which they will carry a full line of hardware, in connection with their land and implement business. Mr. Mueller is also a stockholder in the South Dakota Grain Company, one of the leading concerns of the sort in this section of the state, and he is known as a man of progressive ideas, high administrative and executive ability, and sterling integrity of purpose. He is a stalwart advocate of the principles of the Republican party, and both he and his wife are prominent and valued members of the Lutheran church, he being an elder in the local organization and treasurer of the three congregations constituting this parish.
On the 22nd of January 1892, Mr. Mueller was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth C. Gall of Menno, this state, and they are the parents of six children: Edmund J., Leontina C., Amalia A., Reinhart R. G., Berthold E. L., and Laura L. L.
Source: Robinson, Doane, History of South Dakota: together with mention of Citizens of South Dakota, [Logansport? IN] : B. F. Bowen, 1904.