Henry Frawley, a prominent lawyer and pioneer in Deadwood, South Dakota, was born on March 13, 1851, in Washington County, New York. He relocated to the Dakota Territory in 1877, establishing a successful legal practice. Frawley was a significant landowner and had interests in valuable mining properties. He practiced law with several partners, including his brother, forming Frawley & Frawley. Politically, he was a Democrat but supported McKinley. Frawley owned the expansive Centennial Home Farm in Lawrence County, known for its thoroughbred livestock. He married Christine Anderson in 1890, and they had three children: Henry J., William G., and Honora C.
Henry Frawley.— Among the pioneers of the state, the subject of this sketch has a place of priority, while he is one of the leading members of the bar of the commonwealth, having been actively engaged in the practice of his profession in the city of Deadwood since 1877, and he is also one of the extensive landowners of Lawrence County and interested in valuable mining properties. Mr. Frawley comes from staunch Irish ancestry and is a native of the Empire state, having been born in Washington County, New York, on the 13th day of March, 1851, being a son of Thomas and Honora (Hogan) Frawley, both of whom were born and raised near the city of Limerick, Ireland, in which section both families have been established for many generations. The old Frawley homestead, which is still standing near Rathkeal, is in a fine state of preservation, having been continually in the possession of the family for more than one hundred and fifty years, while the name has been identified with the great basic art of agriculture in the Emerald Isle from the days to which the memory of man runneth not to the contrary. The parental grandparents of the subject were Thomas and Mary (Fitzgerald) Frawley, who passed their entire lives in the county of Limerick, and the maternal grandparents were Michael and Elizabeth (Burke) Hogan, who also passed their entire lives in the same country. The parents of the subject emigrated to America in 1848 and remained a short time in the state of New York, after which they removed to Wisconsin, being numbered among the sterling pioneers of Dane County, and there passed the remainder of their long and useful lives. The father became one of the prominent and influential stock growers and farmers of that section. He was a man of inflexible integrity and strong intellectuality and was ever held in confidence and esteem by those with whom he came in contact. Through his well-directed efforts, he attained a fair degree of prosperity. He died at Eau Claire, Wisconsin, in January 1896. His wife passed away in 1884 on the old homestead in Dane County. They became the parents of eight sons and two daughters. Both daughters are dead, and one son died when quite young. Another, T. F. Frawley, who became a very prominent lawyer, died at Eau Claire, Wisconsin, on June 28, 1902. It may be consistently noted that five of the sons were graduates of the literary department of the University of Wisconsin, and three in the law department of that institution, while at the present time four members of the family are engaged in the practice of law. The two daughters were graduates of the normal school; Honora A. graduated in June 1885 and died in September. Mary E. graduated in 1882, taught school for many years, and died at Eau Claire in 1893.
Henry Frawley, the immediate subject of this sketch, was raised on the homestead and secured his rudimentary education in the district school, after which he continued his studies at Albion Academy, Dane County, and in 1872 entered the University of Wisconsin, graduating therefrom in 1874 with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. He then entered the law department of that institution and completed the course prescribed and graduated as a member of the class of 1876 with the degree of Bachelor of Law and was at once admitted to practice in the courts of that state. He read law during his course at law school in the office of P. L. Spooner, father of Senator J. C. Spooner, of Wisconsin. Almost immediately after his graduation, he was nominated for state’s attorney of Dane County and was defeated. In the fall of 1876, he went to Eau Claire and was associated with Henry Cousins in the practice of law until the spring of 1877. In June of that year, he started for the Black Hills district, making the trip by railroad to Bismarck and thence going onward to Deadwood with a party of immigrants traveling in wagon trains, encountering no trouble with the Indians. He arrived in Deadwood, then a stirring mining town, opened an office, commenced the practice of law, and was fairly successful from the start. In November 1879, he formed a co-partnership with Edward L. Kohen, which continued until 1881 under the firm name of Frawley & Kohen. From then until 1894, he practiced law by himself, having from 1886 John P. Laffey associated with him, and in 1894 John P. Laffey and James Frawley, a brother who graduated from the University in 1892 and studied law under the preceptorship of the subject, became members of the firm, adopting the title of Frawley & Laffey. This association continued until 1896 when James Frawley removed to Nome, Alaska, where he has since become established in the practice. Messrs. Frawley & Laffey continued the practice under the partnership until February 1903 when Mr. Laffey became the general counsel for the Repauno Chemical Company of Wilmington, Delaware. The firm then became Frawley & Frawley, E. J. Frawley succeeding Mr. Laffey, and it has done a large and important law business of a general nature. Mr. Frawley was the attorney for John Fitzgerald & Brother during all their litigation in the construction of the line of the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad from Edgemont to Deadwood, and since the completion of that road has continually served the company as its counsel. He is also the attorney of the Golden Reward Consolidated Gold Mining Company, the American National Bank, the Hidden Fortune Gold Mining Company, and a number of other mining corporations. In politics, he is a staunch advocate of the Jeffersonian principles of the Democratic party, though he supported McKinley in 1896 and in 1900. While taking an active interest in the promotion of the general interests of the state, he has not permitted the use of his name for nomination to any public office of any description since his nomination, a few months after his graduation, to the office of prosecuting attorney of Dane County.
Mr. Frawley is the most extensive real estate owner in Lawrence County; has a finely improved stock farm located on the road between Deadwood and Spearfish, comprising more than three thousand acres, and is known as one of the best improved ranches in the state. It is commonly called the Centennial Home Farm. Here the subject is extensively engaged in raising livestock, principally horses and cattle. He raises the shorthorns from thoroughbred stock and also the Hereford type, while upon his farm are always found a large number of draft and road horses. The Centennial farm is one of the showplaces of the state and attracts many visitors each year, especially those interested in breeding cattle and horses. Mr. Frawley also became early interested in the gold mining of the Black Hills and owns valuable properties in this line. He sold the Iowa and Brunett properties to the Hidden Fortune Gold Mining Company, in which he still retains a large block of stock. He also owns, personally, one hundred acres of patented mining property situated at Portland in the Bald Mountain ore zone, reputed to be very valuable, besides other mining interests over different parts of the ore zone of the Black Hills.
Fraternally, Mr. Frawley is a charter member of Lodge No. 508, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, in whose affairs he has taken much interest from its inception. He enjoys unqualified confidence and esteem in professional and business circles.
On the 22nd day of July 1890, Mr. Frawley was united in marriage to Miss Christine Anderson, who was born and reared in the city of Yankton, the original capital of the territory of Dakota. She is the only child of James Anderson, who came to Deadwood in 1877, being a prominent farmer and stock raiser, largely interested in mining properties and owning a large hardware store in the city of Deadwood for many years. He was a man who stood high in the public estimation and was a member of the first state legislature. His death occurred on the 1st day of September 1890. Mr. and Mrs. Frawley have three children, Henry J., William G., and Honora C.
Source: Robinson, Doane, History of South Dakota: together with mention of Citizens of South Dakota, [Logansport? IN] : B. F. Bowen, 1904.