Melvin Grigsby | |
|---|---|
.jpg) From Volume 5 of 1915’s "History of Dakota Territory" by George W. Kingsbury | |
| 3rdAttorney General of South Dakota | |
| In office 1897–1899 | |
| Governor | Andrew E. Lee |
| Preceded by | Coe I. Crawford |
| Succeeded by | John L. Pyle |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1845-06-08)June 8, 1845 Potosi, Wisconsin, US |
| Died | February 15, 1917(1917-02-15) (aged 71) Birmingham, Alabama, US |
| Resting place | Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Sioux Falls, South Dakota |
| Political party | Republican (1866-1894, 1900-1917) People’s Party (1894-1900) |
| Spouse | Fannie Lou Kingsbury (m. 1873-1917, his death) |
| Children | 4, including: Sioux K. Grigsby George Barnes Grigsby John T. Grigsby |
| Education | Platteville Normal School |
| Occupation | Attorney Bank president |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | United StatesUnion |
| Branch/service | Union Army (Civil War) United States Army (Spanish–American War) |
| Years of service | 1861–1865 (Union Army) 1898-1899 (U.S. Army) |
| Rank | Colonel |
| Unit | 2nd Wisconsin Cavalry (Civil War) |
| Commands | 3rd United States Volunteer Cavalry (Spanish–American War) 1st Cavalry Brigade,First Army Corps (Spanish–American War) |
| Battles/wars | American Civil War Spanish–American War |
Melvin Grigsby (June 8, 1845 – February 15, 1917) was an American attorney, politician, and military leader fromSouth Dakota. AUnion Army veteran of theAmerican Civil War, Grigsby was most notable for his service asSouth Dakota Attorney General and an organizer and commander of the 3rd United States Volunteer Cavalry Regiment during the Spanish–American War.
Melvin Grigsby was born in the town ofPotosi, Wisconsin on June 8, 1845[1] to William Etchison Grigsby and Rhoda (Thomas) Grigsby.[2] At the time of Grigsby's birth, his father worked as a lead miner, but when Grigsby was four, his family relocated to a farm nearPotosi village.[3] Grigsby was raised to do farm work while he received his early education in the village's public schools.[3] As a teenager, he attended Lancaster Institute, a private academy inLancaster, Wisconsin.[3]
In September 1861,Cadwallader C. Washburn visited Lancaster to recruit soldiers for the2nd Wisconsin Cavalry.[3] Grigsby obtained his father's consent and enlisted as aprivate in the regiment's Company C.[3]
Grigsby took part in several of the 2nd Wisconsin's engagements in and aroundVicksburg, Mississippi and attained the rank ofsergeant. On March 8, 1864, he was captured near theBig Black River and held as aprisoner of war. Grigsby spent a short amount of time at a prison camp inCanton, Mississippi, then was transferred toCahaba Prison (Alabama), followed by transfer toAndersonville Prison (Georgia), and finallyFlorence Stockade inSouth Carolina.[4] The majority of Grigsby's time as a POW, more than six months, was spent at Andersonville.[4]
Grigsby escaped once, but was quickly recaptured.[2] On January 10, 1865, he escaped from Florence Stockade.[2] Having been apprised of the Union Army's progress through updates from newly captured soldiers brought into the prison, Grigsby decided to proceed south in hopes of meeting up with units ofWilliam T. Sherman’s force that was then inSavannah, Georgia as part ofSherman's March to the Sea.[5] Grigsby reached Union lines on February 1, and remained with Sherman's troops until they reachedGoldsboro, North Carolina in March.[5]
Grigsby was discharged at the end of the war and returned to Wisconsin.[5] He attended theUniversity of Wisconsin–Madison for a year, then transferred to thePlatteville Normal School, from which he graduated in 1869.[3]
After completing his education, Grigsby was a teacher and principal at the high school inHoricon, Wisconsin for a year, then served in a similar position at the high school inDarlington, Wisconsin.[3] He was principal of the elementary school inDelavan, Wisconsin from 1871 to 1872.[3] Grigsbystudied law while teaching school, and completed his studies under attorney William Pitt Dewey of Lancaster.[2] He attainedadmission to the bar in the summer of 1872 and then undertook a trip to find a location in the Northwestern United States where he could establish a legal practice.[2]
In late June 1872, Grigsby arrived inSioux Falls,Dakota Territory and decided to remain.[3] He entered into a law practice and land selling partnership withRichard F. Pettigrew, which they maintained for four years.[3] In 1877, Grigsby went into banking as the partner of George M. Smith, and they owned and operated the Bank ofEgan, and later the Union Bank ofElk Point, both of which Grigsby served as the first president.[6]
Grigsby also became active in politics as aRepublican, and served for two years as clerk of the courts forMinnehaha County, and two terms as a Sioux Falls city alderman.[3] In 1886, Grigsby nearly won the party's nomination forDelegate to Congress,[6] and later that year he won a term in the territorial House of Representatives.[3]
In the mid-1890s, Grigsby became an advocate of thefree silver position with respect to US monetary policy, as well as other reform movements that led to the creation of thePeople's Party.[6] He was an unsuccessful candidate for theSouth Dakota Senate in 1894, but in 1896, he ran successfully forSouth Dakota Attorney General, defeating the nominees of the Republican andProhibition parties.[6]
As attorney general, Grigsby was responsible for ending the investigation into supposedly missing funds in the office of the State Auditor.[7] After reviewing the allegations of the public examiner who made the charges, Grigsby reported that there were enough errors and inconsistencies in the allegations that he would decline to prosecute the current auditor and his predecessor.[7]
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At the start of theSpanish–American War in 1898, Grigsby offered his services to the federal government and volunteered to raise acavalry unit from South Dakota and nearby states.[6] Learning thatCongress was considering legislation to allow the formation ofvolunteer regiments, he traveled toWashington, D.C. and succeeded in securing passage of an amendment that allowed for the raising of three cavalry regiments.[6] As a result, the 1st Cavalry (Rough Riders) underLeonard Wood andTheodore Roosevelt, 2nd Cavalry (Rocky Mountain Riders) under Jay L. Torrey, and 3rd Cavalry (Grigsby's Cowboys) under Grigsby were recruited, organized and trained.[6]
Grigsby commanded his regiment as acolonel during May and June 1898, which included its organization and training atCamp Thomas, Georgia.[6] He was then promoted to command of 1st Cavalry Brigade,First Army Corps as an actingbrigadier general, and he continued to lead the brigade until the end of the war.[6] The Spanish–American War ended without the need for the 1st Cavalry Brigade to deploy overseas, and they were mustered out in September, 1899.[6]
Grigsby remained interested in military service; in 1900, he offered to re-form his regiment and lead it to China to protect U.S. interests during theBoxer Rebellion.[8] In 1904, he offered to raise a volunteer regiment to aidJapan during theRusso-Japanese War.[9] Neither proposal was acted on by federal authorities.[8][9]
By 1900, Grigsby had returned to the Republican Party, in part because of a longstanding feud with Governor and Populist leaderAndrew E. Lee.[10] In May, 1902, PresidentTheodore Roosevelt nominated Grigsby asUnited States Attorney for theTerritory of Alaska’s second judicial district, based inNome.[11] He was confirmed in June,[12] and served until resigning in May, 1904.[13] Grigsby's tenure was controversial – he had not been recommended for the position by South Dakota's congressional delegation,[11] and he was later reprimanded by theAttorney General for spending part of the winter of 1903 outside Alaska despite explicit instructions not to leave.[13]
In January 1904, Grigsby was accused of accepting a $10,000 bribe disguised as a legal fee in exchange for foregoing prosecution of an Alaska oil company.[13] He was exonerated of the bribery charge in March, and resigned in May, to be effective beginning in July.[13] Grigsby claimed that he was being supplanted because of favoritism and that he had taken the position in Alaska only to help one his sons,George Barnes Grigsby, establish a career of his own in Alaska.[14] In fact, Grisby's successor was Henry M. Hoyt, a cousin of theU.S. Solicitor General, also namedHenry M. Hoyt.[14] In addition, George Grigsby, who had served as his father's Assistant U.S. Attorney, continued in the same position under Hoyt, and later served as U.S. Attorney himself.[15]
Grigsby continued to practice law in Sioux Falls, and remained interested in politics, including attending Theodore Roosevelt's1905 inauguration.[16] In addition, he was a sought-after public speaker, and was frequently called on to provide orations atIndependence Day andMemorial Day commemorations and other public events.[17]
In 1912, Grigsby was a supporter of Theodore Roosevelt'sProgressive candidacy for president.[18] He remained in the Republican Party and was a candidate forU.S. Senator, but lost the Republican nomination toThomas Sterling, a fellow Roosevelt Republican who went on to win the general election.[19]
When conflict between factions in theMexican Civil War led to the possibility of U.S. military action to defend the U.S.-Mexico border, Grigsby offered to raise a volunteer force and lead it to Texas, but the federal government relied on mobilizedNational Guard units rather than volunteers to perform this mission.[20] In 1916, Grigsby was again a supporter of Roosevelt for president, and ran unsuccessfully for delegate to theRepublican National Convention.[21]
In 1916, Grigsby was diagnosed withanemia, and he spent time at asanitorium inBattle Creek, Michigan to receive treatment.[4] In January 1917, Grigsby announced a new law firm with his son John as his partner,[22] and published accounts indicated he was also active in founding and managing the Stockyards Bank of Sioux Falls.[4] He became ill later that month, and was diagnosed withpneumonia in addition to his anemic condition.[4] He decided to travel toBirmingham, Alabama in the hopes that a warmer climate might prove restorative, but his health continued to decline, and he died in Birmingham on February 15, 1917.[4] Grigsby was buried at Mount Pleasant Cemetery in Sioux Falls.[23]
In March 1873, Grigsby married Fannie Lou Kingsbury (1847-1924) in Delavan, Wisconsin.[24] They were the parents of Sioux, George, Fannie, and John.[24]
Sioux K. Grigsby served in both houses of the South Dakota legislature, and waslieutenant governor from 1945 to 1949.[25]
George Barnes Grigsby served asU.S. Attorney inNome, Alaska, Nome's mayor, Alaska Territory's firstattorney general, and as Alaska Territory'sDelegate to Congress.[25]
Fannie Lou Grigsby (1888-1985) married George Edwin Robinson.[25] She was a professional musician, and after graduating fromChicago Musical College, she taught atWheaton College and was the piano accompanist for theChicago Opera Company.[25]
John T. Grigsby was a South Dakota attorney and politician, and served aslieutenant governor from 1929 to 1931.[25]
In 1888, Grigsby authored a work on his Civil War experiences:
| Legal offices | ||
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| Preceded by | Attorney General of South Dakota 1897–1899 | Succeeded by |
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| International | |
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| National | |
