Leath Carroll Fullerton (1901-1961)

Portrait from the 1957 South Dakota Manual.

   August is upon us and after several profiles centered on political figures from North Dakota, we journey to that state's southern neighbor to highlight the life of Leath Carroll Fullerton, a Beadle County-based furniture dealer who served two full terms in the South Dakota state senate. Reelected to a third term in 1960, Fullerton would die in office in 1961, succumbing to injuries he'd sustained in a car accident in October of that year. The son of William and Verna Fullerton, Leath Carroll Fullerton was born in Delta, Iowa on February 14, 1901. 

  A graduate of Milton, Iowa high school, Fullerton went on to attend the Iowa State College at Ames and the University of Minnesota. In May 1925 he married Lucille Emmelius and later had two children, Hugh Robert (1925-2015) and Rilla Bea (born ca. 1931). Following their marriage, the Fullerton family resided in Spring Valley, Minnesota, and Helena, Montana before permanently settling in Huron, South Dakota in 1929.

  Following his settlement in Huron Fullerton took work with the Axelrad Furniture Company, remaining in their employ until deciding to go into business for himself, and in 1932 founded the Fullerton Furniture Company, which is still in existence today. Fullerton would later be joined by his son Hugh Robert, who became a partner in the business.

   As a widely known figure in the Huron business community, Fullerton was active in a number of civic and fraternal groups, including service as president of the Chamber of Commerce, the International Order of Odd Fellows, the Izaak Walton League, the Elks, the Masons, and the Huron Country Club. He entered the political life of his state in 1956 when he won election to the South Dakota Senate from Beadle County and would subsequently serve on the committees on Apportionment; Game, Fish, and Parks; the Judiciary, Municipalities; State Affairs; and Transportation and Communications. He would also chair the committee on Appropriations. 

   Fullerton's three terms in the Senate saw him earn the reputation as an "amiable and effective legislator", being remarked in his Daily Republic obituary as having been "always jovial and excelled at breaking tension when the going got rough in the legislature", as well as a strong supporter for water conservancy measures and mental health legislation. In his last Senate term, Fullerton served as a member of the Legislative Research Council (LRC) and was named to an investigating committee studying the state welfare department.

Portrait from the Huron Daily Plainsman, October 20, 1961.

   L. Carroll Fullerton's time in state government was brought to a tragic end in October 1961, as the result of a car accident. On October 18 of that year, he and two longtime hunting companions, Ralph Bischoff (a former state board of equalization member) and Frank Sanderson (a state fair board member) had begun a duck hunting trip when their station wagon was hit broadside by a gravel truck near Yale, South Dakota. Bischoff, who had been driving the vehicle, died at the scene, and Frank Sanderson, who had survived the initial impact, was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital. The driver of the truck, Albert Hohm, survived with a broken leg and other minor injuries.

  Following transport to St. John's Hospital in Huron, L. Carroll Fullerton was in critical condition and underwent surgery soon after arrival. He would succumb to his injuries on October 20, 1961, aged 60, and was survived by his wife, children, and mother, Verna. He was later interred at the Riverside Cemetery in Huron. 

From the Huron Daily Republic, October 20, 1961.

Grailey Hewitt Berryhill (1896-1976), Grailey Hewitt Jaynes (1873-1935)

Portrait from the Tennessee General Assembly composite photograph, 1967-68. 

    A three-term member of the Tennessee General Assembly, Grailey Hewitt Berryhill was born on August 17, 1896, in McKenzie, Tennessee, being the son of Adam Douglas and Harriett Costen Berryhill. He would attend school in Carroll County and later embarked upon the study of medicine at several colleges, including Tulane University, Washington University, and Vanderbilt University. A standout football player at the last-named school, Berryhill earned his medical degree from Vanderbilt in the class of 1921 and had married in June 1920 to Ms. Thelma Harwood (1898-1967). The couple would later have two daughters, Alica Anne Berryhill Boswell (1925-2013) and Dorothy Grailyn (born 1922). 
  Following his graduation from Vanderbilt Berryhill began the practice of medicine in Madison County where he operated for many decades. In addition to being a physician, Berryhill also held memberships in the American Medical Association and both the Tennessee and Madison County Medical Societies. Sources also note that Berryhill was an instrumental figure in the eventual establishment of the West Tennessee School for the Deaf, as he himself suffered from deafness. 

                   Berryhill's college portrait, from the 1921 Vanderbilt Medical School Class Composite.

   While a good majority of Berryhill's life was centered in the private sector, he refrained from entering political life until he was nearly seventy years of age! Recorded as being a Democrat for the majority of his life, Berryhill switched political allegiance in the mid-1960s to the Republican party, and in 1966 was elected to represent the county of Madison in the Tennessee General Assembly. He would serve three terms here, being reelected in 1968 and 1970. His final term concluded in 1973 and he died three years later on January 10, 1976, aged 79. Berryhill had been preceded in death by his wife Thelma in 1967 and both were interred at the Ridgecrest Cemetery in Jackson, Tennessee.

                       Grailey H. Berryhill, from the 1969-70 Tennessee General Assembly composite.

Portrait from the 1917 South Dakota state manual.

  In an update (July 21, 2018) to a nearly four-year-old article, another political office holder named "Grailey" has been discovered--Grailey Hewitt Jaynes of South Dakota. Interestingly, both he and Grailey Berryhill share the same middle name, and both look to have been named in honor of William Morse Grailey Hewitt (1828-1893), a famed British obstetrician, professor, and author of a number of works relating to gynecology. A native of Missouri, Grailey Hewitt Jaynes was born in the town of La Monte on May 27, 1873.  He would be a student in the public schools and later attended the Powers Business College in Chicago.

  Following his removal to South Dakota in 1883, Jaynes would marry Caroline Amanda Bemis (1874-1940) in the late 1890s and later had two sons, Edwin Hewitt and Grailey Hewitt Jr. (1915-1996). For the majority of his life Jaynes was affiliated with the meat market and livestock industry in Pierre and was also elected to the Pierre City Council, and from 1909-1910 served as acting mayor of the city.

  In November 1916 Jaynes was elected from Hughes County to the South Dakota state senate, serving one term (1917-21). Little is known of the remainder of his life, except notice of his death on June 18, 1935. Jaynes was survived by his wife Caroline, and both were later interred at the Riverside Cemetery in Pierre.

Orator Henry LaCraft (1850-1940)

  This obscure South Dakota resident is Orator Henry LaCraft, listed by most historical resources by the initials "O.H." During his long life, LaCraft was regarded as one of Clark County's most influential citizens and gained his notoriety through a variety of public endeavors, including town postmaster, rancher, farmer, teacher, and state senator. Very few sources exist that mention Mr. LaCraft at great length, with the exception going to Doane Robinson's "History of South Dakota, Volume II" which was published in 1904. The majority of the facts on LaCraft were found in the aforementioned work, and within its pages are numerous biographies of other notable South Dakota residents who lived in the latter part of the 19th century.

  Orator LaCraft was originally born in Farmington, Wisconsin on August 13, 1850. His parents were natives of the Ashtabula, Ohio area and resettled in Wisconsin a few years before his birth. He attended schools local to the Washington County, Wisconsin area and after reaching adolescence moved to the town of Sheboygan. It was here that he began a decade-long career as a farmer, while also pursuing a teaching career during "the winter months." In April 1873 he married Charlotte Haviland, and the couple was married ten years before her death on July 17, 1883. They also had one son, Oscar Merton LaCraft, who died at age 20 in 1898.

  In 1883, LaCraft moved to South Dakota and eventually settled in Clark County. Within a few years of his relocation, he built up a prosperous general merchandise store, which he ran until 1891. Orator LaCraft remarried in 1885 to Clara Smith, and the couple had five children: Walter (born 1886), Delmar (died at age three in 1892), Osmer (born 1893), Lynn (born 1897) and Irma (born 1897). In addition to having a large family, he was also the owner and operator of a 320-acre ranch in Clark County for many years.

  Throughout the 1890s, LaCraft involved himself with public offices in his native county, beginning with his stint as assistant postmaster of Clark County in 1891. He later served as a member of the Clark School Board (including four years as its president) and also as a justice of the peace. LaCraft was also active in local fraternal organizations, including the Knights of Pythias, the Ancient Order of United Workmen, and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.

  In 1900, Orator H. LaCraft won election as a Republican to the South Dakota State Senate, representing his native county of Clark. He served in the Senate until 1904 and was a member of the committees on Legislative Expenses, Public Health, Public Printing, Railroads, and State Affairs during his term.  LaCraft died at age 89 on July 25, 1940, and his wife Clara predeceased him by one year. The graves of the LaCraft family are located in the Rose Hill Cemetery in Clark County and the portrait of him shown above was discovered in the 1903 South Dakota Legislative Manual, which has proven to be another great repository for both names and pictures.