Moody County South Dakota
Genealogy 

About the South Dakota GenWeb Project
In June, 1996, a group of genealogists organized the
South Dakota Comprehensive Genealogy Database. The idea was to provide a single
entry point for all counties in South
Dakota, where collected databases would be stored. In
addition, the databases would be indexed and cross-linked, so that even if an
individual were found in more than one county, they could be located in the
index.
At the same time, volunteers were found who were
willing to coordinate the collection of databases and generally oversee the
contents of the web page. The person responsible for this county is Ray W. Justus.
Contact him if you have a desire to add your data to the database.
MOODY COUNTY, SOUTH DAKOTA
HISTORY
(Population: 6,552 friendly people; Area: 520 square miles, Organized in 1873;
County Seat: Flandreau)
The county was
named for Col. Gideon C. Moody, who was speaker of the house in the Territorial
legislature of 1874-75, associate justice of the Territorial Supreme Court from
1878 to 1883, and one of South Dakota's
first two United States
Senators from 1889 to 1891. He was born in Cortland, New York,
in 1832, studied law at Syracuse,
moved to Indiana
where he was admitted to the bar at the age of 20, volunteered in the Civil War
and rose to the rank of Colonel. He resigned his commission in 1864 and joined
the New York Colony at Yankton and began to practice law.
In 1865 Congress
appropriated $25,000 for the improvement of the road from Sioux City, Iowa
to Fort Randall, Dakota
Territory, via Elk Point, Vermillion, and Yankton. Colonel Moody,
as superintendent in charge of construction, secured a portable sawmill,
brought logs from the settlers, and made them into lumber with which he began
building the first bridge over the Sioux River. However, most of the
appropriation was used up before the bridge was completed and Moody was
relieved of his job within a year. He died in 1906.
This page was last updated Saturday, February 12, 2005 2:00 PM MST.
You are the
visitor since November 30, 2002.
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For more information email: Ray W. Justus