Eminent Farmer
County: Miner
Arthur Kelsey was born on April 7, 1886 on a farm, two miles south of Fedora which was homesteaded by his parents, Clayton and Susan Kelsey, in 1883. Arthur lived on this farm until 1946, when he and his sons moved to the present farm five miles south of Fedora. They now have five quarters of land.
After attending the local rural school, Kelsey studied at the School of Agriculture, Brookings, during the winter of 1905 and 1906. In 1913, he married Edna Hagen, a farm girl from Waukon, Iowa, who had taught north of Fedora for several years.
Mr. and Mrs. Kelsey reared four children, all of whom attended South Dakota State College. All of the children have been outstanding in 4-H club work and all have earned trips to the 4-H Club Congress in Chicago, Illinois. Throughout the years, Mr. and Mrs. Kelsey encouraged the education of their children.
Kelsey has attempted to follow good farming practices on his farm at all times. When he took over the home farm, he continued raising purebred Shorthorn cattle and Percheron horses which his father began in 1905. He also produced purebred Duroc Jersey hogs and Hampshire sheep for a number of years. He discontinued the purebred horse business in 1946, but is active with the South Dakota Shorthorn Breeders’ association.
Kelsey was a member of the first Miner County Extension board, which was organized in 1918. He served on this board for several years and has been a member most of the time since.
He has been an active worker and office holder with the county crop and livestock improvement association, the AAA township board, county weed board, the farm labor association and the township board. He has belonged to both the Farm Bureau and Farmers’ Union in past years. In 1948, his neighbors elected him to the Miner County board of commissioners for a term beginning Jan.1, 1949.
As a member of the crop improvement association, he conducted corn and grass test plots on his farm for several years in cooperation with South Dakota State College.