Eminent Farmer
County: Codington
John T. Belk, Henry, was born in Ottawa, Illinois, in 1860. In 1882 he came to South Dakota and homesteaded one quarter-section of land two miles north of Henry. On this farm he specialized in raising high-grade potatoes.
Belk first became interested in cooperative work back in the 80s when he was president of the Farmers’ Alliance. He helped organize a creamery and was a director of the enterprise.
In 1906 and 1907 Belk was a leader in the organization of the Henry Union telephone company, and a local farmers’ elevator.
He helped organize a state association of farmers’ elevators, was made one of the state directors and later became secretary and president of the association. Belk organized many co-op elevators, livestock shipping and lumber companies in this state.
He was one of a group to take over the Cooperative Journal publishing company which published the Cooperative Journal, Cooperative Manager, and Farmer’s Elevator Guide.
Belk was either a director, secretary or president of the state Cooperative Grain Elevator association, and a director of the national organization. In 1913 he was one of the group which drafted a cooperative law, the first in South Dakota.
Belk was a director for South Dakota of the United States Grain Growers, Inc.
During the war Belk was appointed a member of the state exemption board. During 1938 Gov. Norbeck appointed him chairman of a committee to investigate warehouses and the building and operating of state-owned flour mills and pack plants.
In 1893 Belk was elected to the legislature and introduced the bill for a twine plant at the state prison. From 1919 to 1923 he was a member of the legislature again and introduced the bill to investigate conditions in the twine plant and was made chairman of the investigation committee. He later introduced a bill to reimburse farmers for ruined twine.
Belk was married in 1893 to Jenny Hazlett of Monona, Iowa. They had four children.