Robert S. Vessey

Robert Scadden Vessey (May 16, 1858 – October 18, 1929) was the seventh Governor of South Dakota. Vessey, a Republican from Wessington Springs, served from 1909 to 1913. Biography Vessey was born to Charles and Jane Elizabeth Vessey in Oshkosh, Winnebago County, Wisconsin, United States. His father was a Methodist lay preacher; his mother was an English immigrant. Vessey was raised and educated near Oshkosh in Winnebago County, Wisconsin. For a brief time, he studied at Oshkosh Commercial College before spending the next five years as a lumberjack in northern Wisconsin. Vessey married Florence Albert on August 27, 1882. The couple moved to a "squatters claim" in what is now known as Pleasant Township, Jerauld County, South Dakota. They had four children. Career Vessey became a member of the South Dakota Senate in the 1905 and 1907 state legislatures. In January 1908, he was elected president of the senate. Despite limited abilities as a public speaker, he successfully guided Progressive measures through the state senate.