Ralston, Samuel A.

RALSTON

Posted By: Karon Velau (email)
Date: 6/29/2021 at 23:55:35

History of Warren County, Iowa from Its Earliest Settlement to 1908, by Rev. W. C. Martin, Clarke Publishing Co., Chicago, Illinois, 1908, p.767

SAMUEL A. RALSTON
S. A. Ralston is numbered among the prominent business men of Lacona, where he has been engaged in the drug business for the past fifteen years. He is a native son of Iowa, his birth having occurred in Allamakee County, December 16, 1858, and is one of a family of three sons and four daughters, born of the marriage of John and Isabella (Archibald) Ralston. The father was born in Scotland, where he remained until he attained mature years, when he emigrated to America, landing in New York. He there spent the succeeding two years, when, atttracted by the opportunities of the new west, he made his way to Illinois where he remained one year, while in 1858 he continued on his journey to Iowa, locating in Allamakee county, where he purchased a farm. Mrs. Ralston was also born in Scotland and both par­ents are still living, having now reached the advanced age of more than eighty years.
S.[Samuel] A. Ralston, whose name introduces this review, was reared in his native county and remained with his father until he reached years of maturity. He then learned the photographic business and carried on an enter­prise of his own for eight years, of which period he spent four years in Albia, Iowa, and for four years in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. He then re­turned to Iowa and located in Indianola, where he learned the drug business under the direction of a Mr. Husted with whom he remained for three years. Subsequently he came to Lacona and engaged in business on his own account and is still conducting this enterprise. He carries a complete line of drugs and druggist's sundries and has built up a large and extensive trade, owing to his reasonable prices and the courteous treatment which he extends to his patrons. He erected the structure in which his business is located and he also owns a modern and commodious residence in which he and his fam­ily reside.
It was on the 20th of May 1896, that Mr. Ralston was united in mar­riage to Miss Grace Myers, a daughter of Isaac Myers, one of the pioneer settlers of Iowa. Mrs. Ralston was born and reared in Lacona and by her marriage has become the mother of one son, F. Paul.
Mr. Ralston gives his political support to the men and measures of the Republican Party but has never been active as an office seeker. He has, however, been identified with the schools for several years and at the present writing is acting as the efficient school treasurer. Having spent his entire life in Iowa, with the exception of two years, spent in South Dakota, and the two years in Wisconsin, he is well known in many sections and all who know him speak of him in terms of highest praise. His business, too, is ever conducted according to the strictest rules of integrity and fair dealing so that he is highly respected in business as well as social circles.