Robert Dollard

Robert Dollard was the first attorney general of South Dakota. He was born in Fall River, Massachusetts, March 14, 1842, and died in 1912. He was a member of the Republican Party.

He was a member of the Fourth Regiment, Massachusetts Volunteer Militia, and his command was part of the Minutemen of Massachusetts. He was among the first to respond to the call for volunteers at the outbreak of the American Civil War and rose to the rank of major during the conflict.

He was admitted to the bar of Illinois in 1870 and moved to Dakota Territory in 1879, settling in Douglas County. The records of the United States Land Office show him to be the first settler in that county.

He was elected to several local offices and participated in the statehood conventions of 1883 and 1885. He became states attorney of Bon Homme County and was chosen attorney general for the provisional government in 1885. Between that time and statehood he served in the Territorial Legislature as a member of the Council.

In 1889, he was elected as the first attorney general and re-elected in 1890. In 1892 he was elected to the state senate and in 1896 to the state house of representatives. He married Carrie E. Dunn in 1874.^[1]

Notes

1. Biographical Directory of the South Dakota Legislature, 1889-1989 (1989), p. 257.