The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1917-08-27
OSCAR H. WILL,
PIONEER SEED
MAN SUMMONED
Call Comes to Prominent Bis
marck Citizen After Months
Of Suffering
RESIDENT OF CAPITAL
SINCE SPRING OF 1881
Came Here as Employe of Old
observation-disclosures to Be
Private

Oscar Fl. Will, pioneer seedman OF
the northwest and one Of Bismarck's
Wealthiest and most influential .citi
zens, passed away at 2:15 Sunday
morning at his home on North Fourth
street after having suffered since
January Is, 1917, from a general
breakdown, which time and again In
the last few months threatened the
sufferers life. Only most remark
able vitality had kept Mr.. Will alive
all these weeks, and the end had been
anticipated hourly since Friday, when
Mr.. Will suffered his last relapse
At the deceased's own request, the
funeral services, to be conducted at
the residence at at 2:30 tomorrow af
ternoon, will be private. =, Rev. Bruce
T. Jackson, pastor Of the First Bap
tist church, will officiate, and inter.
ment will be made at Fairview GENE.
.te'y. Only the immediate family and
most intimate associates will attend
the rites.
Born in New York.
Oscar II. Will was born near Pom.
pei Hill, N. Y, in 1855. He spent his
boyhOod on York state farm, and at
the age Of fifteen entered the employ
OF brother, engaged in the nursery
business at Fayetteville. In this ca.
pacity Mr.. Will remained until 1880.
In the spring Of 1881, he came to Bis
marck, finding employment at the old
Fuller green house. About the same
time he took up homestead svutn.
east Of MenOken and from his saw
ings invested in an OK team, which
he drove to and fro between Bis
marck and Menoken while proving up
on his claim.
In 1882, the New Yorker purchased
the Fuller green houses and establish
ed in connection Herewith North Da-
kota's first nursery, devoted at the
beginning to the culture and develop
ment OF native shrubs and trees. Soon
after that he added the seed business,
also pioneer industry for the north
west. and from that date to this the
growth of the enterprise has been ra-
pid and uninterrupted.
Pioneer in Undertakings.
In all of these undertakings Mr..
Will was pioneer in the northwest.
1t was in 1888 that he first began his
experiments with native corns, grown
ny the Mandans and Arickaras for
hundreds of years in the sheltered
valleys of the Missouri The result of
these experiments has been to place
North Dakota and Montana perman-
emily in the corn belt; to enable the
raising of swine in a territory where
this industry otherwise would have
been impossible, and to add material
ly to the productiveness Of northwest
farms. With him his work was a re-
ligion and a science. That it was re-
markably remunerative was an Incl
dent to the deep interest which he
felt as creator in adding to the re-
sources of the adopted state which he
learned to love so we'll.
AS citizen, Oscar Will was quiet
and reserved, taking little interest in
politics, but exerting subtle influ.
ence for the upbuilding of his town
He served as a member of the Bis.
marck board of education from 1900
to 1908. and the Will school was built
under his personal supervision, but
otherwise he was not active polite
ally. He lived unostentatiously. To
the day he was stricken he was wrapt
up in his work
Surviving Family.
The deceased was united in mar
riage in 1882 with Miss Isabel Bird,
whose family came to Bismarck from
Boston in 1879. To this union were
born two children-George F. Will.
who has been associated in the bust.
ness since the completion of his uni
versity work in the east, and Mabel
who, with the widow, sur
vive. The only other living mem hers
of the family are two sisters-Mrs.
Mary Tuttle of Syrasuse. n Y. who
had been with her brother here for
several months. and Mrs. John Ken
yon of Syracuse.
Mr. Will was an active member OF
the American Seed Trade association.
which on the occasion of its recent
adopted resolutions of con-
lolence. noting the serious condition
Of Mr.. Will, and which has sent to the
Will home many tokens of esteem for
its stricken member, and of the AM
r;oor of