Mini Bios of People of Scots Descent
Dr. Lorenzo D. Sweetland Biography

DR. LORENZO D. SWEETLAND, one of the pioneer physicians and surgeons of Miller, has attained prestige in the medical profession as one of its most skilled representatives in this section of South Dakota. He was born in Huron county, Ohio, August 12, 1844, a son of Elija and Maria (English) Sweetland, both natives of Broome county, New York. Thehe paternal great grandfather was a native of Scotland and on crossing the Atlantic to America took up: his residence in New York. About 1832 the family removed to Ohio and became identified with the agricultural interests of that state. The father of the Doctor died in Huron county, that state, but the mother is still living and now makes her home in Henry county, Ohio. In their family were five sons and three daughters. 

The Doctor was reared and educated in Huron county, and devoted his energies to agricultural pursuits and the acquirement of knowledge until July, 1862, when, feeling that his country needed the service of all her loyal sons, he joined Company E, One Hundred and Twenty-third Ohio Infantry. He continued at the front until honorably discharged in August, 1863, on account of wounds received. He participated in a number of skirmishes in the Shenandoah valley, and in the battle of Winchester was shot through the left leg below the knee, which necessitated the loss of that member. 

Returning to Ohio, Dr. Sweetland remained in Huron county until the time of his removal to South Dakota. In 1866 he began reading medicine, which he continued for a year, and then studied law for two years, after which he engaged in practice for a time. In 1868, however, he entered the Eclectic Medical Institute, of Cincinnati, and on leaving that school took up his residence in Clyde, Ohio, where, in connection with his brother, he published the Clyde "News" for two years. In 1874 he sold the paper and returned to Huron county, where he operated the homestead farm for a year or more and then located in Chicago Junction, Ohio, where he began the practice of medicine in connection with Dr. A. Kauffman, residing there almost continuously until his removal to this county in the spring of 1883. He took a claim in Ohio township, and brought with him a colony of eight families. There he carried on agricultural pursuits in connection with the practice of medicine until 1889, when he took up his abode in Miller, where he has remained continuously since. He enjoys a large and lucrative practice, and his comprehensive understanding of the principles of medicine and his ability in applying these to the needs of suffering humanity have gained him a foremost place in the ranks of his professional brethren. He also has some valuable property interests in Hand county, including a good farm of three hundred and sixty acres. 

In 1872 was celebrated the marriage of Doctor Sweetland and Miss Helen S. Lyndon, a native of Ohio and a daughter of James and Eunice E. Lyndon. Her father was killed in California in 1849. Unto the Doctor and his wife have been born eight children: Myrthle H., wife of J. Van Loon, of Miller; Minnie L., wife of S. J. Pruner, of Butler, Missouri; Bertha A., wife of J. L. Kyes, of Miller; Fred L. D.; Arthur C.; E:unice M., wife of P. Dunn, of Miller; Mabel G., wife of E. W. Cottrell, of Miller; and Charles D., who died at the age of nineteen years. 

The Doctor holds membership with the Odd Fellows society and the Grand Army of the Republic. In politics he is a Populist and is now serving as coroner of Hand county, also as a member of the United States pension board and the board of health of the county. He is widely and favorably known in his locality, has met with success in his professional and business undertakings, and as a citizen is as true to his duties in times of peace as when he followed the starry banner upon the battlefields of the south.