Eliza Tupper Wilkes

Eliza Tupper Wilkes 

Arriving in Sioux Falls, Dakota Territory in 1878, Eliza Tupper Wilkes quickly became one of the community leaders of the small prairie town. She was born Eliza Smith Tupper on October 8, 1844 in Houlton, Maine. As a young woman she was influenced by Quaker friends who encouraged her to study for the ministry. She was ordained a Universalist minister on May 2, 1871.

Eliza married a young Wisconsin lawyer, William A. Wilkes, and the couple eventually settled in Sioux Falls. Encouraged and supported by her husband in her work, for eight years she served as a missionary, working alone without direction or aid from any denomination. She corresponded widely, arranged study groups and classes, and traveled by horse and buggy over the plains of southeastern Dakota Territory and western Minnesota. She conducted services in many scattered communities. She was the first ordained woman minister to publicly preach in Dakota Territory. Usually speaking to a crowded hall, she was "beloved for her faithfulness out of the pulpit as well as for her ability in it." It was said that she was particularly popular with young women, and that her modest, gentle demeanor was much admired by all women of the area. In the autumn of 1886, she helped organize the All Souls Church (Unitarian).

She was a major force in the building of the original church at the southeast corner of Dakota Avenue and 12th Street, which was dedicated on April 25, 1888.

Pastor Wilkes managed a very full life, raising five sons and a daughter. She and her husband, by then a Minnehaha County judge, built several homes in the elegant North Summit and Prairie Avenues area, now a part of the Cathedral Historical District. She was known as a gracious and busy mother and hostess. Her children often camped at "Ford’s Grove, west of town," which is now lower Sherman Park.

Eliza Tupper Wilkes also played a leadership role in civic affairs. She was active in the W.C.T.U. campaigns to control and abolish liquor. As an early champion of woman suffrage, Eliza helped found the Ladies’ History Club, which later became the Sioux Falls Woman’s Club. She was also a charter member of the Reading Club, formed in 1879, which donated the first $50 toward a book fund to establish the city’s first library. She was chosen to select and purchase the books. Widely recognized as an intellectual and cultural leader, she was "one of the foremost workers" in the establishment of the Sioux Falls Public Library  

Eliza Tupper Wilkes died on February 5, 1917, at the age of 73, but her legacy is substantial. Several of her contributions made over 100 years ago continue to grow and improve and benefit this community today