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FRANK M. BYRNE was born in Volney, Iowa, where he attended public school. He moved to Dakota Territory at the age of twenty-one, ultimately settling in Faulk County, where he became a farmer and real estate dealer. Active in the formation of the State of South Dakota, he was a delegate to the 1888 constitutional convention. He became a member of the first state Senate, and served again in the Senate from 1907 to 1910. He went on to become Faulk County Treasurer and then Lieutenant Governor for four years before being elected governor. A tax commission was created during Byrne's administration, and a state bank guaranty act was adopted by the legislature through his persistence. After serving a second term, Byrne returned to his business enterprises in Faulkton. He became Commissioner of the South Dakota Department of Agriculture in 1922, retiring in 1925.

Sources:

Sobel, Robert, and John Raimo, eds. Biographical Directory of the Governors of the United States, 1789-1978, Vol. 4. Westport, CT: Meckler Books, 1978. 4 vols.

The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography, Vol. 21. New York: James T. White & Company.

South Dakota State Historical Society