His grandfather Roswell Bottum was a member of the Vermont House of Representatives.
His father, Henry C. Bottum, was a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly.
Sylvia's father, Darius S. Smith, had also been a member of the South Dakota Senate.
[1] They would have eight children, including Joseph H. Bottum, who became Lieutenant Governor of South Dakota and a member of the United States Senate and Roswell Bottum who was a member of the South Dakota House of Representatives.
Other positions he held include State's Attorney of Faulk County, South Dakota, from 1900 to 1904 and judge of the tenth South Dakota judicial circuit.