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HISTORY OF IOWA
From the Earliest Times TO THE Beginning of the Twentieth Century
four volumes By benjamin F. GUE
Illustrated with Photographic Views of the Natural Scenery of the State, Public Buildings, Pioneer Life, Etc.
WITH PORTRAITS AND BIOGRAPHIES OF NOTABLE MEN AND WOMEN OF IOWA
VOLUME IV IOWA BIOGRAPHY
SEAL OF THE STATK OF IOWA
THE CENTURY HISTORY COMPANY
41 Lafayette Place
New York City
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COPYKIGHT, 1903
B. F. GuE
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Publication Office
41 Lafayette Place
New York, N. Y., U. S. A.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
VOLUME
FOUR
Biographical Sketches of Notable Iowa Men and Women
PAGE
Charles H. Abbott 1
Alonzo Abernethy 1
Austin Adams 1
Mary Newbury Adams 2
Lueian L. Ainsworth 3
Charles Aldrich 3
William V. Allen 4
William B. Allison 5
Albert R. Anderson 7
Daniel Anderson 7
Alfred T. Andreas 7
Robert B. Armstrong 8
Charles Ashton 8
Washington I. Babb 9
Lysander W. Babbitt 9
A. K. Bailey 10
Gideon S. Bailey 10
James Baker 11
Nathaniel B. Baker 11
Thomas Baker 12
Caleb Baldwin 13
John N. Baldwin 13
Jabez Banbury 13
Willis H. Barris 13
Willard Barrows 14
George W. Bassett 15
John F. Bates 15
William M. Beardshear 15
Charles Beardsley 300
Joseph M. Beck IG
Byron A. Beeson 17
William W. Belknap 17
George W. Bemis 18
Narcissa T. Bemis 18
Thomas H. Benton 18
William H. Berry 19
James G. Berryhill 19
[Vol. 4]
PAGE
Charles E. Bessey 20
Samuel L. Bestow 20
Benjamin P. Birdsall 21
Charles A. Bishop 21
Frederick E. Bissell 21
Lueian C. Blanehard 22
Amelia Jenks Bloomer 22
Dexter C. Bloomer 23
Norman Boardman 23
Horace Boies 24
Lemuel K. Bolter 24
Nathan Boone 25
Caleb H. Booth 25
Edmund Booth 26
Daniel H. Bowen 26
Thomas Bowman 26
Philip B. Bradley 27
John M. Brainard 27
Nathan H. Brainard 28
Isaac Brandt 28
John Brennan 28
Ansel Briggs 29
Johnson Brigham 30
Aaron Brown 30
John L. Brown 31
Timothy Brown 31
Jesse B. Browne 31
J. L. Budd 32
Hem-y C. Bulls 32
Samuel S. Burdett 33
Robert J. Burdette 33
Theodore W. Burdick 34
Howard A. Burrell 34
Cyrus Bussey 34
Walter H. Butler 35
Eber C. Byam 35
Howard W. Byers 35
IV
HISTORY
PAGE
Melvin H. Byers 36
Samuel H. M. Byers 36
Henry C. Caldwell 36
Timothy J. Caldwell 37
Ambrose A. Call 37
Asa C. Call 38
Martha C. Callanan 38
James Callanan 39
Samuel Calvin 39
Edward Campbell 40
Frank T. Campbell 41
Margaret W. Campbell 41
Cyrus C. Carpenter 42
George T. Carpenter 42
William L. Carpenter 43
Phineas M. Casady 44
Carrie L. C. Catt 44
Jonathan W. Cattell 45
John Chambers 45
John W. Chapman 46
William W. Chapman 46
Daniel D. Chase 47
George M. Christian 47
Thomas W. Clagett 48
Charles A. Clark 48
George W. Clark 49
James S. Clark 49
Lincoln Clark 50
Rush Clark 50
Samuel M. Clark 51
Talton E. Clark 51
James Clarke 52
William P. Clarke 52
Coker F. Clarkson 53
James S. Clarkson 54
Richard P. Clarkson 55
David C. Cloud 55
Lorenzo S. Coffin 55
Chester C. Cole 56
Edwin H. Conger 57
John Connell 58
James P. Connor 58
John C. Cook 59
PAGE
John P. Cook 59
Datus E. Coon 59
George B. Corkhill 60
John M. Corse 60
Aylett R. Cotton 61
Robert G. Cousins 61
John Cownie 62
Phillip M. Crape 62
Samuel A. Cravath 62
Marcellus M. Crocker 63
Henry J. B. Cummings 64
Albert B. Cummins 64
Charles F. Curtiss 65
George M. Curtis 65
Samuel R. Curtis 66
Marsena E. Cutts 66
Mark A. Dashiell 67
George Davenport 67
Samuel T. Davis 68
Timothy Davis 68
James G. Day 68
Henry Clay Dean 69
Horace E. Deemer 70
Nathaniel C. Deering 70
Orsborn W. Deignan 70
Jesse W. Denison 71
Michael L. Devin 71
William Dewey 72
Peter A. Dey 72
John F. Dillon 73
Jacob W. Dixon 75
John N. Dixon 74
Augustus C. Dodge 75
Grenville M. Dodge 76
William W. Dodge 78
Jonathan P. Dolliver 78
William G. Donnan 79
William G. Dows 79
Francis M. Drake 80
Thomas Drummond 80
John F. Duncombe 81
Warren S. Dungan 81
Clark Dunham 82
OF IOWA
FAGB
William McE. Dye 82
Joseph Dysart 83
David C. Early 83
Enoch W. Eastman 84
Ariel K. Eaton 84
Willard L. Eaton 85
Ezra C. Ebersole 85
John Edwards 85
Joseph Eiboeck 86
John D. Elbert 300
John A. Elliott 86
Washington L. Elliott 87
Lyman A. Ellis 87
Charles J. A. Ericson 87
Samuel B. Evans 88
Samuel H. Fairall 88
David S. Fairchild 89
Sewell S. Farwell 89
Oran Faville 89
Joseph D. Fegan 90
Liberty E. Fellows 90
Stephen N. Fellows 91
Andrew J. Felt 91
Robert S. Finkbine 92
Maturin L. Fisher 92
William H. Fleming 93
James P. Flick 93
John G. Foote 94
Sidney A. Foster 94
Suel Foster 94
Benjamin T. Frederick 95
Alice French 95
William E. Fuller 95
Ambrose C. Fulton 96
Alexander R. Fulton 96
Abraham B. Funk 97
James H. Funk 97
Washington Galland 98
William H. Gallup 98
Hamlin Garland 99
John A. Garrett 99
Conduce H. Gatch 99
John H. Gear 100
PAGE
James L. vjeddes 101
James I. Gilbert 102
Gilbert S. Gilbertson 102
Edward H. Gillette 102
Charles G. Gilman 103
Josiah Given 103
Welker Given 104
Samuel L. Glasgow 104
George L. Godfrey 104
Stewart Goodrell 105
Joseph R. Gorrell 106
James O. Gower 106
Harvey Graham 106
Barlow Granger 106
Charles T. Granger 107
James Grant 107
Julius K. Graves lOS
George Greene 108
James W. Grimes 109
Josiah B. Grinnell Ill
Benjamin F. Gue Ill
David J. Gue 112
Edward A. Guilbert 113
Francis Guittar 113
William H. F. Gurley 114
A. L. Hager 114
Augustus Hall 114
Benton J. Hall 115
Jonathan C. Hall 115
Moses M. Ham 116
John T. Hamilton 116
William W. Hamilton 117
William G. Hammond 117
Philip C. Hanna 118
James Harlan 118
W. F. Harriman 120
Elden J. Hartshorn 120
Serranus C. Hastings 120
Edward Hatch 121
Frank Hatton 121
Gilbert N. Haugen 122
Walter I. Hayes 122
Edward R. Hays 122
VI
HISTORY
PAGE
William C. Hayward 122
Albert Head 123
Thomas D. iiealy 123
Alfred Hebard 124
Thomas Hedge 124
John M. Hedrick 124
Herman C. Hemenway 125
Stephen Hempstead 125
Henry B. Hendershott 126
David B. Henderson 126
Paris P. Henderson 127
Joel E. Hendricks 127
Bernhart Henn 128
William P. Hepburn 128
John Herriott 129
Francis J. Herrou 129
Sumner B. Hewett 130
Azro B. F. Hildreth 130
Gershom H. Hill 131
Sylvester G. Hill 131
David B. Hillis 131
John Hilsinger 132
Alfred X. Hobson 132
Adoniram J. Holmes 132
William H. Holmes 133
Asa Horr 133
Charles C. Horton 133
Henry Hospers 134
Emerson Hough 134
Noel B. Howard 135
Orlando C. Howe 135
Samnel A. Howe 136
James B. Howell 136
Asahel W. Hubbard 137
Elbert H. Hubbard 137
Nathaniel M. Hubbard 137
Silas A. Hudson 138
Joseph C. Hughes 138
John A. T. Hull 139
John D. Hunter 139
James S. Hurley 140
Stilson Hutchins 140
James G. Hutchison 141
PAGE
Harvey Ingham 141
William H. Ingham 142
John P. Irish 142
John N. Irwin 143
Norman W. Isbell 143
Charles J. Ives 144
Frank D. Jackson 144
Berryman Jennings 145
Edward Johnston 145
George W. Jones 146
Edmimd L. Joy 147
\\ illiam L. Joy 147
Joseph M. Junkin 148
William W. Junkin 148
John L. Kamrer 149
John A. Kasson 149
Benjamin F. Keables 151
John H. Keatley 151
Racine D. Kellogg 152
John C. Kelly 153
Daniel Kerr 153
Harriet A. Ketcham 153
Charles R. Keyes 154
Lucien M. Kilburn 154
John King 155
William F. King 155
La Vega G. Kinne 156
John F. Kinney 156
William H. Kinsman 157
Samuel J. Kirkwood 157
Charles W. Kittredge 158
Joseph C. Ivnapp 159
John B. Ivnoepfler 159
Frederick M. Knoll 159
John F. Laeey , 160
Scott M. Ladd 160
Jed Lake 161
James T. Lane 161
Joseph R. Lane 162
James L. Langworthy 162
William Larrabee 163
Henry W. Lathrop 163
Jacob G. Lauman 164
OF IOWA
Vll
PAGE
Albert M. Lea 164
Joseph B. Leake 165
Antoine Le Claire 166
Henry W. Lee 166
Shepherd Leffler 167
Frank Leverett 167
Lorenzo D. Lewelling 168
Warner Lewis 168
W. R. Lewis 169
James R. Lincoln 169
Charles Linderman 169
Mathias Loras 170
William Loughridge 170
James M. Love 170
Enos Lowe 171
Ralph P. Lowe 171
Robert Lucas 172
Joseph Lyman 172
William C. McArthur 173
Cornelius G. McCarthy 173
Emil McClain 173
Moses A. McCoid 174
George W. McCrary 174
James W. McDill 175
W J McGee 176
John F. McJunkin 176
John McKean 177
Horace G. McMillan 177
Samuel McNutt 178
Smith McPherson 178
Alfred H. McVey 178
Cyrus H. Mackay 179
George F. Magoon 179
John Mahin 179
Dennis A. Mahoney ISO
Smith H. Mallory 181
Edwin Manning 301
Orlando H. Manning 181
Jacques Marquette 181
William B. Martin 183
Charles Mason 183
Edward R. Mason 184
William E. Mason 185
PAGE
Sylvester G. Matson 185
Charles L. Matthies 185
Sara B. Maxwell 186
Peter Melendy 186
Nathaniel A. Merrill 187
Samuel Merrill 187
William H. Merritt 188
John F. Merry 189
Stillman T. Meservey 189
George Metzgar 189
John Meyer 190
J. Fred Myers 190
Lewis Miles 191
Daniel F. Miller 191
Samuel F. Miller 191
William E. Miller 192
James C. Milliman 193
Frederick D. Mills 193
Noah W. Mills 194
Oliver Mills 194
Thomas Mitchell 195
William O. Mitchell 195
Samuel A. Moore 195
Welcome Mowry 196
Charles W. Mullan 197
Samuel Murdock 197
Jeremiah H. Murphey 197
John S. Murphy 198
John A. Nash 198
John R. Needham 199
C. C. Nestlerode 199
Joshua G. Newbold 199
John W. Noble 200
Reuben Noble 201
Ada E. North 201
Charles C. Nourse 202
Hardin Nowlin 202
Maurice D. O'Connell 203
Henry O'Connor 203
Addison Oliver 204
Jackson Orr 204
Herbert Osborne 205
Stephen B. Packard 206
Vlll
HISTORY
PAGE
David J. Palmer 206
Francis W. Palmer 207
Jonathan W. Parker 207
Leonard F. Parker 208
James C. Parrott 208
Matt Parrott 209
John A. Parvin 209
Theodore S. Parvin 210
William Patterson 211
Emlen G. Penrose 211
Charles E. Perkins 212
George D. Perkins 212
William B. Perrin 213
Theodore B. Perry 213
Josiah L. Pickard 213
Charles Pomeroy 214
Asbury B. Porter 214
Joseph B. Powers 214
Alfred N. Poyneer 215
Henry 0. Pratt 215
Gilbert B. Pray 215
Isaac M. Preston 216
Hiram Price 216
Solomon F. Prouty 217
William H. M. Piisey 217
John W. Rankin 218
Levi B. Raymond 218
Wilbur A. Reaser 219
Joseph R. Reed 219
Hugh T. Reid 219
Robert C. Reiniger 220
Milton Remley 220
Elliott W. Rice 221
Samuel A. Rice 221
A. P. Richardson 221
David N. Richardson 222
Jacob S. Richman 223
Benjamin S. Roberts 223
George E. Roberts 223
Gifford S. Robinson 224
Lewis W. Ross 225
George W. Ruddick 225
John N. W. Rumple 225
PAGE
Nicholas J. Rusch 226
Edward Russell 226
John Russell 227
David Ryan 228
Henry Sabin 228
Mary A. Safford 228
William Salter 229
Ezekiel S. Sampson 230
Addison H. Sanders 230
Alfred Sanders 231
James H. Sanders 232
James P. Sanford 232
William F. Sapp 233
Alvin Saunders 233
Charles A. Schaflfer 233
William O. Schmidt 234
Henry P. Scholte 235
John Scott 235
William A. Scott 236
Eugene Secor 237
Edward P. Seeds 237
Homer H. Seerley 238
John J. Seerley 238
William H. Seevers 238
Cato Sells 238
Elijah Sells 239
Joshua M. Shaffer 239
Benjamin F. Shambaugh 240
John Shane 240
Albert Shaw 241
Leslie M. Shaw 241
William T. Shaw 242
Stephen B. Shelledy 242
Buren R. Sherman 243
Hoyt Sherman 243
John C. Sherwin 244
James H. Shields 244
John G. Shields 244
Oliver P. Shiras 215
Christian W. Slagle 245
Robert Sloan 301
Hiram Y. Smith 245
Lewis H. Smith 246
OF IOWA
IX
PAGE
Milo Smith 246
Eoderick A. Smith 246
Walter I. Smith 247
William R. Smith 247
Robert Smyth 248
William Smyth 248
Francis Springer 248
Frank Springer 249
Edgar W. Stanton 250
Thaddeus H. Stanton 250
John L. Stevens 251
Edward H. Stiles 251
Lacon D. Stockton 251
George A. Stone 252
John Y. Stone 252
Joseph C. Stone 252
William M. Stone 253
Henry L. Stout 253
Joseph M. Street 254
George R. Struble 254
Isaac S. Struble 254
Daniel P. Stubbs 255
Samuel W. Summers 255
Adeline M. Swain 256
Albert W. Swalm 256
Pauline G. Swalm 257
Joseph H. Sweney 257
Richard H. Sylvester 257
Stephen J. W. Tabor 258
Hawkins Taylor 259
William H. Tedford 259
John Teesdale 259
Edward A. Temple 260
Marcellus L. Temple 260
Edward H. Thayer 261
Lot Thomas 261
James K. P. Thompson 261
William Thompson 262
William G. Thompson 262
James Thorington 263
Rodney W. Tirrill 264
George M. Titus 264
Lewis Todhunter 265
PAGE
William M. G. Torrenee 265
Horace M. Towner 266
John S. Townsend 302
Henry C. Traverse 266
James H. Trewin 266
Henry H. Trimble 267
Mathew M. Trumbull 268
John Q. Tufts 268
Asa Turner 268
James M. Tuttle 269
Voltaire P. Twombly 270
Nathan Udell 271
Thomas Updegraff 271
William Vandever 271
George Van Home 272
Francis Varga 272
Philip Viele 273
Henry Vollmer 273
Charles Wachsmuth 273
Martin J. Wade 275
John L. Waite 275
George W. Wakefield 275
Madison M. Walden 275
William W. Walker 276
John H. Wallace 276
Fitz Henry Warren 278
Charles M. Waterman 279
James B. Weaver 279
Silas M. Weaver 281
Andonijah S. Welch 281
Mary B. Welch 282
Luman H. Weller 283
D. Franklin Wells 283
Clark R. Wever 283
Loring Wheeler 284
Charles A. White 284
Frederick E. White 285
Charles E. Whiting 285
Leonard Whitney 286
Elias H. Williams 286
Joseph Williams 287
J. Wilson Williams 287
William Williams 287
HISTOEY OF IOWA
PAGE
Wilson G. Williams 288
James A. Williamson 288
David S. Wilson 289
James Wilson 289
James F. Wilson 290
Thomas S. Wilson 290
Walter C. Wilson 291
Edward F. Winslow 291
Thomas F. Withrow 292
Annie T. Wittenmyer 292
William P. Wolfe 293
PAGE
Marcus C. Woodruff 294
Joseph J. Woods 294
William G. Woodward 295
John S. Woolson 295
Ed Wright 295
George F. Wright 296
George G. Wright 296
Joseph A. 0. Yeoman 297
Stephen P. Yeoman 298
George H. Yewell 298
Lafayette Young 299
LIST OF PORTRAITS
William B. Allison Frontispiece
Austin Adams Facing page 1
Mary N. Adams Facing page 2
Charles Aldrich Facing page 3
A. K. Bailey Facing page 10
Joseph M. Beck Facing page 16
George W. Bemis • Facing page 18
William H. Berry 19
James G. Berryhill Facing page 20
Samuel L. Bestow Facing page 21
Lucian C. Blanchard Facing page 22
Amelia J. Bloomer Facing page 23
Ambrose A. Call Facing page 37
Martha C. Callanan Facing page 38
James Callanan Facing page 39
William L. Carpenter Facing page 43
Phineas M. Casady Facing page 44
Charles A. Clark Facing page 48
James S. Clark Facing page 49
Coker F. Clarkson Facing page 54
James S. Clarkson , Facing page 54
Richard P. Clarkson Facing page 54
Lorenzo S. Coffin Facing page 55
Chester C. Cole Facing page 56
Edwin H. Conger Facing page 57
James P. Connor Facing page 58
Philip M. Crapo Facing page 62
Charles F. Curtiss Facing page 65
George M. Curtis Facing page 66
Mark A. Dashiell Facing page 67
Horace E. Deemer Facing page 70
John F. Dillon Facing page 73
Jacob W. Dixon Facing page 75
Jonathan P. Dolliver Facing page 78
Warren S. Dungan Facing page 81
Willard L. Eaton Facing page 84
Ezra C. Ebersole Facing page 85
xii HISTORY
Joseph Eiboeck Facing page 86
David S. Fairchild Facing page 88
Sewell S. Farwell Facing page 89
Robert S. Finkbine Facing page 92
Alice French Facing page 94
WilHam E. Fuller Facing page 95
Ambrose C. Fulton Facing page 96
Abraham B. Funk Facing page 97
Harriet F. Gear Facing page 100
Charles C. Oilman Facing page 103
George L. Godfrey Facing page 104
Barlow Granger Facing page 106
James Grant Facing page 107
Benjamin F. Gue Facing page 111
Moses M. Ham Facing page 116
William C. Hayward Facing page 122
Herman C. Hemenway Facing page 125
Gershom H. Hill Facing page 131
Alfred N. Hobson Facing page 132
James B. Howell Facing page 136
Elbert H. Hubbard Facing page 137
John A. T. Hull , Facing page 139
Stilson Hutchins Facing page 140
James G. Hutchison Facing page 141
Harvey Ingham Facing page 142
John P. Irish Facing page 143
Charles J. Ives Facing page 144
Joseph M. Junkin Facing page 148
Benjamin F. Keables Facing page 151
Daniel Kerr 153
La Vega G. Kinne , Facing page 156
John F. Lacey Facing page 160
James T. Lane Facing page 161
Joseph R. Lane Facing page 162
W. R. Lewis Facing page 169
Charles Linderman Facing page 170
Emil McClain Facing page 173
Moses A. McCoid Facing page 174
OF IOWA xiii
George W. McCrary ....... Facing page 175
James W. McDill Facing page 176
Horace G. McMillan Facing page 177
Smith McPherson Facing page 178
Alfred H. McVey Facing page 179
Edwin Manning Facing page 301
Sara B. Maxwell Facing page 186
John F. Merry Facing page 189
Stillman T. Meservey Facing page 190
Samuel F. Miller Facing page 191
Welcome Mowry Facing page 196
Charles W. Mullan , Facing page 197
Ada E. North Facing page 201
Henry O'Connor Facing page 203
Stephen B. Packard Facing page 206
Francis W. Palmer Facing page 207
Leonard F. Parker Facing page 208
Emlen G. Penrose Facing page 211
George D. Perkins Facing page 212
Theodore B. Perry Facing page 213
Gilbert B. Pray Facing page 215
Joseph R. Reed Facing page 219
David N. Richardson Facing page 222
George E. Roberts Facing page 223
Gifford S. Robinson Facing page 224
John Russell Facing page 227
Henry Sabin Facing page 228
Mary A. Safford Facing page 229
Eugene Secor Facing page 237
Cato Sells Facing page 238
Hoyt Sherman Facing page 243
James H. Shields Facing page 244
Oliver P. Shiras Facing page 245
Robert Sloan Facing page 301
Edgar W. Stanton Facing page 250
John L. Stevens Facing page 251
George R. Struble Facing page 254
Daniel P. Stubbs Facing page 255
xiv HISTORY OF IOWA
Adeline M. Swain , Facing page 256
Marcellus L. Temple Facing page 260
Rodney W. Tirrill Facing page 264
George M. Titus Facing page 265
James H. Trewin Facing page 266
Henry Vollmer Facing page 273
John H. Wallace Facing page 276
Andonijah S. Welch Facing page 281
Mary B. Welch Facing page 282
Frederick E. White Facing page 285
James Wilson Facing page 289
James F. Wilson Facing page 290
John S. Woolson .Facing page 295
George H. Yewell Facing page 298
PREFACE
A STATE or Nation is in a large degree what its people make it. If they are ignorant, in- dolent, or bigoted the institutions of the land in which they live will partake of these char- " acteristics. Had Iowa remained a Spanish possession and become settled by immigrants from that Nation, they would inevitably have planted upon its soil many of the institutions, laws and customs of the mother country. The influence of its early inliabitants would have been stamped upon its laws, educational in- stitutions, social condition and religious tendencies. Its status in the beginning of the Twentieth Century would not have been dissimilar to that of New or Old Mexico, or the South American nations. But fortunately the far- seeing wisdom of the Jefferson administration at the be- ginning of the Nineteenth Century ordained a better des- tiny for Iowa. The acquisition of Louisiana by the Republic of the United States more than doubled the extent of its territory and preserved its vast domain from European occupation for all time, dedicating its millions of acres to homes for our growing population. Almost immediately after the acquisition of the Louisiana Pur- chase the most adventurous people of the then western States and Territories began to seek homes in the new possession. Spanish and French rule was ended and the self-reliant young men of the new Nation, which had re- cently won independence from the strongest government of Europe, began to cross the Mississippi River and grad- ually dominated the new Territory. The Indians were crowded farther westward by adventurers and home-seek- ers and before the middle of the Nineteenth Century new
xvi HISTORY
States were coming into the Union, created from the wild lands of the Louisiana Purchase.
The first settlers in the Black Hawk Purchase were largely from the immediate valley of the Ohio River and Missouri. Many came to a land dedicated by the Missouri Compromise to freedom from slavery, because of its dedi- cation to freedom. They preferred homes where labor was honorable and bore no badge of abject servitude to a class exempt from toil.
While many of them retained prejudices imbibed from environment in early life, which found expression in legislative acts in pioneer years, as the immigration from New England, New York, northern Ohio and Mich- igan increased, the policy of local government and free schools gradually became engrafted upon the statute books. Race prejudice was slowly overcome, liberal sup- port was given to education by public funds, a sound banking system devised and the restrictions to corpora- tions so modified as to encourage works of internal im- provement. The pioneers found a vast domain of wild prairie and woodland, fertile soil, navigable rivers, abun- dant water power and a genial climate. The foundation was here for a great and prosperous State. It devolved upon them to develop its boundless resources, frame a Constitution and a system of laws.
How well and wisely the people of the Nineteenth Cen- tury who occupied Iowa, accomplished this mission, has been partially recorded in the preceding volumes of this history. The generations to come will want to know more of the lives of the leaders in the work of founding the State which, in the opening years of the Twentieth Cen- tury, has attained a position among the members of the Union which by general consent is regarded as creditable to its architects. While it would be impracticable to give even a brief sketch of the thousands who have contributed to the founding and develoiDment of Iowa in the various
OF IOWA xvii
lines of useful work, a few hundred who have perhaps been most prominent have been selected for this volume as representative men and women in various lines of work. Realizing the importance of having the counsel of some of the most competent citizens of the State in making these selections, several years ago the author consulted General George W. Jones, Ex-Senator James Harlan, Judge George G. Wright and Theodore S. Parvin, who Idndly assisted in designating the persons who should not be omitted. Since that time as others have attained promi- nence, Charles Aldrich and Willia^m H. Fleming have assisted in making additions to the list first selected.
Lawmakers, State and National, including those who have been chosen to execute, construe and administer the laws, occupy a large place in history. Educators, journal- ists, reformers, authors, artists, scientists and founders of benevolent and reformatory institutions have attained eminence in our State. Military achievements in the wars which have called our citizens from peaceful pursuits, both by officers and private soldiers, have brought addi- tional honors to Iowa people.
In the representative citizens of these different classes selected for biographical sketches, the reader may follow the brief record of nativity, educational opportunities, occupation and special work which has brought the vari- ous individuals into public notice It is especially inter- esting to observe what a large majority of those who have attained State-wide prominence in every line of useful work, belonged to the middle classes who have relied en- tirely upon their own industry, perseverance and per- sonal determination for the success achieved. Nearly all have been workers, rising slowly step by step, attaining the positions sought without the aid of wealth or influ- ential friends. Thousands of others are yearly pursuing a similar course with a prospect of equal success.
xviii HISTORY OF IOWA
Upward of six hundred of the most prominent people of the first half century of our State are here represented in brief biography; a few have left no attainable data from which such sketches can be prepared, and a few have failed to furnish such data, though still living. If other editions of this work shall be demanded, additions to the biographical volume will be made from those who are continually coming into prominence.
^,/U./^:^cc<^ tyf-a^a^c^^
IOWA BIOGRAPHY
Sketches of Notable Men and Women op the State
CHARLES H. ABBOTT was born in Concord, New Hampshire, Janu- ary 25, 1819. After completing his education he started west, stopping in Michigan. In 1850 he came to Iowa and settled in Louisa County, but later removed to Muscatine, where he engaged in farming, banking and real estate business. Upon the organization of the Thirtieth Iowa Volun- teer Infantry in the summer of 1862, Mr. Abbott was appointed colonel of the regiment and at once took command. He participated in the Battle of Chickasaw Bayou, and while leading his regiment in the assault upon Vieksburg, May 22, 1863, was killed.
ALONZO ABERNETHY was born April 14, 1836, in Sandusky County, Ohio. His early education was received in the public schools of that State. In March, 1854, he came with his father's family to Fayette County, Iowa. He entered the Chicago University, leaving the senior class in August, 1861, to enlist in the Ninth Iowa Infantry as a private. He was engaged in seventeen battles and won rapid promotion, attaining the rank of lieutenant-colonel before the regiment was mustered out. In 1865 he was elected to the House of Representatives of the Eleventh Gen- eral Assembly from Fayette County. In 1870 he removed to Denison, in Crawford County, but was soon chosen president of Des Moines College. In 1871 he was elected on the Republican ticket Superintendent of Public Instruction, serving six years by reelections. He was largely instrumental in securing the enactment of the laws providing for Teachers' Normal In- stitutes and the establishment of a State Normal School. In September, 1876, he resigned his office to accept the presidency of the University of Chicago. After two years' service he made a trip to Europe and upon his return made his home on a farm near Denison. In July, 1881, he was elected president of the Cedar Valley Seminary at Osage. Colonel Aber- nethy has long ranked among the eminent educators of the State.
AUSTIN ADAMS was born at Andover, Vermont, May 24, 1826. He worked on his father's farm until fourteen years of age, attending the district school during the winter months. He prepared for college at Black River Academy, teaching school winters from the time he was sixteen, to assist in defraying expenses through college. Entering Dart- mouth he graduated in 1848. While pursuing his legal studies he served
[Vol. 4]
HISTORY
five years as principal of West Randolph Academy. In 1853 he attended Harvard Law School and the following year was admitted to the bar, entering into partnership with Ex-Governor Coolidge. Mr. Adams soon removed to the far West, becoming a resident of Dubuque, Iowa, in July, 1854. There he began the practice of law, also took an active part in promoting public education, assisting at Teachers' Institutes. He was a prominent speaker in the first Republican campaign in Iowa. In one of his addresses he said:
" If the day has come that John C. Fremont or any other man in the country cannot be elected President without that election destroying the Government, then we have no republican government."
In 1855 and in 1861 he delivered courses of lectures to raise funds for the establishment of a public library. Attending the famous discus- sion in 1858 between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas at Galena, Judge Adams remarked of Mr. Lincoln:
" I have heard the greatest man I ever listened to ; he ought to be our next President."
In 1875 Mr. Adams was elected judge of the Supreme Court and became Chief Justice in 1880. At the close of his first term he was reelected, Serving a period of twelve years, again becoming Chief Justice in 1886. He took a deep interest in the State University and was one of the Regents for sixteen years. He was also a Law Lecturer in the in- stitution from 1875, as long as he lived. The students of the Law School spoke of Judge Adams as the intensely practical lawyer who taught largely by illustration. He was the sympathetic friend of young people. In 1883 Dartmouth College conferred upon him the degree of LL. D. In 1886, as Chief Justice, he presided over the opening of the new Supreme Court rooms in the recently completed State House. Judge Adams was an earnest advocate of the study of law for women and always welcomed them to the lecture room at the State University. He was the first Chief Justice to admit a woman to practice in the Supreme Court of Iowa and spoke in the highest terms of the manner in which she tried a case at the time she was admitted. Judge Adams retired from the bench at the close of his second term, and died in Dubuque on the 17th of October, 1890.
MARY NEWBURY ADAMS, wife of Judge Austin Adams, was born at Peru, Indiana, October 17, 1837. Her ancestors had been for genera- tions in public life in New England, five of whom had been Governors, Her parents removed to the West and her childhood was passed in a log cabin amid the wilderness of towering black walnut trees, surrounded by Indir>TT= with whom the family lived on terms of friendship. The older
MARY NEWBERRY ADAMS
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sister of Mrs. Adams became the wife of Governor John J. Bagley of Michigan. Her early education was received from her mother, but after the family removed to Cleveland, Ohio, Mary enjoyed the privilege of entering the classes of Emerson E. White, who was one of the great educa- tors of the State. When eighteen she graduated from the Emma Willard Seminary at Troy, New York, and at nineteen was married to Austin Adams, a talented young lawyer. They came to Iowa, making their home in Dubuque. Both were students of science, history, philosophy and poetry. Mrs. Adams was one of the earliest and most enthusiastic advocates of the advancement of women, and was a leader in the progressive move- ments of the times. She was one of the original members of the Associa- tion for the Advancement of Women, of the Social Science Association, the Anthropological Society, National Science Association, Woman Suff- rage Association, American Historical Association, the Federation of Women's Clubs and many other progressive and scientific organizations. She was an accomplished public speaker and addressed various associa- tions and meetings throughout the country on subjects in. which she was deeply interested. She was chairman of the historical committee of the Columbian Exposition at Chicago in 1893. Mrs. Adams died at Dubuque, August 5, 1901.
LUCIAN L. AINSWORTH was born in Madison County, New York, on the 2l8t of June, 1831. He acquired a liberal education, studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1854. Mr. Ainsworth came to Iowa in August, 1855, locating at West Union in Fayette County where he opened a law office. He soon attained high rank in the profession and in 1859 was nominated by the Democrats for State Senator in the district com- posed of the counties of Fayette and Bremer. He made a vigorous can- vass, overcame the Republican majority and was elected, serving four years with marked ability. In 1862 Mr. Ainsworth raised a company for the Sixth Cavalry, of which he was appointed captain. In 1871 Captain Ainsworth was again elected to the Legislature, serving two years in the House. In 1874 he was nominated by the Democrats of the Third District for Congress and by his personal popularity overcame the Republican ma- jority of nearly 2,000 and was the first Democrat elected to Congress from Iowa in twenty years. He died in April, 1902.
CHARLES ALDRICH was born at Ellington, Chautauqua County, New York, October 2, 1828. He attended the public schools and for one year was a student at Jamesto\vn Academy. In 1846 he entered a print- ing office, learned the trade, and in 1850 estaolished a paper at Randolph. In 1857 he removed to Iowa and located at the then frontier town of Webster City, Hamilton Coimty, where he established the Hamiltoji Free- man in May of that year. In 1860 he was chosen Chief Clerk of the
HISTORY
House of Representatives of the Eighth General Assembly and in 1862 was reelected. In September of that year he entered the military service as adjutant of the Thirty-second Infantry Regiment, serving a year and a half. In 1865 he became editor of the Dubuque Daily Times and in 1866 purchased the Marshall Times which he conducted for about three years. He again served as chief clerk of the House in 1866 and 1870. In 1872 he was appointed one of the commissioners to investigate the claims of the settlers on the lands embraced in the Des Moines River grant. When Congress provided for a commission to examine into these claims Mr. Aldrich was one of the members. In 1875 he served on the Hay den Geo- logical Survey in the western Territories. In 1881 he was a member of the House of the Nineteenth General Assembly from Hamilton County and was the author and advocate of a bill to prohibit the use of free railroad passes by public officials. In 1887 he was instrumental in having a tablet placed in the court-house of Hamilton County, on which were inscribed the names of the members of the company from that county which, in 1857, marched to the relief of the survivors of the Spirit Lake Massacre. At the assembly gathered upon that occasion a large amount of valuable historical material was secured in the addresses of several of the chief actors in that great tragedy. From early life Mr. Aldrich was ft collector of autographs of notable persons and during Governor Sherman's ad- ministration he conceived the idea of making his collection the nucleus of a historical department for the State. He was granted space in the State Library where he worked for several years in collecting manu- Bcripts, photographs, files of early newspapers and historical documents of value which were recognized by legislative action and became the foun- dation of the Historical Department established in 1892 of which Mr. Aldrich was appointed Curator. He has since given his entire time to the upbuilding of this department and conducting the Annals of Iowa a his- torical publication which was established in 1863. He was one of the Commissioners appointed by the State in 1895 to erect a monument to the memory of the victims of the Spirit Lake Massacre. In addition to many years' work in journalism, Mr. Aldrich has been a frequent contributor to scientific and historical publications.
WILLIAM V. ALLEN was born in Midway, Madison County, Ohio, on the 28th of January, 1847, He attended the public schools in Ohio and Iowa and finally the Upper Iowa University but did not take a full college course. His father removed with his family to Iowa in 1857, mak- ing his home on a farm near Nevada. When the War of the Rebellion began William, who was but fourteen years af age, enlisted in the Four- teenth Regiment of Volunteers. He was rejected at the mustering in of the regiment on account of his youth. In August, 1862, he again en- listed in Company G, Thirty-second Iowa Infantry, was accepted and served
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to the close of the war. He was in all of the marches and battles of this regiment and the last few months was on the staff of General James I. Gilbert. At the close of the war, Mr. Allen read law with L. L. Ainsworth at West Union, was admitted to the bar in 1869 and at once entered upon the practice of his profession. In 1884 he removed to Madison, Nebraska, and in 1891 was nominated by the Populist party for judge of the Ninth Judicial District and elected. In February, 1893, he was elected by a union of the Populists and Democrats to a seat in the United States Senate. As a judge he had acquired a State-wide reputa- tion and in the Senate he soon attained high rank in debate and waa the acknowledged leader of his party in Congress. He served six years in the Senate, and upon the expiration of his term was appointed judge of his old district where he served until December 13, when he was appointed United States Senator to fill the term of Senator Hayward whose death had caused a vacancy. Mr. Allen has served as chairman of four State Conventions of his party in Nebraska and was president of the National Convention at St. Louis in 1896.
WILLIAM B. ALLISON was born in Wayne County, Ohio, March 2, 1829. He worked on his father's farm summers and attended school ^-inters until the age of sixteen when he entered the Academy at Wooster. Later he spent a year in Meadville College and one at Western Reserve College at Hudson, Ohio. He then studied law and in 1852 was admitted to the bar of Wayne Coimty and began practice in Ashland. In April, 1857, he came to Iowa, locating at Dubuque, and two years later was a delegate to the Republican State Convention which nominated Samuel J. Kirkwood for Governor. In 1860 he was a delegate to the National Re- publican Convention which nominated Abraham Lincoln for President, act- ing as one of the secretaries. When the War of the Rebellion began, Mr. Allison was appointed a member of Governor Kirkwood's staff to assist in organizing the volunteer service. In 1862 he was elected to Congress in the Third District and was three times reelected, serving until 1871. In 1865 he became a member of the committee of ways and means and entered upon a career which eventually made him authority on financial legislation. In 1870 he was a prominent candidate for United States Senator but was not successful. In 1872 he was again a candidate, was nominated over Senator Harlan and elected, taking his seat in the Senate March 4, 1873. Mr. Allison was appointed on the committee on appro- priations of which he became chairman in 1881. He was chairman of the committee on Indian affairs from 1875 to 1881, and chairman of the joint committee of investigation of the affairs of the District of Columbia, in which capacity he wrote a report which was embodied in a bill that has since constituted the municipal government. He has been a member of the Senate finance committee since 1877 and was largely instrumental
6 HISTOEY
in perfecting the act of Congress known as the Bland-Allison bill, which was a compromise between the advocates of a single gold standard and free coinage of silver. The bill, after a long discussion, passed both houses of Congress but was vetoed by President Hayes. It was passed over the veto, and under its provisions 370,000,000 silver dollars were coined before it was changed by the act of 1890. When our Government made provision for an international conference in 1892, Senator Allison was chosen by President Harrison as chairman on behalf of the United States. When the legislation of 1900 on the currency was under con- sideration by Congress, Senator Allison took a prominent part in the debates and the formulation of the law known as the Currency Act of March 14th, which provided for a permanent reserve sufficient to make certain the convertibility of all forms of money into gold at the will of the holder. Senator Allison had a large share in shaping the tariff legislation since 1877, and especially the revision of the tariff which fol- lowed the report of the Tarifif Commission of 1882. He has long been at the head of the committee on appropriations and all expenditures of money made by Congress pass under his scrutiny. No Senator now a member of that body has served so long continuously as the senior Senator from Iowa, and no member of either branch of Congress has done so much to shape National legislation for the last quarter of a century as William B. Allison. Iowa has wisely retained the services of one so influential in the councils of the country, and has reelected him in 1878, 1884, 1890, 1896 and again in 1902. He was strongly urged by President Garfield to accept the position of Secretary of the Treasury, and again tendered the position by President Harrison and was offered the position of Sec- retary of State by President McKinley, but has wisely chosen to hold his place in the Senat*. He has been frequently mentioned as an available candidate for President, and in 1888 was as near a nomination as any candidate who was unsuccessful. Senator Hoar of Massachusetts tells the story of that convention in Scribner's Magazine for February, 1899. In brief he says:
" After several ineffectual ballots, the Convention took a recess. A meeting was held by a number of gentlemen representing different dele- gations to see if we could agree upon a candidate. Among these was James S. Clarkson, representing Mr. Allison. Piatt, Miller, Depew and Hiscock represented the different shades of opinion in New York, and all were present except Depew. Several names were discussed, and I made a very earnest speech in favor of Mr. Allison. Finally all agreed that their States should vote for Allison when the Convention assembled. I suppose everybody in that room when he left it felt as certain as of any event in the future that Mr. Allison would be nominated in the Convention. When Mr. Depew was informed of our action he said that he had been compelled to withdraw a^ a candidate owing to the strong opposition of the northwest from which Allison's chief support was derived. He protested against allow- ing that section to name the candidate for the Republican party. The three
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other New York men therefore withdrew from the support of Allison. But for this New York, Illinois, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Iowa, California and Missouri would have cast their unanimous votes for Allison and his nomination would have been assured. I think no other person ever came so near the Presidency of the United States and missed it."
ALBERT R. ANDERSON was born in Adams County, Ohio, Novem- ber 8, 1837. He attained prominence in his native State before removing to Taylor County, Iowa, in 1857. There he studied law and was ad- mitted to the bar, soon after removing to Clarinda where he enlisted at the beginning of the Civil War in the Fourth Iowa Infantry. He won rapid promotion, being commissioned first lieutenant for gallant service at the Battle of Pea Ridge, became captain during the siege of Vicksburg and assistant Adjutant-General during the Atlanta campaign. Mr. An- derson reached the rank of major before the close of the war. Upon returning to Iowa after peace was established, he became a resident of Fremont Coimty and was soon appointed Collector of Internal Revenue for the Fifth Congressional District. In 1881 he was appointed Railroad Commissioner, serving until 1884. In 1886 he was elected Representative in Congress as an independent Republican. He died at Hot Springs, South Dakota, November 17, 1898.
DANIEL ANDERSON was born in Indiana in 1821. He studied law, was admitted to the bar and in 1843 came to Iowa, locating at Albia, in Monroe County. He was elected to the State Senate in 1854 as " an Anti- Nebraska man " in the district composed of Wapello, Lucas, Clarke and Monroe counties, serving two terms. Mr. Anderson was one of the founders of the Republican party and in 1856 was a delegate to the National Republican Convention which nominated John C. Fremont for President. Upon the beginning of the War of the Rebellion he raised a company for the First Iowa Cavalry of which he was commissioned cap- tain; in July, 1862, he was promoted to major and in August following became lieutenant-colonel of the regiment. In August, 1863, he war pro- moted to colonel and for some time was in command of a brigade until his health failed when, in May, 1864, he resigned and returned to his home in Albia. He was an able and gallant officer and universally es- teemed as a citizen. He resumed the practice of law and died on the 4th of February, 1901.
ALFRED T. ANDREAS was born in Amity, Orange County, New York, May 29, 1839. After acquiring a liberal education he went west, taught school for some years and engaged in several business enterprises. He enlisted in Company G, Twelfth Illinois Infantry and served through the war, fighting in a number of the great battles. Mr. Andreas located in
8 HISTORY
Davenport, Iowa, after the restoration of peace and for many years en- gaged in compiling and publishing county and State atlases. In 1875 he completed and published his greatest work, which was an " Illustrated Historical Atlas of Iowa." It was a work involving a vast amount of careful labor as it contained large and reliable maps of each of the ninety-nine counties. These maps contained a complete plat of the sec- tion lines as well as townships, showing the wagon roads, railroads, native groves and belts of woodland, towns, cities and water courses on a large scale. It also contained histories of the various counties, biographies and portraits of the prominent State officials and notable men of Iowa. It was by far the most useful and valuable publication made in the State up to that time. It was accurate and became an official authority for real estate dealers, county and State officers. Later Mr. Andreas moved to Chicago and organized the " Western Historical Company," and gave his time to historical writing. He died at New Rochelle, New York, Feb- ruary 10, 1900.
ROBERT B. ARMSTRONG was born at Polk City, Iowa, .\ugust 19, 1873. He graduated at the local high school at the age of fourteen and two years later entered the Iowa State College of Agriculture and Me- chanic Arts, relying largely upon his own resources in obtaining an edu- cation. Meeting with an almost fatal accident he was obliged to enter a printing office to procure money to continue his college course. In 1894 Mr. Armstrong secured a position on the Des Moines Leader and later be- came city editor of the Des Moines News. In 1895 he went to Chicago and soon obtained a position on the Daily Record, working in the local de- partment. In 1896 he came to Iowa as the representative of the Chicago Record during the political campaign in which Leslie M. Shaw was first a candidate for Governor. So rapidly had Mr. Armstrong developed news- paper talent that in 1898 he was sent to New York to take charge of the eastern news and editorial matter for the Record. Attracting attention of leading journalists in New York by his marked newspaper ability, in 1901 he was employed by the New York Herald as chief of its Chicago bureau. After Governor Shaw became Secretary of the Treasury, in 1902, he selected Robert B. Armstrong as his private secretary, where he de- veloped such unusual talent and practical business ability that Secretary Shaw secured his promotion to the responsible position of Assistant Sec- retary of the Treasury in January, 1903.
CHARLEiS ASHTON, pioneer preacher and journalist, is a native of Lincolnshire, England, where he was born June 2, 1823. His parents emigrated to America in 1832, locating on a farm in Richland County, Ohio. Three winter terms at district school comprised his educational advantages. Early in the fifties he became a minister of the Methodist
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Episcopal Church, and in 1860 entered the itinerant work. In 1870 he was transferred from the Central Ohio to the Des Moines Conference, preaching for nine years in western Iowa. Retiring from the ministry in 1879, he became editor of the Guthrian, a Republican weekly newspaper published at Guthrie Center. He was the organizer and first president of the Guthrie & Northwestern Railway, now a branch of the Rock Island, running from Guthrie Center to Menlo. Mr. Ashton was appointed a member of the Iowa Columbian Commission, and as chairman of the archaeological, historical and statistical committee of the Commission he wrote and published the "Hand Book of Iowa" of which 25,000 copies were distributed. He was also superintendent of the horticultural exhibit and under his direction Iowa made one of the finest pomological displays at the exposition. Mr. Ashton has ever been known as an advocate of sobriety, good government and the promotion of all liberal enterprises.
WASHINGTON I. BABB was born in Des Moines County, Iowa, Oc- tober 2, 1844. His education was begun in the public schools and con- tinued in the Wesleyan University at Mount Pleasant. Early in 1863 he enlisted in the Eighth Iowa Cavalry, serving with his regiment in the Army of the Cumberland until the close of the war. He took part in the Atlanta campaign, the battles of Franklin and Nashville and the Wilson expedition through Alabama and Georgia. Upon his return to Mount Pleasant, Mr. Babb reentered the University, graduating in 1866. He studied law, was admitted to the bar and entered upon practice in 1868. He was a member of the law firm of Woolson & Babb, which for eighteen ■ years was regarded as one of the ablest in that section of the State. Al- though originally a Republican, Mr. Babb differed with his party on re- construction policy and united with the Democrats after the war. In 1883 he was elected to the House of the Twentieth General Assembly in a strong Republican county, serving as a member of the committees on judiciary and railroads. In 1890 he was chosen judge of the Second Judi- cial District, resuming practice upon leaving the bench in 1895. When the free silver issue became prominent Judge Babb was largely instru- mental in securing the adoption of a sound money platform at the Demo- cratic State Convention of 1895, which nominated him for Governor. In 1896 he received the Democratic vote in the General Assembly for United States Senator. He adhered to the sound money wing of the party in the campaign of 1896. Judge Babb has taken a deep interest in education, serving for more than twenty years as a trustee of the Iowa Wesleyan University, and several years as regent of the State University. The former institution has conferred upon him the degree of LL. D.
LYSANDER W. BABBITT was one of the pioneers of Iowa. He was born in Seneca County, New York, January 31, 1812, and came to the Mis-
10 HISTORY
sissippi valley in 1836, locating at Burlington, which was then in Michigan Territory. In 1838 he was appointed by General Henry Dodge adjutant of a regiment organized to protect the frontier. In 1842 he explored the upper valley of the Des Moines River and while camped at the mouth of the Raccoon, predicted that the future capital of the State would be located in that vicinity. In 1844 he journeyed with an ox team to Knoxville where he built a mill and opened a store. In 1848 he was elected on the Democratic ticket, Representative in the Legislature for the district com- posed of Marion, Jasper, Polk and Dallas, and all of the counties in that tier to the Missouri River. He served two terms in the House. While a member he* introduced and urged the passage of a bill to remove the capital from Iowa City to Des Moines, then a new town laid out upon the spot where he had camped six years before. In 1853 he was ap- pointed Register of the United States Land Office at Council Bluffs and removed to that place. In 1857 he purchased the Council Bhiffs Bugle, one of the leading journals of his party in the State. In 1859 he was the Democratic candidate for Lieutenant-Governor but was defeated. In 1867 he was again elected to the Legislature. He removed to Arkansas in 1881 where he died October 4, 1885. He had been one of the influential leaders of the Democratic party of Iowa for half a century.
A. K. BAILEY was born in Wales, Erie County, New York, November 18, 1835. After attending school until he was thirteen, he entered his father's office and learned the printer's trade. In 1860 Mr. Bailey came to Iowa, locating in Winneshiek County and with his father, Wesley Bailey, founded the Decorah Repuilican. For more than forty years he has remained vsdth that journal as one of the editors and publishers. It has long ranked among the best weekly newspapers in the State. He has, during that period, in addition to conducting the Republican, held the office of treasurer and recorder of the county, served sixteen years as postmaster of Decorah and for four years, from 1890 to 1894, represented his county in the State Senate. While a member of the Senate he was an earnest advocate of the Australian ballot law and one of the zealous sup- porters of the establishment of the State Historical Department. He and his father were among the pioneer journalists of northern Iowa and widely known throughout the State as among the ablest editors.
GIDEON S. BAILEY was born in the State of Kentucky in 1810 and came to the " Black Hawk Purchase " in 1837, locating on the west bank of the Des Moines River in Van Buren County. He was a physician but from boyhood had taken a deep interest in public affairs. When the Ter- ritory of Iowa was established in 1838, Dr. Bailey, then a young man of twenty-eight was chosen one of the members of the First Legislative As- sembly. He was the author of the first school system established in the
A. K. BAILEY
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Territory. As chairman of the committee on schools he framed a bill, which became a law on the 24th of December, 1838, providing for public schools in each county free to all children between the ages of four and twenty-one. The bill also provided for the building of schoolhouses. Dr, Bailey was reelected to the House of the Second Legislative Assembly and in 1840 was elected a member of the Council where he served two terms. In 1844 he was a member of the First Constitutional Convention. In 1845 he was appointed by the President United States Marshal for Iowa. In 1857 he was elected to the State Senate, serving in the Seventh and Eighth General Assemblies. This honored pioneer lawmaker, who helped to frame the first statutes and first Constitution, has long been the only survivor of the earliest legislators and has lived to witness the marvelous develop- ment of the educational system he helped to found in the First Territorial Legislature of Iowa. He was for forty years one of the trusted leaders of the Democratic party of the State.
JAMES BAKER was born in Gallatin County, Kentucky, December 25, 1823. His father removed to Shelbyville, Indiana, where the son re- ceived his education. In 1852 he came to Iowa, locating at Bloomfield in Davis County, where he studied law and entered into partnership with his brother-in-law, H. H. Trimble. At the beginning of the Civil War Mr. Baker entered the volunteer service and received a commission as captain of Company G, Second Infantry. In November he wa« promoted to lieutenant-colonel and eight months later became colonel of that famous regiment. He was mortally wounded while gallantly leading his regi- ment at the Battle of Corinth on the 3d of October, 1862. He lived until the 7th of October, when death ended his sufferings.
NATHANIEL B. BAKER is a name which will for all time be inti- mately associated with Iowa's war history. He was born at Hillsborough, New Hampshire, September 29, 1818. A graduate of Harvard, he en- tered the law office of Franklin Pierce in 1839 and began practice in 1842. He was for three years editor of the 'New Hampshire Patriot and in 1846 became Clerk of the Supreme Court. In 1851 he was elected to the Legis- lature and chosen Speaker of the House of Representatives, serving two terms. In 1852 he was one of the presidential electors and voted for his old preceptor for President. In 1854 he was elected Governor of New Hampshire and was the last Democrat who held that office before the political revolution which left his party in the minority. In 1856 Gover- nor Baker became a resident of Iowa, locating at Clinton. In 1859 he was elected to the Iowa Legislature and when the War of the Rebellion began he led the war wing of his party to give cordial support to Gover- nor Kirkwood's administration. The Governor appointed him Adjutant- General of the State and all through the Rebellion his superb executive
14 HISTORY
ghany College at Meadville in 1835 and graduating, took a course of civil engineering, which he completed in 1841. From his youth Mr. Bar r is was a student of natural science, especially geology, in which later he prose- cuted original studies. At the age of twenty-one he entered the General Theological Seminary in New York City from which he was graduated in 1850, being ordained in 1852. Upon the advice of Bishop Lee, Mr. Barris came to Iowa in 1855, becoming rector of Trinity churoh at Iowa City. While there he continued his work in geology and became a member of the Board of Regents of the University in 1858. The following year he be- came rector of Christ's church at Burlington and " contributed largely to the creation of that scientific interest with which Burlington limestone is now regarded." Portions of his collection went to the British Museum, but a larger part went to the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Cam- bridge, and a large number of crinoid forms described by Wachsmuth, Springer and others were first discovered by Dr. Barris. In 1866 he became professor of ecclesiastical history (including Greek and Hebrew) in the Theological Department of Griswold College at Davenport, the chair having been created and endowed for his occupancy. Dr. Barris occupied the chair for twenty-five years, being above all else a churchman. He was, however, a leading spirit in all scientific research and while at Davenport published many valuable articles, mainly in the Geological Reports of Illinois. He was largely instrumental in founding the Davenport Academy of Sciences, served on its board of trustees and was its president, 1876, and later was curator and corresponding secretary for many years. He was a member of many scientific societies and in 1869 Griswold College conferred upon him the degree of Doctor of Divinity. Dr. Barris died at his home in Davenport June 10, 1901, having been a citizen of Iowa for forty-six years.
WILLARD BARROWS was one of the first Government surveyors of the public lands of Iowa. He was born at Munson, Massachusetts, in 1806 and received a good education. In 1832 he was employed in sur- veying the lands of the Choctaw Purchase and later the swamp lands of the Yazoo River. In 1837 he came to Iowa and was employed in the first surveys of the " Black Hawk Purchase," along the Wapsipinicon River, In 1838 he located with his family at the new town of Rockingham on the Iowa side of the Mississippi River, five miles below Rock Island. In 1840 he surveyed the islands in the Mississippi between the Rock River and Quincy. In 1853 he made a careful examination of northern Iowa and published an excellent map of the State, with descriptive notes. It was by far the best map of Iowa that had been made and was adopted as the ofiicial map of the State, when published in 1854. Mr. Barrows was an extensive traveler over the American continent and an accomplished writer. He was the author of the first history of Scott County, which was pub- lished in the old Annals of Iowa.
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GEORGE W. BASSETT was born in Canada in 1827. He received his education in Wabash College, Indiana, and the Cincinnati Law School. He came to Iowa in 1856, studying law with John A. Kasson in Des Moines. He located at Fort Dodge in 1858 where he practiced his profes- sion. In 1861 he was a lieutenant in a company of cavalry raised at Fort Dodge which was attached tc the Army of the Potomac. He was disabled by wounds in battles and had to resign in consequence. Upon his return to Fort Dodge in 1863 Lieutenant Bassett was elected to the State Senate for the northwestern district consisting of twenty-eight counties and rep- resented more than one-third of the territory of the State in the Tenth and Eleventh General Assemblies. For nearly twenty years Mr. Bassett was the general agent for the leasing and sale of the lands embraced in the Agricultural College grant, disposing of nearly 200.000 acres of lands. He died in California on the 6th of February, 1896.
JOHN F. BATES was the first colonel of the first regiment furnished by Iowa to the War of the Rebellion. He was born on the 3d of Janu- ary, 1831, at Utica, New York. He paid his expenses at school for six years by performing the labors of janitor. From 1852 to 1855 he was an insurance agent in New York City and then removed to Iowa locating at Dubuque. There he was elected Clerk of the District Court in 1858. When Governor Kirkwood issued his proclamation on the 17th of April, 1861, calling for volunteers for a regiment to serve for three months, thousands of citizens responded. But one thousand could be accepted and when they were organized into the First Iowa Infantry in May, John F. Bates was chosen colonel. He commanded the regiment in the battles of Boone- ville and Dug Springs under General Lyon, but at the greater Battle of Wilson's Creek he was not present. His military career closed at the end of three months when the First Iowa was mustered out.
WILLIAM M. BEARDSHEAR was of Scotch ancestry and was born November 7, 1850, at Dayton, Ohio. He was reared on a farm and at- tended the public schools until fourteen years of age when he enlisted in the Union army and was accepted because of his unusual size and strength. He served through the entire war in the Army of the Cum- berland and returning, entered Otterbein University from which he gradu- ated. In 1876 he entered the ministry in the United Brethren church, preaching at Arcanum and Dayton, Ohio. Meanwhile he attended Yale Theological Seminary foi two years. In 1881 he came to Iowa, accepting the presidency of Western College at Toledo, being one of the youngest college presidents in the country. In 1889 he was elected principal of the Des Moines public schools, but in 1891 resigned to accept the presidency of the State College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts. For fifteen years Dr. Beardshear took an active interest in education, attending every ses-
16 HISTOEY
sion of the Iowa State Teachers' Association^ of which he was president in 1894. In the National Educational Association he served as manager and delegate from Iowa, as president of the industrial department and in 1901 was unanimously chosen president. In 1897 Dr. Beardshear was appointed by President McKinley a member of the United States Indian Commission. He died at Ames, August 5, 1902.
JOSEPH M. BECK was born in Clearmont County, Ohio, April 21st, 1823, of English-Welsh descent, of best ancestry on maternal and paternal sides — in some respects distinguished families. He was educated in Indiana schools and at Hanover College, Madison, Indiana, where he read law with Judge Miles C. Eggleston. He taught in Kentucky — characteristically ad- vocating anti-slavery views at that perilous time. ( As a nephew of Thom;is Morris, U. S. senator from Ohio, who as early as 1832 was a fearless aboli- tionist, this was quite natural.) He came to Montrose, Iowa, in 1847. Two years later he went to Fort Madison, his home until his death. In 1850 he was elected mayor of Fort Madison. The same year he was elected prose- cuting attorney. In 1867 he was elected to the Iowa Supreme bench and re-elected three times, serving continuously twenty- four years — " the peer of any member of the bench, old or new."
" He was always a leader in the affairs of his state, devotedly attached to the party and church of his choice, to education and everything tending to the upbuilding of our commonwealth. As a lawyer he was fearless in all he vmdertook, safe and discreet in counsel, honorable and gentlemanly at the trial table, an admitted power in every stage of a prosecution, or defense. He was an able judge, of spotless integrity, most industrious and faithful to the highest trusts, laboring with a fidelity seldom equalled, to know and de- clare the law, utterly regardless of who might be helped, or injured, pleased, or offended. He believed that men should live honestly and soberly, so to work as to insure integrity, morality, temperance and all that tends to make us better citizens. He was naturally and logically apt to solve every issue in favor of all that led this way " . . . "in such matters his mind was a very Gibraltar of conviction, a constant menace to evil doing and all viola- tion of law."
During these twenty-four years the procedure of courts, questions con- cerning land grants to settlers, railways, etc.; constitutional questions, for example the right of the people to tax and govern themselves — these, and other matters of vital importance, were adjudicated. Laws as to property rights, domestic relations, common carriers, protection of life and property, etc., were made and interpreted. By inclination and necessity Judge Beck became an authority on these subjects. His work appears in 88 vols, of Iowa Reports — his opinions as justice in 62 of these volumes.
He had few superiors as a conversationalist, for he had great mental
Note.— The above sketch, condensed from Vol. 89, Iowa Reports, addresses by Sena- tor and ex-Chief Justice George G. Wright and ex-Chief Justice Robinson is a part of the records of the Supreme Court .
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OF IOWA 17
power, a fine memory, knew history and literature, appreciated the best in the arts, had been an observant traveller and was in sympathy with current affairs. " As ti*ustee of the State library during his long term he was largely instrumental in building it up in law, literature and all departments." A marked characteristic was his devotion to his children, to his beloved wife — a woman of rare charm, culture and spirituality — and to his home, where he died May 30th, 1903.
BYRON A. BEESON was born in Columbiana County, Ohio, Febru- ary 26, 1838. His education was obtained in the public schools, and in 1854 he removed to Iowa, locating on a farm in Marshall County. When the Civil War began he enlisted in a company raised by William P. Hep- burn which became a part of the Second Iowa Cavalry. Mr. Beeson served in that famous regiment three years and then reenlisted as a veteran in 1864 and was proinoted to first lieutenant of Company B, serving to the close of the war. He was elected treasurer of Marshall County, serv- ing until 1882. In July, 1878, he was commissioned adjutant in the Iowa National Guards and was repeatedly promoted holding the position of captain, lieutenant-colonel, colonel and Brigadier-General. In 1889 he was appointed Adjutant-General of the State, and in 1890 he was elected on the Republican ticket, State Treasurer, serving four years. In 1897 he was appointed quartermaster of the Iowa Soldiers' Home at Marshalltown where he served until 1903, when he was appointed Treasurer of the National Soldiers' Home at Norfolk, Virginia.
WILLIAM W. BELKNAP was born in Newburg, New York, in 1829. He graduated at Princeton College in 1848, studied law and was ad- mitted to the bar in 1851. He came to Iowa in 1853, locating at Keokuk where he entered upon the practice of law in partnership with Ralph P. Lowe, afterwards Governor of the State. He was elected to the House of the Seventh General Assembly in 1857 on the Democratic ticket. When the War of the Rebellion began he was commissioned major of the Fif- teenth Iowa Infantry. He was in command of the regiment at the Battle of Corinth and was soon after placed on the staff of General McPherson. After the Battle of Atlanta he was promoted to Brigadier-General and at the close of the war was brevetted Major-General. He was offered a com- mission in the regular army but preferred to return to civil life. General Belknap had become a Republican, supporting Lincoln for President in 1864 and in 1866 was appointed Collector of Internal Revenue for the First District. When General Grant became President, General Belknap was invited into his Cabinet as Secretary of War, where he served seven years, resigning in March, 1876. Charges of official misconduct had been preferred against him by the House of Representatives in a time of great political bitterness, but in the trial by the Senate he was acquitted. Judge
[Vol. 4]
IS HISTORY
George G. Wright, who was a member of the Senate from Iowa, pro- nounced his acquittal just and hia opinion was heartily indorsed by the people of Iowa who never lost confidence in the gallant officer. General Belknap died at Washington, October 13, 1890, and was buried in the National Cemetery at Arlington. Hugh J., a son of General Belknap, became a member of Congress from Chicago.
GEORGE W. BEMIS was born in Spencer, Massachusetts, on the 13th of October 1826. His father removed with his family to Genesee County, New York, in 1837, where George, who was the only son, remained on his father's farm until the age of twenty-one. He received a good education and taught school for several years. In 1854 he came to Iowa, taking up his residence at Independence, Buchanan County, which became his per- manent home. Mr. Bemis served several years as county surveyor. In 1859 he was elected on the Republican ticket to the House of the Eighth General Assembly, sei-ving through the regular and extra sessions. He was for seven years in the postal service. In 1871 he was elected to the State Senate, serving four years. He was for many years Commissioner of the Hospital for the Insane at Independence of which he was treas- urer. In 1876 he was elected State Treasurer on the Republican ticket and at the expiration of the term was reelected, serving four years. The State has never had a more competent and faithful public official than George W. Bemis.
NARCISSA T. BEMIS was born in Alabama, Genesee County, New York, May 8, 1829. She came to Iowa and on the 11th of April, 1855, mar- ried George W. Bemis, who became a prominent public official of the State. Their home was at Independence, in Buchanan County. During the Civil War Mrs. Bemis was one of the most efficient and devoted work- ers on the Sanitary Commission and untiring in her labor to aid the sol- diers in camp, hospital and field. She was an active worker in the Chil- dren's Aid Society, the Woman's Christian Temperance Union and many other good works. Mrs. Bemis was especially interested in the Political Equality Club and was a life-long worker for the enfranchisement of women, giving her time, work and means liberally for the advancement of this cause before the State Legislatures. She was a valued worker in the Iowa Unitarian Association. She died on the 9th of August, 1899.
THOMAS H. BENTON, JR., was a nephew of the great Missouri statesman whose name he bore. He was born in Williamson County, Ten- nessee, on the 5th of September, 1816. His education was acquired at Huntington Academy and he graduated from Marion College, Missouri. In 1839 he located at Dubuque, Iowa, where he taught school and after- wards became a merchant. In 1846 he was elected to the Senate of the
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OF IOWA 19
First General Assembly, two years later elected on the Democratic ticket Superintendent of Public Instruction and was reelected, serving six years. Mr. Benton became a resident of Council BluflFs and was chosen Secre- tary of the State Board of Education in 1858, serving four years. In 1862 he was appointed colonel of the Twenty-ninth Iowa Volunteer In- fantry, served during the war and in 1865 was brevetted Brigadier-Gren- eral. In 1865 he was the Democratic and anti-negro suffrage candidate for Governor but was defeated. In 1866 he became a supporter of President Johnson after the latter left the Republican party and in August was appointed by the President Assessor of Internal Revenue in place of the Republican incumbent removed. He died in St. Louis on the 10th of April, 1879.
WILLIAM H. BERRY was born in Cass County, Illinois, October 23, 1849. Coming to Iowa in 1867, he located in Warren County, completing his education at Simpson College, Indianola, from which he graduated in 1872. He studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1873, entering into partnership with Judge J. H. Henderson, remaining a member of the firm until 1885. Mr. Berry has for a long time been one of the influential trustees of Simpson College. He is an active Republican and in 1895 was elected to the State Senate from the district composed of the counties of Clarke and Warren, serving in the Twenty-sixth and Twenty-seventh Gen- eral Assemblies. He took a prominent part in codifying the laws of the State and was one of the leading advocates of the law providing for the collateral inheritance tax. In the Twenty-seventh General Assembly Sen- ator Berry was an active promoter of the legislation which established the State Board of Control.
JAMES G. BERRYHILL was born in Iowa City on the 5th of Novem- ber, 1852. His father, Charles H. Berryhill, became a resident of John- son County in 1838, before Iowa City had an existence, Iowa Territory having been organized that year. The son attended the public schools and took the collegiate course in the State University, graduating in 1873. He then entered the Law Department from which he graduated in 1876. Removing to Des Moines in 1877, Mr. Berryhill engaged in the practice of his profession. In 1885 Mr. Berryhill was elected a Representative in the Twenty-first General Assembly, and became chairman of the com- mittee on appropriations in which position he did excellent service. He was reelected at the close of his term and in the Twenty-seventh General Assembly organized and led the movement which resulted in the enact- ment of laws exercising control over railroad corporations in the interest of the people. A full account of this legislation will be found in Volume III of this history. Mr. Berryhill is a man of affairs, having large business enterprises under his management. In politics he is an active Republi-
20 HISTORY
can and at one time was strongly supported for Representative in Con- gress in the Seventh District.
CHARLES E. BESSEY was born at Llilton, Ohio, May 21, 1845. His education was obtained in the public schools, Seville and Canaan Acade- mies in Ohio, Michigan Agricultural College and Harvard University. He has received the degrees of B. Sc, Ph.D., LL. D. He taught school from 1863 to 1869 and in 1870 was appointed instructor in Botany and Horti- culture in the Iowa Agricultural College, in 1872 he was promoted to profes- 6or of the two departments, and from 1873 to 1880 was professor of Botany and Zoology. From 1880 to 1884 the chair of Botany occupied his entire time, save in 1882 when he was acting president of the college during the absence of President Welch. In 1884 he was elected to the chairs of Botany and Horticulture in the University of Nebraska and removed to that State. During Professor Bessey's term of service in the Iowa Agricultural College he aided in giving form to the general work of the institution, and assisted in formulating the plan and purpose of the Agi'icultural Experi- mental Stations established by act of Congress. He helped to draft the section of the law defining the work of the stations. In 1875 he began to advocate the laboratory method in the study of Botany, soon beginning its practice which has since been adopted in all colleges. The botanical laboratory at the Iowa Agricultural College was the second in the country, Harvard only preceding it. In Nebraska, Professor Bessey has success- fully advocated the setting aside of two forest reserves in the sandhill region of the State, which were established by proclamation of the Presi- dent of the United States early in 1902. Professor Bessey has occupied the chair of Botany in the University of Nebraska since 1891. He is the author of Bessey's Botany, widely used throughout the country as a text book in high schools and colleges.
SAMUEL L. BESTOW was born in Erie County, New York, on the 8th of March, 1823, and in boyhood attended the schools of that county later receiving instruction at Professor Dewey's Academy in Rochester. He was reared on a farm and followed that business for many years in New York but for a time was engaged in manufacturing. He served as superintendent of public schools and county supervisor before leaving that State. In 1870 he removed to Iowa, making his home on a new farm in Lucas County. At the beginning of the Civil War he volunteered but was rejected by the examining surgeon because of physical disability. In the early years of the slavery agitation he was a member of the Re- publican party but of late has become a prominent Democrat. In 1875 he was nominated by the Democrats of the Sixth District for State Senator, to represent the counties of Lucas and Clarke and was elected for four years, serving in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth General Assemblies. H6
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OF IOWA 21
was the author of the resolutions passed by the latter providing for an investigation of the affairs and management of the Fort Madison Peniten- tiary and was made a member of the commission. In 1891 he was nom- inated by the Democratic State Convention for Lieutenant-Governor on the ticket with Governor Boies and was elected over George Van Houten, the Republican candidate, by a plurality of 3,098, being the only Democrat ever elected to that office in Iowa.
BENJAMIN P, BIRDSALL was born at Weyamwega, Wisconsin, Oc- tober 26, 1858. Coming to Iowa in 1870, he located at Alden, in Hardin County. He was educated in the public schools of Wisconsin and Iowa and the State University. He studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1878 and was a successful practitioner until 1893 when he was elected judge of the Eleventh Judicial District, serving five years. In 1898 he was reelected, but resigned after two years, returning to the practice of law. In 1902 he was elected Representative in Congress for the Third District to succeed Hon. David B. Henderson.
CHARLES A. BISHOP was born at Eagle, Waukesha County, Wiscon- sin, May 22, 1854. He was educated in the district schools, applying himself to the more advanced studies at home. He read law while work- ing on the farm and teaching school winters; was admitted to the bar in 1875. The following year he removed to La Port City, Iowa, where he be- gan the practice of law. Removing to Des Moines, he entered the office of Baker and Kavanaugh; he served as assistant Attorney-General for several years. In 1889 he was appointed judge of the District Court, and in 1897 was again appointed to the same position. In the following year he was elected to a full term. In 1902 Judge Bishop was appointed by Governor Cummins Judge of the Supreme Court to fill a vacancy, and at the following election was chosen for a full term.
FREDERICK E. BISSELL, a pioneer teacher and lawyer of Iowa, was born in St. Lawrence County, New York, December 8, 1819. He was educa- ted in the common schools and at Potsdam Academy. Coming to Iowa in 1845, while it was a Territory, he located at Dubuque, then a frontier town. He there taught school two years and then studied law with James Craw- ford, afterwards becoming his partner. During his practice he was the partner of Timothy Davis and Lincoln Clark, both of whom represented the Second District in Congress. He was later a law partner of Judge Shiras, Judge of the United States District Court of Northern Iowa. He was for many years a member of the Dubuque Board of Education and also of the city council. He was at one time president of the Dubuque, St. Paul and St. Peter Railway Company, and was later a member of the Dubuque Improvement Company. In January, 1863, he was appointed by
22 HISTORY
Governor Stone, Attorney-General of Iowa, to fill a vacancy, and at the following general election was chosen for a full term on the Republican ticket. He was called upon during his first term to give an opinion to the Board of Trustees of the State College of Agriculture, as to whether the lands granted by Congress for the support of that institution, were taxable. He decided that they were not, and under his decision the trus- tees were able to lease them for a term of years and thus derive a revenue that enabled them to open the college many years before it could otherwise have been supported. He died at Dubuque June 12, 1867, before the ex- piration of his term.
LUCIAN C. BLANCHARD is a native of Diana, Lewis County, New York, where he was born April 15, 1839. Not satisfied with the meager education obtainable in the district school of that period, he attended Carthage Academy, coming west in 1858. He entered Rock River Semi- nary at Mount Morris, Illinois, teaching school a portion of the time. Coming to Iowa, at Newton he taught school and studied law. When the Civil War came he enlisted in Company K, Twenty-eighth Iowa Volun- teers and participated in the battles of Port Gibson, Champion's Hill and the siege of Vicksburg. In 1864 he entered the Law Department of the University of Michigan from which he graduated in 1866. He began the practice of law at Montezuma and soon after was elected county judge of Poweshiek, serving in that position until 1868 when he was chosen Circuit Judge of the Sixth Judicial District, filling the position for twelve years. In 1890 Judge Blanchard was chosen senior vice-commander of the Grand Army of the Republic. In 1893 he was elected on the Republican ticket Representative in the Legislature for Mahaska County, and in 1895 was elected Senator, serving in the Twenty-sixth, Twenty-seventh, Twenty- eighth and Twenty-ninth General Assemblies. With the assistance of Judge Wilson he prepared the Masonic Digest published by the Grand Lodge.
AMELIA JENKS BLOOMER was born in Cortland County, New York, Mav 27, 1818. Her education was obtained in the common schools and at the age of seventeen she began to teach at Clyde. Mrs. Bloomer was one of the pioneers in the movement to secure increased rights and privi- leges for women and was associated with Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth C. Stanton and Abby Kelley in the inauguration of the Woman Suffrage movement. In 1849 Mrs. Bloomer established a paper which was the special advocate of temperance and woman suflFrage. She was an ac- complished writer and an able public speaker and for many years lec- tured upon the two reforms. In 1851 a friend, Elizabeth Smith Miller, a daughter of Gerrit Smith, invented a new style of costume consisting of a skirt reaching a little below the knees with wide Turkish trousers gath-
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OF IOWA 23
ered at the ankle. Elizabeth C. Stanton was the second woman to ap- pear in the new style of dress, and Mrs. Bloomer was the third. Mrs. Bloomer began to advocate the dress reform in her paper and the public obtained the impression that she was the originator of the new costume and it became known as the " Bloomer dress.'' The notoriety of the " Bloomer Costume " brought to her paper thousands of new subscribers and greatly enlarged her constituency to whom she urged the reforms in which she was deeply interested and she soon acquired national fame. In 1855 Mr. and Mrs. Bloomer removed to Iowa, settling at Council Bluffs, where Mrs. Bloomer continued to advocate woman suffrage and prohibition as a lecturer. In October, 1871, she was chosen president of the Iowa Woman's Suffrage Association at its second annual session. Mrs. Bloomer died at Council Bluffs on the 30th of December, 1894.
DEXTER C. BLOOMER was born at Aurora, New York, on the 4th of July, 1816. He studied law and was admitted to the bar but soon after entered upon journalism, serving as an editor both in New York and Ohio. In 1855 he moved to Council Bluffs, Iowa, where he practiced law. He was elected mayor of the city and for several years Receiver of the United States Land Office. He was one of the promoters of the public library of that city and for many years one of the trustees. He was a frequent contributor to historical publications, and in 1895 wrote and published the " Life and Times of Amelia Bloomer," his wife, who was a noted reformer in New York and Iowa. He was also the author of a " History of Pottawattamie Coimty." Mr. Bloomer died on the 24th of February, 1900.
NORMAN BOARDMAN was born at Morristown, Vermont, April 30, 1813. During boyhood he worked on his father's farm, attending district school in the winter. He earned his way through Johnstown Academy before he was twenty-one years of age, studied law and was admitted to the bar and in 1853 came to Iowa, locating at Lyons, in Clinton County. Here he engaged in the real estate business with great success. In the spring of 1854 he, in company with three associates, laid out a town in Mitchell County which they named Osage in honor of Dr. Oren Sage. In early life Mr. Boardman was a Democrat but upon the organization of the Republican party he united with it. In 1861 he was nominated by the Republicans for the State Senate and was elected by a large majority. He became an influential member of the Senate, was made chairman of the committee on schools, was a member of the committee of ways and means and the author of some of the most important legislation for the pro- tection and safe keeping of the school funds of the State. He was a firm friend of the State University and Agricultural College. In 1869 Mr. Boardman was appointed by President Grant to the office of Collector of
24 HISTORY
Internal Revenue for the Second District. During his term he discovered secret and fraudulent methods practiced by distillers to cheat the Gov- ernment which led to the exposure of the gigantic whiskey frauds of 1874. In 1886 Mr. Boardman first suggested a reunion of the pioneer lawmakers of the State at Des Moines, resulting in the organization of the " Pioneer Lawmakers' Association," which holds biennial sessions devoted largely to the collection and preservation of the early history of the State. Mr. Boardman died at his home in Lyons on the 30th of April, 1894.
HORACE BOIES, thirteenth Governor of Iowa, was born on a farm in Erie County, New York, on the 7th of December, 1827. He received but a common school education and when sixteen years of age removed to Wisconsin and worked some time on a farm; returning to his old home he decided to study law. He opened an office in Hamburg, near Buffalo, and practiced there some years. In 1855 he was elected to the New York Legislature on the Republican ticket, serving but one session. He after- wards removed to Buffalo where he practiced law until 1856 when he came west and located at Waterloo. In 1880 Mr. Boies left the Repub- lican party on the ground of its adoption of the policy of a protective tariff and the prohibition of the liquor traffic. Becoming a Democrat in 1889 he was nominated by that party for Governor. After a vigorous cam- paign in which Mr. Boies made powerful assaults upon the prohibitory liquor law, advocating license, he was elected by a plurality of 6,573 in a vote of 360,623. In 1891 he was renominated and reelected upon the same issue, receiving the votes of several thousand license Republicans. At the close of his second term he was again a candidate but the Repub- lican party having abandoned prohibition and declared for a law permitting the establishment of saloons upon petition of a majority of the voters of cities, the saloon Republicans returned to the party and defeated Gover- nor Boies by a plurality of 32,161. In 1896 Governor Boies was a candi- date before the Democratic National Convention for President and upon one ballot received a very complimentary vote. During his four years' administration as Governor he used his influence to secure the repeal of the prohibitory liquor law but was unable to accomplish it.
LEMUEL R. BOLTER was born in Richland County, Ohio, July 27, 1834. He received a college education and taught for a short time. In 1852 he made the overland trip to California, remaining there two years. He returned to the States in 1854, taught in Michigan and studied law. Mr, Bolter became a resident of Iowa in 1863, locating on a farm in Harrison County. In 1866 he was admitted to the bar and the same year was elected Representative in the House of the Eleventh General As- sembly. He was a member of the House in the Fifteenth, Sixteenth, Nine- teenth and Twentieth General Assemblies and a member of the Senate
OF IOWA 25
in the Twenty-first, Twenty-second, Twenty-third, Twenty-fourth, Twenty- seventh and Twenty-eighth General Assemblies. He enjoyed the distinction of having served more terms in the Iowa Legislature than any other citizen, having been a member twenty-two years in the aggregate. Mr. Bolter was nominated by the Democrats of the Eighth District for Con- gress in 1876 but was defeated. He was a life-long Democrat and one of the leaders of his party in the State for a quarter of a century. He died on the 29th of April, 1901.
NATHAN BOONE, the famous pioneer of Iowa in whose honor Boone River, Boonesboro, Boone and Booneville were named, was a son of the noted Indian fighter of Kentucky, Colonel Daniel Boone. He was born in Kentucky in 1782 and lived with his father until he reached manhood when he removed to Missouri. In March, 1812, he was commissioned cap- tain in a regiment of mounted " Rangers," raised to protect the frontier against the British and their Indian allies. He was promoted to major of the regiment in 1813 and served to the close of the war. He served in the Black Hawk War under Major Henry Dodge and at its close became cap- tain of a company of United States Dragoons. While stationed at old Fort Des Moines Captain Boone was sent in command of an exploring expedition up the Des Moines valley and from thence eastward. Lieuten- ant Albert M. Lea was under his command and wrote an account of the country through which they passed. They named the Boone River and Lieu- tenant Lea had his description of the region published in which it was called the " Iowa District." This is believed to have been the first time that the name of " Iowa " was given to the country which became the Territory and later the State of Iowa. Captain Boone served on the Indian fron- tier and in the War with Mexico and became Lieutenant of the Second United States Dragoons. He died in 1857.
CALEB H. BOOTH, one of the pioneers of Dubuque, was born in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, on the 25th of December, 1814. At the ago of seventeen he began to study law and was admitted to the bar in 1836. In July of that year he came west and located in the frontier village of Dubuque, then in Michigan Territory, of which he was the first mayor. In 1841 he was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Iowa Territory. In 1849 he was appointed Surveyor General for Iowa, Wisconsin and Minne- sota. In 1857 he was chosen treasurer of the Dubuque & Sioux City Rail- road Company in which he was largely interested. He built the first flouring mill in Dubuque in 1848 and was extensively engaged in lead min- ing. As one of the Iowa State Bank Commissioners he helped to establish the branches. In 1872 he was elected to the State Legislature. He died at his home in Dubuque on the 19th of June, 1898, after a residence in the city of sixty-two years.
26 HISTORY
EDMUND BOOTH, pioneer journalist, came to the Territory of Iowa in 1839, locating in Jones County, where he built the first frame house. It was he who gave to his home town the beautiful Indian name, Ajoa- mosa, which signifies " White Fawn," and belonged to a bright Indian girl of that section of the country. Mr. Booth was born in Springfield, Massa- chusetts, August 24, 1810. At the age of four he lost his hearing through illness and was educated at the American School for the Deaf at Hart- ford, Connecticut, where he served several years as a teacher. He re- ceived no college education, but the honorary degree of A. M. has been conferred upon him by the Gallaudet College of the Deaf at Washington, D. C. In 1855 Mr. Booth became editor of the Anamosa Eureka which was a radical antislavery journal and one of the most ably conducted in the State. When the Republican party was organized the Eureka became an advocate of its principles. Mr. Booth was the originator of the move- ment to secure the education of the deaf children of Iowa at Jacksonville, Illinois, before our State provided an institution for their accommoda- tion. He was chairman of the National Convention of Deaf Mutes at Cincinnal^i in 1880. During all of the years that Mr. Booth has lived in Iowa he has been a positive force in the community and in the field of journalism has been an influential factor in politics.
DANIEL H. BOWEN was born in Decatur, Wisconsin, September 6, 1850. He was reared on a farm and received a liberal education, teaching school for several years. At twenty-two years of age he began the study of medicine in Broadhead, Wisconsin, and soon after entered Bush Medi- cal College from which he graduated in the class of 1876. He removed to Iowa, locating at Waukon in Allamakee County, where he has practiced medicine for more than twenty-five years. He was an active Republican and in 1895 was elected Representative in the House of the Twenty-sixth General Assembly, and has been twice reelected, serving in the Twenty- seventh and Twenty-eighth General Assemblies. He was chosen speaker of the House of the latter session, having been selected by the supporters of Senator John H. Gear. For seven years Dr. Bowen was a surgeon of the Fourth Regiment of the Iowa National Guard and has held many official positions in his home city and county.
THOMAS BOWMAN was born at Wiscasset, Lincoln County, Maine, May 25, 1848. He came to Iowa in 1868, making his home at Council Bluffs, where he engaged in commercial business. In 1875 he was elected treasurer of Pottawattamie County and was twice reelected, serving six years. He was chosen mayor of Council Bluffs in 1882 and in 1885 was appointed postmaster, serving until 1889. In 1883 he acquired a control- ling interest in the Council Bluffs Olohe, a Democratic daily of which he assumed the editorial management. He was nominated by the Democrats
OF IOWA 27
of the Ninth District for representative in Congress in 1890 and was elected over Judge J. R. Reed, the Republican candidate, by a plurality of 1,285. He was not a candidate for reelection, serving but one term.
PHILIP B. BRADLEY was born in Ridgefield, Connecticut, January 6, 1809. He was a graduate of Union College, New York, and studied law. In 1834 he located at Galena, Illinois, in 1836, was appointed Prosecuting Attorney and a year later, postmaster of Galena. In 1839 he removed to Iowa, making his home in Jackson County, where he became Clerk of the District Court in 1843. In 1845 he was elected a member of the Council of the Legislative Assembly. The following year Iowa became a State and Mr. Bradley was largely instriimental in securing the nomin- ation of his friend and neighbor Ansel Briggs for Governor, by the Demo- cratic State Convention. Mr. Bradley was at the same time elected to the State Senate from Jones and Jackson counties. He was the trusted adviser of Governor Briggs during his four years' term. Mr. Bradley was Secretary of the Senate in 1850 and again in 1852. He was chairman of the Iowa delegation in the National Democratic Convention in 1852 which nominated Franklin Pierce for President. In 1858 he was a mem- ber of the House of the Seventh General Assembly and again in 1877 he served a term. For more than thirty years he was one of the trusted leaders of his party and through his long legislative career helped to shape the laws of the Territory and State. He died at his home in An- diew, March 27, 1890.
JOHN M. BRAINARD was born at Blairsville, Pennsylvania,, on the 30th of March, 1836. He was educated in the common schools. Elders- ridge Academy and at Beloit College, Wisconsin. In 1856 he came to Iowa, locating at Charles City where he engaged in school teaching. For the two following years he taught at Mason City and Clear Lake in Cerro Gordo County. In the spring of 1860, he founded the Clear Lake Inde- pendent in company with Silan Noyes and entered upon his career as a journalist which he followed in Iowa for forty-two years. In 1868-9 he was the editor of the Council Bluffs Daily Nonpareil. In 1879 he be- came the editor and publisher of the Boone Standard, conducting that journal until 1902. Mr. Brainard was an accomplished writer, but found time during his busy life to serve as superintendent of schools in Cerro Gordo County, clerk of the court in Story, member of the city council and postmaster in Boone. In 1860-61 he was a member of the State Board of Education when that body had entire legislative control of the school system of the State. He was one of the promoters of the railroad from Boone to Des Moines in company with L. W. Reynolds, which was built in 1880-81. He secured the employment of the late Colonel George E. Waring by the city of Boone to plan and direct the construction of its
28 HISTORY
twenty-five miles of seAvers. He has taken a deep interest in the schoola of that city, serving on the board, and is secretary of the Ericson Free Public Library.
NATHAN H. BRAINARD, pioneer journalist, was born in Bridge- water, New Hampshire, January 11, 1818. After acquiring an elementary education he was employed in an ax factory. He came to Iowa in 1856, taking up his residence at Iowa City. In 1861 he was appointed military secretary to Governor Kirkwood. He purchased the Iowa City Republi- can in 1863 which he conducted until 1874. He was an able and inde- pendent editor and was a trusted and confidential friend and adviser of Governor Kirkwood. He died in Iowa City, July 31, 1901.
ISAAC BRANDT was born near Lancaster, Ohio, April 7, 1827. He was reared on a farm, receiving only a common school education. He came to Iowa in 1856, locating in Des Moines, where for several years he was engaged in selling dry goods. During antislavery days he was a friend of John Brown and cooperated with him in aiding slaves to freedom by the " underground railroad." In 1867 Mr. Brandt was appointed deputy State Treasurer, serving six years. In 1873 he was elected a Repre- sentative in the House of the Fifteenth General Assembly, serving on the committees of ways and means and cities and towns. In 1883 he was appointed by the President one of the commissioners to inspect fifty miles of the North Pacific Railroad, and was chairman of the commis- sion. In 1890 Mr. Brandt was appointed postmaster of Des Moines and during his term of four years introduced many reforms in the service. For more than thirty years he has been one of the influential working members of the Republican party, exercising large influence in State and congressional conventions. It was through his untiring personal eff'orts that the permanent State Fair grounds were secured in Des Moines. He has long been an officer of the Pioneer Lawmakers' Association.
JOHN BRENNAN, a notable Irish-American orator, rose from a lowly position to a national reputation. He was born at Elphin, county of Roscommon in Ireland, on the 14th of July, 1845, and was educated in the schools of his native town. While a boy he imbibed a strong aver- sion to the English Government for the wrongs it had inflicted upon his countrymen and, seeing no hope for escape from oppression, he de- termined to emigrate to America where he arrived in 1865, without money or friends and was employed as a railroad grader, teamster, porter and farm hand, for the first four years, and while thus earning a living he determined to study law. In 1867 he was employed by A. J. Poppleton, a prominent lawyer of Omaha, and found time evenings to begin his studies. He persevered until he was admitted to the bar and entering
OF IOWA 29
upon the practice he soon developed a remarkable power as advocate be- fore a jury and was on the way to great success in the profession when he became afflicted with deafness to a degree that rendered it necessary for him to seek some other occupation. In 1869 he became a writer on the Sioux City Times, where he was employed five years. He became a member of the city council and was chosen city attorney where he de- veloped wonderful eloquence as a public speaker. He took a deep interest in public affairs and was one of the most effective stump speakers in the State. Mr. Brennan never forgot the wrongs of his native land at the hands of the English oppressors and no one could recount them with more fervid eloquence. His fame had become national and, in 1884, when James G. Blaine was the Republican candidate for President, John Bren- nan received an invitation from " the plumed knight " to accompany him on his remarkable speaking campaign through the east. During the agi- tation in America in behalf of Home Rule in Ireland Mr. Brennan was closely allied with Patrick Egan and John P. Finnerty, taking a conspicu- ous part in the national gatherings of the Irish leaders. He was a de- vout Catholic and during the later years of his life, gave most of his time to editorial work on The Northwestern Catholic, published at Sioux City. He died suddenly on the 5th of October, 1900.
ANSEL BRIGGS, first Governor of the State of Iowa, was born in Vermont on the 3d of February, 1806. He attended the common schools when a boy with but one term at an academy. In 1830 his father re- moved with his family to Cambridge, Ohio, where the son established various stage lines. In 1836 he came to Iowa, locating at Andrew in Jackson County, where he established several stage routes and took con- tracts for carrying the mails. He had been a Whig in early life but after coming to Iowa became a Democrat. In 1842 he was elected to rep- resent Jackson County in the Territorial Legislature. He was chosen sheriff of the county at a later period. At the Democratic State Conven- tion held at Iowa City on the 24th of September, 1846, there were three candidates for Governor, Ansel Briggs, Jesse Williams and William Thomp- son. On the first ballot the vote stood sixty-two for Briggs, thirty-two for Williams and thirty-one for Thompson. The other candidates then with- drew and Briggs was nominated by acclamation. At the election he was chosen over the Whig candidate, Thomas McKnight, by the small major- ity of two hundred forty-seven. His political adviser was Philip B. Brad- ley, a shrewd politician who had successfully conducted his campaign. Governor Briggs served his term of four years in a quiet manner in har- mony with his party, retiring to private life at its close with many warm friendships. In 1870 Governor Briggs removed to Council Bluffs and the last six years of his life were spent with his son. John S., in Omaha, Nebraska, where he died on the 5th of May, 1881. Governor Gear issued
30 HISTORY
a proclamation reciting his aervices as the first Governor of the State and the national flag was floated at half-mast from the State House on the day of his funeral.
JOHNSON BRIGHAM was born at Cherry Valley, New York, in 1846. His early education was acquired in the public schools of Elmira and Watkins, while later he attended Hajnilton College and Cornell University. When the Civil War began Mr. Brigham enlisted in the One Hundred Fifty- third New York Volunteers, but was rejected by reason of being under age. He then applied for a position in the service of the United States Sanitary Commission, was accepted, remaining in Washington for a year. He was promoted to chief clerk, first assistant in the central ofi&ce at the National Capital for services rendered during and following the exchange of prisoners near Savannah in the autumn of 1864. Nine years later he was appointed canal collector at Brockport, New York. In 1881 Mr. Brigham came to Iowa, locating at Cedar Rapids where for twelve years he was editor-in-chief of the Daily Republican. While there he served as chairman of the Fifth District Congressional Committee and in 1892 was president of the Republican League of Iowa and prominently mentioned for Congress. Later he was appointed United States Consul to Aix la Chapelle, which position he resigned and, coming to Des Moines, founded the Midland Monthly, a periodical devoted to the development of the literary interests of the middle west. In 1899 he was appointed State librarian by Governor Shaw, and sold his magazine which was moved to St. Louis. He has been chosen president of the State Library Commis- sion. Mr. Brigham is a man of wide culture and unusual literary ability. Articles from his pen are sought by such periodicals as the Century Maga- zine, Youth's Companion, Chautauquan, Forum, Review of Reviews, In- ternational Monthly, Library Journal, as well as the Annals of Iowa and the Iowa Journal of History and Politics.
AARON BROWN was a native of Mississippi, where he was born in 1822. Detesting human slavery he came north and settled in Fayette County, Iowa. He was one of the pioneers in organizing the movement against the extension of slavery in the new Territories which resulted in the establishment of the Republican party. In the fall of 1856 he was nominated for State Senator by the Republicans of the Third District com- posed of the counties of Fayette, Bremer, Butler, Franklin. Grundy, Har- din, Wright. Webster, Boone, Story, Greene and Humboldt and made a vigorous canvass of that large, sparsely settled territory, traveling on horseback, then the only mode of conveyance practicable, and holding meetings in rude log cabins. He was elected and served four years with marked ability. When the Civil War began he was commissioned first lieutenant of Company A, Third Volunteer Infantry. He was soon pro-
JOHNSON BRIGHAM, State Librarian
OF IOWA 31
moted to captain and when Major W. M. Stone resigned Captain Brown succeeded to that rank. He was in the battles of Shiloh and Corinth, Hatchie and Jackson. In Lauman's disastrous charge at Jackson^ Colo- nel Brown was wounded. In July, 1864, he resigned his commission and returned home. In 1870 he was elected Register of the State Land Office, serving four years.
JOHN L. BROWN was born in Essex County, New Jersey, October 31, 1838. He first came to Iowa in 1856 but returned to Indiana where his father had located and attended and taught school. When the Civil War began, he enlisted in Company A, Seventeenth Indiana Volunteers, and at the Battle of Resaca received a gunshot wound which caused the amputation of his arm. Upon the close of the war he attended a Metho- dist Academy at Danville, and in 1870 moved to Chariton in Lucas County, Iowa, which became his permanent home. He has held many offices in the county, serving seven years as auditor, and resigning to become Auditor of State in 1883. He inaugurated many reforms in the insurance depart- ment which arrayed against him powerful corporations which sought to have him impeached for official misconduct. After a lengthy trial he was acquitted of all serious charges and a subsequent Greneral Assembly reimbursed him for expenses incurred in the trial. The reforms which he accomplished placed the insurance companies of the State on a sound basis requiring them to make good impaired capital. Upon the retire- ment of Mr. Brown from official life he returned to Chariton and pur- chased the Herald, of which he became the editor and publisher.
TIMOTHY BROWN is an attorney who has practiced law in Mar- shalltown for a period of nearly fifty years. He was bom in Otsego County, New York, December 27, 1827. Mr. Brown was reared on a farm, acquiring his education in the district schools with two years at an acad- emy and read law before coming to Iowa in 1855. He first stopped at Toledo, but soon changed his residence to Marshalltown. He is a lawyer of ability and aside from practice has found time to compile and publish a standard work on " Jurisdiction of Courts." He has literary and scien- tific tastes, is a thorough believer in evolution as taught by Htixley, Dar- win and Spencer, holding that man is a part of created life, simply higher in development than other animal life. He is the author of a volume called " Biogeny " setting forth his ideas of animate nature. He is inde- pendent in politics and opposed to the recent policy of wars of conquest by our Republic. He is an earnest advocate of compulsory education and the establishment of public libraries.
JESSE B. BROWNE, one of the earliest lawmakers of Iowa, was born in Christian County, Kentucky, early in the Nineteenth Century.
32 HISTOEY
He removed to Illinois when a young man and commanded a company of Rangers in the Black Hawk War. In August 1833, he was appointed cap- tain in the First Dragoons in the regular army and was stationed at a military post at Montrose in the " Black Hawk Purchase." In 1837 Cap- tain Browne resigned his commission and settled at Fort Madison. When the Territory of Iowa was established in 1838, he was elected member of the Legislative Council on the Whig ticket and upon its organization was chosen President. He served in the Council four terms and was a mem- ber of the House of the Eighth and last Territorial Legislature. After Iowa became a State, Captain Browne was elected to the First General Assembly and was chosen Speaker of the House, serving at a regular and extra session. In 1847 he was nominated for Congress by the Whigs of the First District but was defeated in the election by William Thompson. He became a Brigadier-General of the State militia and was appointed by the President one of the visitors to West Point Military Academy. He was a man six feet seven inches tall, of commanding presence, polished man- ners and popular. He was the only Iowa legislator ever elected to preside over both branches of the General Assembly. He died in Kentucky in 1864.
J. L. BUDD was born near West Point, New York, in 1837. He was educated in the common schools and normal institutes and taught school several years in Illinois. In 1858 he removed to Iowa, locating on a farm in Benton County, where he engaged in fruit tree propagation and ex- perimental work in fruit growing. In 1873 he was elected secretary of the Iowa State Horticultural Society, a position which he held for twenty years, editing the annual report of the society. In 1876 he was chosen Professor of Horticulture and Forestry in the Iowa Agricultural College serving until 1899. During this time he engaged in experimental work in the propagation of trees and plants to demonstrate which varieties were best adapted to Iowa climate and soils. He imported varieties from Europe and Asia, for many years testing them in the college grounds and reporting upon success and failure of different varieties. He was for many years horticultural editor of the Iowa State Register and contributed to other publications. He has been engaged in preparing a Handbook of Horticulture and the American Horticultural Manual.
HENRY C. BULIS was born in Clinton County, New York. Novem- ber 7, 1830. His father removed to Vermont and settled on a farm where Henry lived until twenty-one years of age, assisting at farm work during the summers and attending district school during the winter months. He taught school several terms and attended medical lectures, taking a de- gree at a medical college in Philadelphia in 1854. In October of that year he came to Iowa, locating at Decorah, where he entered upon the
OF IOWA 33
practice of medicine. In 1858 he was elected superintendent of schools. In the fall of 1865 he was nominated by the Republicans for the State Senate and elected for four years. In that body he served as chairman of the committee on schools and State University. In 1871 he became the Republican candidate for Lieutenant-Governor and was elected, serving one term. In 1876 he was appointed a member of the Sioux Indian Com- mission for the purpose of purchasing the Black Hills reservation. In 1878 he was appointed a special Indian agent but resigned after nine months' service. He served in 1883 as a special agent of the Land De- partment. Mr. Bulis was a prominent candidate before the Republican Convention in 1889 for Representative in Congress in the Fourth Dis- trict but after sixty ballots withdrew in favor of J. H. Sweeney, who was nominated. He served as a regent of the State University many years and was curator of the State Historical Society, mayor and postmaster of Decorah. Dr. Bulis died at Decorah on the 7th of September, 1897.
SAMUEL S. BURDETT was born in England, in 1835, and emigrated to America in 1856. After graduating at Oberlin College he located at De Witt in Clinton County, where he engaged in the practice of law with Judge Graham. He was a radical Abolitionist and an active agent of the " underground railroad," a warm friend of John Brown, assisting many fugitive slaves on their way to Canada. He was a prominent Republican speaker in the Lincoln campaign of 1860. When the Rebellion began he helped raise a company for the First Iowa Cavalry, was commissioned lieutenant of Company B, and was soon promoted to captain. He was ap- pointed Provost Marshal at St. Louis and organized the plans for the arrest of Mulligan and his gang of so-called " Sons of Liberty " in Indi- ana. In 1868 he was one of the Presidential electors in Iowa, casting the vote of the State for General Grant. He removed to Osceola, Missouri, where he served two terms in Congress. In 1877 he was appointed by President Hayes Commissioner of the United States Land Department at Washington, where he served eight years. In 1885 he was chosen Grand Commander of the Grand Army of the Republic.
ROBERT J. BURDETTE, journalist, lecturer and author, was born July 30, 1844, in Greensborough, Pennsylvania. He removed to Peoria, Illinois, and when the Civil War began enlisted as a private and served until peace was established, when he returned to a position as a clerk in the Peoria post-office. He afterwards became a proofreader on the Peoria Transcript, and later night editor of the same paper. Here he began to develop a remarkable talent which attracted the attention of the news- paper fraternity and was offered a position on the Burlington Hawkeye. In a few years he gave that paper a national reputation and correspond- ing circulation outside of the State. As a humorous writer he had few
[Vol. 4]
34 HISTORY
equals and his fame extended wherever the English language was read. He remained on the editorial staff of the Hawkeye for more than ten years, when his ever growing fame brought him tempting offers from the great metropolitan journals and he accepted a position on the Brooklyn Eagle. He entered the lecture field and was in great demand over the entire country, winning additional reputation. He wrote several books which had large sales, among which were " Hawkeyes," " Rise and Fall of the Mustache," " Innaeh Garden and Other Comic Sketches," and " Life of Wil- liam Penn."
THEODORE W. BURDICK was born at Evansburg, Crawford County, Pennsylvania, October 7, 1836. He received a liberal education and came with his father to Iowa in 1853, taking up his residence at Decorah. In 1854 he was appointed deputy treasurer of the county and later was elected recorder and treasurer, serving until 1862 when he resigned to raise a company for the Union Army. He was appointed Captain of Company D, Sixth Iowa Cavalry, where he served three years in the Department of the Northwest against the Indians. At the close of the war he returned to Decorah and became cashier of the First National Bank. In 1876 he was elected to Congress from the Third District on the Republican ticket, serv- ing but one term.
HOWARD A. BURRELL of the Washington Press has won a State- wide reputation as a journalist. Independent in action and fearless in criticism, he possesses a style peculiar to himself. He is an enthusiastic lover of nature and sees beauties in the woods, fields, animals and sky, that find poetic expression in words of deep appreciation. Mr. Burrell was born in Sheffield, Ohio, January 4, 1838, was educated in the common schools and at Oberlin College. He came to Iowa in 1866, making his home at Washington, in Washington County. He first taught school, then worked on a newspaper, finding congenial occupation in the latter. He has been editor of the Washington Press long enough to rank with the veteran journalists of Iowa, and his paper is among the brightest and most widely known in the State. He is a Republican who has never sought office but has done good service for twelve years as one of the Regents of the State University.
CYRUS BUSSEY was born October 5, 1833, in Trumbull County, Ohio, and was educated at various places where his father was stationed as a Methodist minister. When eighteen years of age he began the study of medicine. In July, 1855, he removed to Iowa, locating at Bloomfield in Davis County where he opened a store. In 1859 he was nominated by the Democrats of Davis County for State Senator and elected. He was a delegate to the National Democratic Convention in 1860 which met at
OF IOWA 35
Baltimore and nominated Stephen A. Douglas for President. At the extra session of the Legislature in May, 1861, called by Governor Kirk- wood to place the State on a war footing, Cyrus Bussey was among the Democrats who gave a warm support to the war measures. At the close of the session he helped raise the Third Iowa Cavalry Regiment of which he was commissioned colonel. He was a gallant ofBcer and in 1864 was promoted to Brigadier-General. After the war he located at New Or- leans and became President of the Chamber of Commerce. In 1868 he was a delegate to the Republican National Convention which nominated General Grant for President. In 1880 he was again a delegate to the Re- publican Convention and was one of the famous three hundred six dele- gates who voted for Grant for a third term. In 1889 General Bussey was appointed by President Harrison Assistant Secretary of the Interior where he served until 1893. General Bussey left the Democratic party early in the Civil War and became a Republican, often taking an active part in the national campaigns as a public speaker.
WALTER H. BUTLER was born in Springboro, Crawford County, Pennsylvania, on the 13th of February, 1852. He came to Iowa in 1875, making his home at West Union in Fayette County. In 1890 he was nominated for Representative in Congress by the Democrats of the Fourth District and was elected over J. H. Sweeney, Republican, by a plurality of 1,949. He served but one term, being defeated for reelection, in 1892.
EBER C. BYAM was born in Canada in 1826. He came to Iowa, locating in Linn County. He was for many years a minister of the Metho- dist church and at one time presiding elder. In the organization of the Twenty-fourth Iowa Infanti-y, he was appointed by Governor Kirkwood its colonel. He did not prove adapted to military command and resigned his commission on the 30th of June, 1863. In 1871 he was appointed Register of the United States Land Office at Fort Dodge and remained in that city several years in the real estate business. He finally moved to Rochester, New York, where he died many years ago.
HOWARD W. BYERS was born in Woodstock, Wisconsin, on Christ- mas Day, 1856. His education was acquired in the public schools of Wisconsin. In 1873 he came to Iowa, first locating on a farm near Gar- ner, in Hancock County. Subsequently he studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1888. He removed to Shelby County, where in 1893 he was elected Representative in the Twenty-fifth General Assembly, on the Re- publican ticket. He was reelected in 1895 and chosen Speaker of the House of the Twenty-sixth General Assembly. In 1899 Mr. Byers was again elected Representative, serving in the Twenty-eighth General As-
36 HISTORY
sembly. In the political contest for Governor in 1901, Mr. Byers was a warm supporter of Mr. Cummins for that position.
MELVIN H. BYERS was born in Noble County, Ohio, January 12, 1846. When seven years of age his father came to Iowa, locating at Glen- wood, Mills County, later removing to a farm where the son worked sum- mers, attending the public schools winters. In January, 1864, Melvin enlisted in Company B, Twenty-ninth Iowa Volunteer Infantry, serving until the close of the Civil War. He served as recorder of Mills County and mayor of Glenwood. In 1879 he enlisted in the Iowa National Guard and has been promoted from private to major. In 1898 he was ap- pointed by Governor Shaw Adjutant General of the State. Upon him devolved the responsibility of organizing the quota of troops which Iowa was called upon to furnish for the Spanish War. This duty was per- formed with a degree of energy and ability that placed the Iowa troops in the field with thorough drill and equipment unsurpassed by those of any State in the Union. During his administration General Byers has brought the National Guard of Iowa to a high degree of efficiency in all soldierly qualities.
SAMUEL H. M. BYERS was born in Pulaski, Pennsylvania, in 1838. Coming to Iowa in 1851 with his father he was educated in the schools of Oskaloosa, where his father located. He enlisted in the Fifth Iowa In- fantry and served in the army until March, 1865, was promoted to adju- tant in April, 1863. He was in many battles and in a charge at Mia- aionary Ridge was taken prisoner and for fifteen months suffered the hor- rors of Libby and other Confederate prisons. He finally escaped and re- turned to the army, where for a time he was on General Sherman's staff. At the close of the war he was brevetted major. While in prison at Columbia, South Carolina, he wrote the well-known song, " The March to the Sea," which brought him into national notice. It gave the name to Sherman's famous march and thousands of copies were sold immediately after the war. Major Byers was sent by General Sherman to General Grant and President Lincoln as bearer of dispatches announcing his great victories. He served fifteen years as American consul at Zurich in Switzerland and was under President Arthur, Consul General for Italy. Under President Harrison he served as Consul to St. Gall and later as Consul General for Switzerland. Major Byers has been a contributor to the leading magazines of the country. He is the author of " Iowa in War Times," " Switzerland and the Swiss," " Twenty Years in Europe " and several volumes of poetry.
HENRY C. CALDWELL was born in Marshall County, Virginia, Sep- tember 4, 1832. His father came with his family to the " Black Hawk
OF IOWA 37
Purchase " in 1836, locating at Bentonsport, in Van Buren County. Here the son assisted in the work of the farm, attending the public school in the winter. He began to read law at the early age of thirteen and in 1847 walked to Keosauqua and procured a place in the law oflQce of Wright and Knapp. After a few years he became a partner in the firm and when twenty- four was elected prosecuting attorney. In 1859 he was elected to the House of the Eighth General Assembly and was appointed chair- man of the judiciary committee. When the Civil War began he was commissioned major of the Third Cavalry and reached the rank of colonel in 1864. In June of that year he was appointed by President Lincoln Judge of the United States District Court for Arkansas. He served in that position until 1891 when he was appointed Judge of the United States Circuit Court for the District of Arkansas, Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota, North and South Dakota, Wyoming and Colorado. He has rendered many important and far-reaching decisions affecting the rights of the common people and especially protecting laborers from oppres- sion of powerful corporations. In his official capacity he is above the in- jSuence which wealth and power too often combine to accomplish selfish purposes.
TIMOTHY J. CALDWELL, pioneer physician, was born in North Carolina, in 1839, growing to manhood on a farm and acquiring his early education in the common schools of his native State. In 1853 he removed to Iowa, settling at Redfield in Dallas County, and three years later be- gan the study of medicine. Later he entered the Medical College at Keo- kuk, from which he was graduated in the class of 1861. He located at Adel where he began to practice medicine. In 1864 he was appointed sur- geon of the Twenty-third Iowa Volunteer Infantry, serving until the close of the war. He then spent a year in study at Philadelphia and another in Bellevue Hospital in New York. In 1891 he took post-graduate work in New York and gave one winter to study at New Orleans. He has served as president of the State Medical Society of Iowa. In politics Dr. Caldwell is a Republican arid in 1881 was elected Representative in the Nineteenth General Assembly. At the close of his term he was elected to the Senate from the District composed of the counties of Audubon, Guthrie and Dallas, where he served by reelection in the Twentieth, Twenty-first, Twenty-second and Twenty-third General Assemblies. Dr. Caldwell was president of the company which built the railroad from Waukee to Adel and has always been interested in the growth of his home town.
AMBROSE A. CALL, one of the earliest pioneers of Kossuth County, was born in Huron County, Ohio, June 9, 1833. He was educated in the common schools of Indiana and left home at the age of fifteen. In the spring of 1854 he came to Iowa, journeying from Iowa City over the wild
38 HISTORY
prairies to Kossuth County, where with his -brother, Asa C, he formed the nucleus of a settlement by erecting the first log cabin north of Fort Dodge. The two brothers founded the town of Algona, and in 1861 Am- brose established the Algona Pioneer Press, the first newspaper in that section of the State. For years these pioneers labored to secure railroads and develop their town and county, working also for the material inter- ests and settlement of northwestern Iowa. Ambrose has acquired large interests in land and business enterprises in Algona and has expended his means freely in the improvements which have made Algona one of the most prosperous towns of northwestern Iowa. He has contributed many valuable historical articles to the literature of early times in that sec- tion of the State.
ASA C. CALL, one of the first settlers in Kossuth County, was born in Ohio in 1825. He was a graduate of Oberlin College and studied law. In 1850 he went to California remaining several years. In 1854 he, with his brother, .Ambrose A., made a journey into northwestern Iowa far be- yond any settlement and entered a large tract of prairie and woodland on the east fork of the Des Moines River. Here they built log cabins and began to found a settlement. They built a mill on the river bank and laid out a town which they named Algona. They secured the organiza- tion of Kossuth County, of which Algona was made the county-seat. Here, for years, the two enterprising brothers labored with great success to secure settlers and were liberal promoters of every enterprise for building up Algona. They established a newspaper, projected a college and finally secured one of the trunk lines of railroad. Asa C. was the first judge of the county, an influential Republican and in 1884 a delegate from Iowa to the National Republican Convention. The two brothers were for more than thirty years the most widely known of the pioneer settlers of north- western Iowa and realized ample fortunes from their early investments. Asa C. died on the 6th of January, 1892.
MARTHA COONLEY CALLANAN was born in Albany County, New York, May 18, 1826. Her youthful days were spent on a farm near the Hudson River. She received a good education in the schools of Albany and in 1846 was married to James Callanan. In 1863 they removed to Iowa, locating at Des Moines. Mrs. Callanan took a deep interest in the re- form movements of the times and in 1870 was one of the organizers of the State Equal Suffrage Association, which was established at a conven- tion held in Des Moines. She was always a liberal contributor to its finances and an earnest and faithful worker in the cause. For many years she was the editor and publisher of the Woman's Standard and a constant contributor to its columns. She was a prominent member of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union and one of the founders and contributors of
Ji^-Uf^^
^':^rica!i ffiofi, r^nLoi.njca^Q
OF JOWA 39
the Benedict Home for friendless girls. Mrs. Callanan was also one of the founders and generous supporters of the Home for the Aged which was erected at Des Moines. She was many times president of the Equal Suff- rage Association and always one of its trusted counselors. Mrs. Callanan took a deep interest in missionary work and was a liberal contributor to the cause. Her whole life was filled with good deeds and her wealth was used liberally in aiding the worthy unfortunate and promoting good works. She died on the 16th of August, 1901.
JAMES CALLANAN is a native of Albany County, New York, where in the toAvn of New Scotland, he was born on the 12th of November, 1818. He was educated in the common schools of his native town, and at Caze- novia Seminary, where he remained three years. Later he studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1845, at once entering upon practice at Al- bany. In 1863 Mr. Callanan was called to Iowa to look after real estate investments in and near Des Moines and has since made that city his home. He has been largely interested in many of the financial institutions of the Capital City, being one of the founders of the Hawkeye Insurance Company, president of the Capital City Bank, and a stockholder or direc- tor in the Citizens' National and State Savings Banks and in the Iowa Loan and Trust Company. He was one of the organizers and promoters of the Des Moines and Minneapolis Railroad Company and largely inter- ested in raining properties. Mr. Callanan has been a life-long advocate of temperance and always been a large contributor to the cause. He has given liberal aid to a number of benevolent institutions of Des Moines, among which are the Home for the Aged, the Iowa Methodist Hospital and the Children's Home. He has been a liberal promoter of churches and education and was a large contributor in the establishment of Calla- nan College. He saved the closing of his Alma Mater at a critical period by buying the bonds of the institution. The aid that Mr. Callanan has rendered friendless boys and girls toward a start in the right direction, can never be known to the public. He has always been one of the chief promoters and a liberal contributor to the work of the Humane Society.
SAMUEL CALVIN is a native of Scotland, where he was born Feb- ruary 2, 1840. The first eleven years of his life were spent amid the scenes made famous by Walter Scott and later by Crockett. With his father's family he then came to America, remaining four years in Sara- toga County, New York, then removing to Buchanan County, Iowa. Here he learned the trade of carpenter and joiner, devoting his summers to work and his winters to study and teaching. In 1862 he entered Lenox College, remaining until 1864 when he enlisted in the Forty- fourth Iowa Volunteers and served in southern Tennessee and northern Mississippi until the regiment was mustered out of service. Study was now resumed,
40 HISTORY
to which was added teaching, first as instructor and later as professor of mathematics and natural history. In 1869 Professor Calvin was made principal of the Fourth Ward School of Dubuque where he remained until 1874 when he was elected Professor of Natural Science at the State University, succeeding Dr. C. A. White. At that time the professor of natural science was required to teach geology, zoology, physiology and botany. This wide field has been gradually divided among other profes- sors and instructors until Professor Calvin occupied the chair of geology alone. He has been a constant investigator and contributor to the liter- ature of his chosen specialty. He was one of the founders and remains one of the editors of the American Geologist, the oldest exclusively geo- lo<pcal journal in America. He was one of the original fellows of the Geological Society of America and has long been a member of the Ameri- can Association for the Advancement of Science. In 1890 he served as secretary of the geological section and in 1894 as vice-president of the association and presiding officer of the section. His address delivered in Brooklyn, attracted much favorable comment, both in this country and Europe. The degree of M. A. was conferred upon him by Cornell College and that of Ph.D. by Lenox College. In 1892 Professor Calvin was ap- pointed State Geologist of Iowa, which position he has filled with marked ability as shown by the high standing the survey has attained at home and abroad.
"The economical results of the work are becoming more and more apparent and to Professor Calvin the State is mainly indebted for them. He will probably, however, be longest remembered and best known as the teacher of hundreds of men and women occupying important positions throughout the State."
EDWARD CAMPBELL, farmer, lawmaker and politician, was born in Washington County, Pennsylvania, January 1, 1820. From early boy- hood he was obliged to rely upon his own resources but he procured a good education by reading without instruction. He was a Democrat from the time he was old enough to take an interest in politics and during his entire life retained that faith and was one of the trusted leaders of his party in Iowa. He was a warm supporter of Stephen A. Douglas in 1860, and served as sheriff and prothonotary for many years in Pennsyl- vania before coming to Iowa in 1865. Locating on a farm in Jefferson County, near Fairfield, he became a progressive farmer, intelligent and successful. For ten years he was chairman of the Democratic State Cen- tral Committee and one of the most trusted councilors of his party up to the time of William J. Bryan's nomination for President, when he affili- ated with the ■' Gold Standard " wing which supported Palmer for Presi- dent. He was elected to the House of the Fourteenth General Assembly in the fall of 1871, serving in the regular and extra session, which re- vised the code. When Cleveland was elected President, Mr. Campbell was
OF IOWA 41
appointed United States Marshal for the Southern District of Iowa. Death came to him on the 9th of March, 1901.
FRANK T. CAMPBELL was born on the 8th of May, 1836, in the State of Ohio. He received a good education and in 1856 moved to New- ton, Iowa, where for several years he, with his brother A. K. Campbell, published the 'Newton Journal. In 1869, Frank T. was elected on the Re- publican ticket member of the State Senate. In that body he was one of the leading advocates of legislation fixing by law a tariff for railroad freight charges. He had carefully prepared for the leadership in that first energetic attempt by the Iowa Legislature to regulate by law rail- road charges, and was able to meet and successfully overcome objections raised by the attorneys of the corporations. Under his judicious manage- ment the famous legislation was successfully carried through which be- came known as the " Grange Laws." He served in the Senate eight years and in the fall of 1877 was nominated by the Republican State Conven- tion for the office of Lieutenant-Governor. He was elected serving with marked ability as President of the Senate for four years. In 1888 he was appointed by Governor Larrabee Railroad Commissioner for the term of three years. The Twenty-second General Assembly, having provided for the election of the Commissioners, Mr. Campbell was elected in November to serve three years from January, 1889. He removed to Des Moines which has since been his residence.
MARGARET W. CAMPBELL was born in Hancock County, Maine, on the 16th of January, 1827, and received her education in the district schools. As early as 1850 her attention was called to the subject of woman suffrage by reading the proceedings of the first Woman's Rights Conven- tion held at Worcester, Massacliusetts. She soon became a firm believer in the reform but did not enter the field as a worker until 1863. She came to Iowa in 1857, locating in Linn County. During the War of the Re- bellion she was active in soldiers' aid societies and at this time made her first public speeches in the suffrage cause, writing also on the subject for the newspapers. In February, 1869, she attended an important suffrage convention at Springfield, Massachusetts, where a number of the national leaders were among the speakers. Here Mrs. Campbell made an eloquent address which attracted general attention. The same year she was sent as a delegate to the Convention of the American Woman Suffrage Association at Cleveland, Ohio, and in 1870 was a delegate to the State Convention of the Massachusetts Woman Suffrage Association. From this time Mrs. Campbell became one of the prominent public speakers in the cause, in New England and New York. For more than twenty years she was an officer of the American Woman Suffrage Association and for a long time was connected with the Womcm's Journal. She was associated with Lucy Stone, Julia Ward Howe and other national leaders in the reform, often
42 HISTORY
speaking with them at conventions in various States. In November, 1879, Mrs. Campbell again settled in Iowa and was ever active in the suffrage cause, taking part in all of the State campaigns, in which she has been one of the ablest and most widely sought of the public speakers. She was four years President of the State Suffrage Association and for two years Corresponding Secretary. In 1901 she removed to Joliet, Illinois.
CYKUS C. CARPENTER, eighth Governor of Iowa, was born at Hartford, Pennsylvania, on the 24th of November, 1829. He was reared on a farm, educated in the common schools and at an academy in his native town. He taught school two years in Licking County, Ohio, and in the spring of 1854 came to Iowa, stopping a short time at Des Moines and then walking to Fort Dodge. He there engaged in surveying, school teaching and the study of law. In 1856 he was chosen county surveyor and in March, 1857, joined the relief expedition sent to Spirit Lake to aid the settlers driven from their homes by the Sioux Indians. In the fall of that year he was nominated by the Republicans of the District embracing seventeen counties of northwestern Iowa for Representative in the Seventh General Assembly. His Democratic competitor was the bril- liant young lawyer John F. Duncombe. After a vigorous campaign of the District, Carpenter was elected. In that first Legislature under the new Constitution, made up of men of unusual ability, Mr. Carpenter laid the foundation of his long and honorable public career. At the beginning of the Rebellion he was appointed to a military position and during the war served on the staff of Generals Rosecrans, Dodge and Logan. In 1866 Colonel Carpenter was elected Register of the State Land OflSce, serving two terms. In 1871 he was nominated for Governor by the Republican State Convention and elected by a majority of more than 40,000. He was reelected in 1873 serving four years. At the expiration of his term he was appointed Second Comptroller of the Treasury of the United States, where he sei-ved two years. In 1878 he was appointed Railroad Commis- sioner and before the expiration of his term was nominated for Congress by the Republicans of the Ninth District. He was elected, serving two terms. In 1884 he served another term in the State Legislature. He was postmaster of Fort Dodge for several years. The last years of his life were given to the care of his fine farm. He died on the 29th of May, 1898. At his funeral were assembled many of the prominent men of the State, including the Governor. No man ever served the public more faith- fully, or brought to the performance of his official duties a more conscien- tious regard for the general welfare of the people than Governor C. C. Carpenter.
GEORGE T. CARPENTER was born in Nelson County, Kentucky, March 4, 1832. He graduated at Abdington College in 1859. Soon enter-
roundiil'.ofti
OF IOWA 43
ing the ministry he preached two years at Winterset, Iowa. Later he became a member of the faculty of Oskaloosa College, where he remained for twenty years, serving a large portion of the time as president of the institution. For many years he was editor of the Christian Evangelist, In 1873 he was one of the Iowa Commissioners to the World's Fair at Vienna. He was an active prohibitionist and in 1879 was nominated by that party for Governor but declined. In 1881 Professor Carpenter, Gen- eral F. M. Drake and D. R. Lucas founded Drake University, of which Carpenter was chosen Chancellor. From this time he gave his best ener- gies to the building up of that institution. It was a severe blow to the college when he died on the 29th of July, 1893, in the midst of his devoted labors and great usefulness.
WILLIAM L. CARPENTER was born near Salem, Ohio, on the 5th of October, 1841. His education was acquired in the public schools and at Epworth Academy. His father and family removed to Iowa in 1854, locating on a farm in Dubuque County where William remained until a few years before the Civil War when he went to Black Hawk County where he engaged in school teaching and farming. In August, 1862, he enlisted in Company G, Thirty-second Iowa Volunteers, in May, 1863, was promoted to second lieutenant and in 1864 became adjutant of the regiment in which po- sition he served to the close of the war. His gallantry at the Battle of Nash- ville was commended by special mention in general orders. When the Grange movement began he took an active interest in the cause and in 1875 was elected secretary of the State Grange, holding the position several years. Removing to Des Moines, he engaged in manufacturing. When the barb wire trust of Washburn, Moen & Co. was organized and undertook to control the manufacture and fix the price of wire fencing, Captain Carpenter was one of the first to suggest to the farmers to unite in resisting the powerful monopoly in fixing prices. The fight continued for seven years in the courts during which time the " Farmers' Protective As- sociation," through the factory established by Carpenter and Given, con- tinued to manufacture and fix a reasonable price for fence wire. Litigation of a formidable character was instituted against the managers of the free factory; intimidation and bribery were attempted, and finally when all efi"orts failed to suppress competition the trust was compelled to re- duce prices to those fixed by the farmers' association. Through the struggle William L. Carpenter kept the free factory running, unawed by threats and scorning all attempts at bribery. The same nerve that won promotion on the field of battle was shown by Carpenter in his contest with the powerful Washburn Syndicate. In 1886 he was nominated by the Democrats of the Seventh District for Congress but the District had too large a Republican majority to be overcome. He was elected mayor of Des Moines in 1888, serving two years. In 1890 he was appointed Custo-
44 HISTORY
dian of the Public Buildings of the State, serving four years. He has been active in all humane works, serving on the commissions for aid to the Johnstown sufferers, the starving in India and the Cuban Relief Com- mission.
PHINEAS M. CASADY was born at Connersville in Indiana, Decem- ber 3, 1818. He acquired a liberal education, studied law and was ad- mitted to the bar. In 1846 he came to the new State of Iowa, traveling westward over its wild prairies to Fort Des Moines then on the Indian frontier. He was appointed by President Polk the first postmaster of the future Capital of Iowa. He opened a law office and soon procured his share of the legal business of the vicinity. In 1847 he was elected school fund commissioner with custody of the school money. In 1848 he was nominated by the Democrats for State Senator in an immense district embracing the counties of Polk, Dallas, Jasper, Marion and all of the unorganized region north and west to the Missouri River. He was elected and took his seat in the Second General Assembly. In looking over the map of the State he observed that nearly one-half of its terri- tory was unnamed. He at once determined to prepare a bill providing for its divisions into counties. The bill was referred to the committee on new counties of which he was a member. He gave much time to this bill as there was a wide difference of opinion as to names. The differences were finally harmonized and forty new counties were created and named. It was by far the most important act of the Second General Assembly and the name of Senator P. M. Casady became imperishably associated with one of the most interesting events of Iowa history. A paper of great value was prepared in 1894 by Judge Casady for the Pioneer Law- makers' Association giving an account of the incidents which led to the naming of these counties. In 1854 Mr. Casady was elected Judge of the Fifth District. Soon after he was appointed Receiver of the United States Land Office by President Pierce. In 1872 he was elected one of the regents of the State University, serving four years. He was one of the founders of the Pioneer Lawmakers' Association and has contributed many valuable historical articles for its publications. For nearly a quarter of a century he has been president of the Des Moines Savings Bank.
CARRIE LANE CHAPMAN CATT was born in Wisconsin and came with her parents to Floyd County, Iowa, when she was seven years of age. Her maiden name was Carrie Lane and her early education was ac- quired in the public schools of Charles City. She taught several terms and was elected principal of the High School of Mason City. Miss Lane pursued her studies for some time at the State Agricultural College. Later she was chosen superintendent of the public schools of Mason City, serving two years, when she married Leo Chapman, editor of the Repub-
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OF IOWA 45
lican. His wife became a partner in the establishment, and associate edi- tor of the paper. A few years later they removed to San Francisco where Mr. Chapman died. Mrs. Chapman secured a position on one of the city papers and is said to have been the first woman editor in San Francisco. While there she was deeply impressed with the wrongs of working women and gave lectures on women's rights and wrongs. She soon became warmly enlisted in the subject of equal suffrage and the advancement and social betterment of women. In 1891 she was married to George W. Catt. She had become one of the most popular and eloquent advocates of the suffrage reform and when the office of National Organizer was created in 1893 Mrs. Catt was chosen to fill the position. She soon acquired national fame as one of the most successful advocates of the cause and her powerful logic and winning oratory brought her to the front rank of successful workers. When the venerable President of the National Association, Susan B. An- thony retired, Mrs. Catt was by common consent chosen to succeed her. For several years she has resided in the City of New York.
JONATHAN W. CATTELL was born in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, June 25, 1820. He acquired a liberal education and came to Iowa in 1846, locating on a farm near Springdale in Cedar County. In 1852 he was elected Clerk of the District Court, serving four years. In 1856 he was a delegate to the Convention which founded the Republican party of Iowa. The same year he was elected to the State Senate, serving four years. In 1858 he was elected Auditor of State and at the close of his term was reelected. He instituted many reforms in the management of the business of that important office and served three terms. Becoming a citizen of Polk County, he was, in 1865, again elected to the Senate for four years. In 1885 Mr. Cattell was appointed by Governor Sherman to fill a vacancy in the office of Auditor of State. He was for several years President of the State Insurance Company. During his twenty years of public life Mr. Cattell rendered valuable service to the State, originating many excellent laws and improved methods of transacting public busi- ness. In religion he was a Quaker and in the years of slavery a radical Abolitionist. He died on the 25th of September, 1887.
JOHN CHAMBERS, second Territorial Governor of Iowa, was born October 6, 1780, in Somerset County, New Jersey. His father. Colonel Rowland Chambers, was a colonel in the War for American Independence. At the close of the war he removed to Mason County, Kentucky. His son after securing an education began the study of law. He was admitted to the bar and began practice in 1800. In 1812 he was elected to the Kentucky Legislature and at the close of his term received an appointment on the staff of General William H. Harrison with the rank of major. He did excellent service during the war with Great Britain then prevail-
46 HISTORY
ing, especially distinguishing himself at the Battle of the Thames. In 1815 he was again elected to the Legislature. In 1828 he was elected to Congress where he served but one term, declining reelection. In 1835 he was again elected to Congress, serving four years. In 1841 he was ap- pointed by President Harrison, his old commander. Governor of the Ter- ritory of Iowa. He was also appointed commissioner to negotiate treaties with the Sac and Fox Indians and interested himself in protecting several tribes of Indians from frauds of agents and traders. He made his home on a fine farm of 1,000 acres which he secured and improved six miles west of Burlington. His administration was wise and creditable but, as he was a Whig, and the Legislatures during his term were strongly Demo- cratic, the relations existing between the executive and legislative branches of the Territorial government were not harmonious. Soon after the in- auguration of President Polk, Governor Chambers was removed from office solely for political reasons. He earnestly opposed the adoption of the Constitution of 1846, under which Iowa became a State. In 1849 Governor Chambers was appointed by President Taylor to negotiate a treaty with the Sioux Indians. This was his last official position. Toward the close of his life he returned to Kentucky where he died on the 21st of September, 1852.
JOHN W. CHAPMAN was born at Blairsville, Pennsylvania, July 19, 1835. In 1843 his father removed with his family to Iowa Territory, mak- ing his home near Burlington, where John W. was reared on a farm. In 1860 he removed to Nebraska and was soon after elected a member of the Territorial Council where he won distinction as a fluent speaker and acquired wide influence in that body. In 1867 Mr. Chapman returned to Iowa, locating at Council Bluffs where he was one of the owners and editor of the daily Nonpareil. He was four years treasurer of Pottawat- tamie County, eight years United States Marshal of Iowa, and mayor of Council Bluffs. He died in that city in 1886. Spencer Smith says of Mr. Chapman :
" He was a man of superior judgment, broad views and great strength of character, qualities that gave him prominence at all times and places. His genial nature gave him social popularity in the community in which he moved. His acquaintance was not confined alone to Iowa; he was fairly well knov.'n as a man of ability by many of the leading statesmen of the country. He was a strong, terse, vigorous writer, with positive convic- tions upon public questions and had much originality of expression. He sought to make the Nonpareil a moulder of public opinion, rather than a reflector of it."
WILLIAM W. CHAPMAN, the first Delegate in Congress from Iowa, was born in Marion County, Virginia, on the 11th of August, 1808. He received but a common school education and read law while serving as
OF IOWA 47
clerk of the court. After his admission to the bar he opened an office at Middleton. In 1835 he removed to Burlington in the " Black Hawk Purchase " and was soon after appointed Prosecuting Attorney by the Governor of Michigan Territory. In 1836, when Wisconsin Territory was created, Mr. Chapman was appointed by the President United States At- torney for the Territory. In 1838, when the Territory of Iowa was estab- lished, there were four candidates at the September election for Delegate in Congress. Mr. Chapman was chosen by a plurality of thirty-six votes. While in Congress he secured for Iowa the land grant of 500,000 acres for the support of common schools. He also obtained a report from the committee on Territories which finally secured to the State a decision in its favor in the controversy with Missouri over the boimdary. In 1844 Mr. Chapman was a member of the First Constitutional Convention and took a prominent part in its deliberations. As chairman of the committee on boundaries, he reported in favor of the boundaries as finally established. In 1847 he removed to Oregon and became one of the proprietors of the city of Portland. He was elected to the Oregon Legislature; was one of the founders of the first newspaper established in the Territory. In 1858 he was appointed Surveyor- General of Oregon. Mr. Chapman died Octo- ber 9, 1892.
DANIEL D. CHASE of Hamilton County, was for more than a quar- ter of a century one of the best known public men of northern Iowa. He was born near Canajoharie in the State of New York, July 4, 1830. Secur- ing a good education for several years he taught school. He studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1856 and soon after came to Iowa and be- came a resident of Webster City where he entered upon the practice of his profession. In 1860 he was elected a member of the State Board of Education from the Eleventh Judicial District. In 1861 he was elected District Attorney for the same district serving more than four years. In 1806 he was appointed judge of the District Court to fill a vacancy. He was twice reelected, serving nine years and attaining rank among the ablest judges in the State. In 1867 he was the most prominent candi- date for Congiess in the old Sixth District which comprised more than a third of the counties of Iowa, but was defeated. He was at one time a prominent candidate for Supreme Judge, receiving almost the unanimous support of the delegates from northwestern Iowa. In 1864 Judge Chase was a delegate at large from Iowa to the Republican National Conven- tion which renominated Lincoln for President. In 1877 he was elected State Senator from Hardin and Hamilton counties, serving four years. He died at Webster City on the 27th of April, 1891.
GEORGE M. CHRISTIAN is a native of Chicago, where he was born June 19, 1847. He received his education in the public schools. When the
48 HISTORY
Civil War began he was but fourteen years of age, yet he tried several times to enlist but was rejected on account of his youth. Having his own way to make he came to Davenport, Iowa, in 1865, and attended the com- mercial college. Five years later he removed to Grinnell which has since been his home. Mr. Christian early became an expert telegraph operator and later an hotel keeper. In 1888 he was a delegate to the National Re- publican Convention at Chicago, and chairman of the finance committee of the Iowa delegation. He also had charge of the Allison Presidential cam- paign during the sessions of the Convention. In 1889 he was appointed by J. S. Clarkson, assistant superintendent of the railway mail service and in July, 1890, became Post-office Inspector. This position he re- tained through changing administrations until he received the appoint- ment of United States Marshal in 1898.
THOMAS W. CLAGETT was born in Prince George County, Mary- land, August 30, 1815. He received a liberal education at Bladensburg Academy, studied law, was admitted to the bar and entered upon the practice of his profession. He served two terms in the House of the Maryland Legislature as a Vthig. In 1850 he removed to Iowa, locating at Keokuk, where he practiced law and became editor of the Keokuk Con- stitution. When the Whig party disappeared Mr. Clagett united with the Democrats and in 1857 was elected judge of the First District. In 1859 he was elected to the House of the Eighth General Assembly and at once became one of the leading members. He served in the extra session of May, 1861, called to organize the military forces of the State for the Civil War. Judge Clagett took a deep interest in fine stock and general farming and was one of the founders of the Lee County Agricultural Soci- ety and in 1853 he also helped to organize the State Agricultural Society and was its president for four years. He was a man of generous im- pulses and fine social qualities. Judge Clagett died in Keokuk on the 15th of April, 1876.
CHARLES A. CLARK, one of the great lawyers of the State, was born at Sangerville, in the State of Maine, January 26, 1841. He at- tended the common schools of his native town, with three terms at Fox- croft Academy. Later, while working on a farm, he walked three miles to Guilford several times each week to procure instruction in Greek and Latin. At the age of fifteen he began to teach school and in April, 1861, enlisted as a private in Company A, Sixth Maine Volunteers and as a soldier of great courage he received rapid promotion to corporal, sergeant, lieutenant and adjutant of the regiment, serving until he was severely wounded and discharged. As soon as he recovered he reentered the army with a commission as captain and assistant Adjutant-General, serving in General Burnside's Brigade until in November, 1864, failing health
OF IOWA 49
compelled him to resign. He received a special Congressional medal for gallantry and meritorious services in paving the regiment from capture at Brook's Ford, Virginia, on the night of May 4, 1863. Upon the personal recommendation of General Hancock he was brevetted major for gallantry at Marye's Heights, Fredericksburg, May 3, 1863, and lieutenant-colonel for conspicuous bravery at Rappahannock Station, November 7, 1863. Colonel Clark participated in the following engagements: Siege of York- town, battles at Williamsburg, Gaines Mills, Malvern Hill, Second Bull Run, South Mountain, Antietam, Fredericksburg, both at the first and second engagements, Salem Church, Gettysburg, Rappahannock Station, Cold Harbor, Petersburg and numerous others. Colonel Clark cast his first vote for Abraham Lincoln, later became a liberal Republican, serving as a delegate to the Cincinnati National Convention of 1872, affiliating with the Democrats until 1896. In 1888 he was president of the Democratic State Convention and a delegate to the National Convention the same year. He nominated Horace Boies for Governor at the Ottumwa Con- vention in 1891. Colonel Clark returned to the Republican party in 1896, assisting in the canvass for McKinley. He came to Iowa in 1866, becoming a resident of Webster City, where he practiced law for ten years, then removing to Cedar Rapids. For ten years he was a law partner with Judge Hubbard, practicing in the Supreme Court of many States and in the Supreme Court of the United States.
GEORGE W. CLARK was born in Johnson County, Indiana, on the 26th of December, 1833. He was educated at Wabash College and in 1856 removed to Iowa, making his home at Indianola. He was engaged in the practice of law when the Civil War began and was the first man in that county to enlist as a volunteer, assisting in raising Company G of the Third Iowa Infantry. He was commissioned first lieutenant and on the organization of the regiment was appointed quartermaster, serving in that position until September 1, 1862, when he was appointed colonel of the Thirty-fourth Iowa Infantry. He commanded the regiment in the battles of Chickasaw Bayou and Arkansas Post. His regiment was also in the Red River campaign under General Banks. During the latter part of the war Colonel Clark commanded a brigade.
JAMES S. CLARK was born near Indianapolis, Indiana, October 17, 1841. After spending his early years on a farm, Mr. Clark came to Iowa and was a college student at Mount Pleasant when the Civil War began. In April, 1861, he enlisted as a private in Company F, First Iowa Volunteers, participating in the Battle of Wilson's Creek. Later he was promoted to lieutenant and captain of Company C, in the Thirty-fifth Infantry, which was engaged in seventeen battles and sieges during its term of service. On the day that General Lee surrendered Captain Clark led his regiment
[Vol. 4]
50 HISTORY
in a desperate charge on the forts of Mobile, Alabama. He is the his- torian of that gallant regiment, having gathered the events of its career in the Civil War which have been published, adding to the valuable liter- ature of the deeds of Iowa soldiers in the great Rebellion. He is president of the Regimental Association of the First Iowa Regiment of volunteer soldiers in the Civil War and has published a sketch of General Lyon and " The Fight for Missouri." Captain Clark is a graduate of the Ohio Wesleyan University and also of the Iowa State University. He engaged in the practice of law in Des Moines from 1870 to 1890, when he retired to accept the position of secretary of the Des Moines Insurance Company, later becoming president of the Anchor Insurance Company, as well as president of the Iowa Alliance of Insurance Men.
LINCOLN CLARK was born in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, June 6, 1800. His boyhood was spent on his father's farm where he at- tended district school during the winter months until he acquired suffi- cient education to teach in the common schools. He entered Amherst Col- lege and, taking the classical course, graduated. He then went to Vir- ginia and engaged in teaching, earning money enough to support himself while pursuing his law studies. He was admitted to the bar in Pickens County, Alabama, where he had decided to locate. In 1834 he was elected to a seat in the House of the Alabama Legislature, serving three terms. He removed to Tuscaloosa, then the Capital of the State, in 1836, and in 1839 was appointed Attorney-General. In 1846 he was appointed judge of the United States Circuit Court. He came to Iowa in 1848, locating in Dubuque, where in 1852 he was chosen one of the presidential electors on the Democratic ticket, casting his vote for Franklin Pierce for President. In 1850 he received the nomination for Congress in the old Second Dis- trict which at that time embraced more than half of the State. His com- petitor on the Whig ticket was John P. Cook of Davenport. The contest was close, but Clark was elected by the narrow margin of but one hun- dred fifty in a total vote of 15,696. At the close of his term the same candidates renewed the contest but Cook won the election. In 1857 Mr. Clark was elected to the House of the Seventh General Assembly and gave the State valuable service in adapting the laws to the new Constitution. He was a life-long Democrat.
RUSH CLARK was born at Shellsburg, Pennsylvania, on the 1st of October. 1834. He was a graduate of Jefferson College and studied medi- cine. But in 1853 he decided upon the study of law and at Iowa City entered the law office of his brother. For a time he had editorial charge of the /oira City Republican in the campaign which resulted in the election of James W. Grimes for Governor. This was the first defeat of a Demo- cratic State ticket. In 1859 Mr. Clark was elected to the House of the
OF IOWA 51
Eighth General Assembly on the Republican ticket. He took high rank as a legislator, was reelected in 1861 and chosen Speaker of the House in 1862. In 1875 he was again elected to the House, and in 1876 was elected to Congress. He was reelected at the expiration of his first term and died during the first session of the next Congress, in 1879.
TALTON E. CLARK was born in Nicholasville, Kentucky, October 18, 1845. He attended the Richmond High School, of which his father was principal, until 1854 when the family removed to Booneville, Missouri, where his education was continued in Shelby College. In 1867 the family came to Iowa, locating at Clarinda, where Mr. Clark studied law for three years with Hon. William P. Hepburn and was admitted to the bar. He became a well-known and successful lawyer in that section of the State and in 1881 was elected to the State Senate on the Republican ticket, serving by reelection in the Nineteenth, Twentieth, Twenty-first and Twenty-second General Assemblies. He was for six years chairman of the Senate committee for the suppression of intemperance and was the author of important amendments to the prohibitory liquor law rendering its en- forcement much more effective. He died at Los Angeles, California, April 20, 1902.
SAMUEL M. CLARK was born in Van Buren County, Iowa, on the 11th of October, 1842. He was educated at the Des Moines Valley Col- lege at West Point, in Lee County, and began the study of law when eighteen years of age in the office of Judge George G. Wright and was admitted to the bar at Keokuk in 1864. Immediately thereafter he be- came associate editor with J. B. Howell of the Oate City, the leading Republican daily of southeastern Iowa. This proved to be his life work for which he rapidly developed remarkable talent and in a few years became one of the ablest and most versatile editorial writers in the State. He was a studious reader of literary and scientific works, an independent and philosophic thinker, his editorials often ranking as finished essays on the subject treated. Few men in Iowa had a wider acquaintance with the notable people of his native State and no one warmer or more abiding friendships. It was one of the greatest pleasures of his busy life to serve his friends. He was a delegate to the Republican National Conventions of 1872, '76 and '80, was seldom absent from the State Conventions of his party and was the author of many of the platforms for a quarter of a century. For a period of fourteen years he was president of the school board of Keokuk and for eight years was postmaster of that city. In 1889 he was appointed by the President Commissioner of the Paris Exposition. In 1894 he was elected to the popular branch of Congress on the Repub- lican ticket and at the close of his first term was reelected, serving four
52 HISTORY
years. Death came to him in the meridian of his useful and noble life on the 11th of August, 1900.
JAMES CLARICE, third Governor of the Territory of Iowa, was born July 5, 1812, in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. When a boy he learned the printer's trade and worked in the State printing office in Harrisburg. In 1836 he went to St. Louis and found employment on the Missouri Republican. Upon the organization of Wisconsin Territory he went to Belmont, then the Capital, and in company with John B. Russell established the Belmont Chizette, a Democratic weekly newspaper. The first number was issued October 25, 1836. Its proprietors were chosen State Printers for the Territorial Legislature. The Capitol was soon after removed to Burlington on the west side of the Mississippi, and Mr. Clarke repaired to that place and established the Wisconsi/n Territorial Gazette in 1837. This was the first newspaper published at Burlington and the Daily Gazette of that city has grown from that establishment. The public printing was given to Mr. Clarke and he was appointed by Grovernor Dodge Territorial Librarian. James W. Grimes was his assistant in the library. Upon the death of William B. Conway, Secretary of the Territory of Iowa in November, 1839, Mr. Clarke was appointed by the President his succes- sor. He was mayor of Burlington in 1844 and was chosen a delegate to the First Constitutional Convention which assembled in October, 1844. On the 18th of November, 1845, Mr. Clarke was appointed by President Polk Governor of the Territory of Iowa. The Constitution of 1844, hav- ing been rejected by the people, a second Constitution framed in 1846 was adopted and on the 28th of December Governor Clarke retired from office upon the inauguration of the new State government. In 1848 Governor Clarke resumed the management of the Burlington Gazette and served as a delegate to the National Democratic Convention which nominated Lewis Cass for President. In July, 1850, Burlington was visited by the cholera, from which Governor Clarke's wife and youngest son died. A few days later the Governor was seized with the disease and he, too, died on the 28th of the same month, at the early age of thirty-eight. The following General Assembly gave his name to the new county adjoining Lucas and thus the names of the first and last Territorial Governors of Iowa were per- petuated side by side.
WILLIAM PENN CLARKE was born in Baltimore, Maryland, Octo- ber 1, 1817. At the age of fourteen he went to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, and learned the printing business. In 1838 he came west on foot at the age of twenty-one and reaching Cincinnati established a daily newspaper, and later became editor of the Logan Gazette, in Ohio. In 1844 he went farther west and located at Iowa City where he was admitted to the bar in 1845. He was a ready writer and contributed frequently to the news-
OF IOWA 53
papers on the slavery issue, being a " free-soiler " in politics. He at- tended the Pittsburg National Convention which took the preliminary steps toward the organization of the Republican party in 1856, acting as one of the secretaries. At the National Republican Convention in 1860, Mr. Clarke was one of the delegates from Iowa and was chosen chairman of the delegation. He soon after purchased the State Press at Iowa City and took an active part in the antislavery contest leading to the Kansas war. As a member of the National Kansas Committee he sent a com- pany of men to aid the citizens of that Territory in expelling the " Border RuflBan" invaders. He was for many years the keeper of a station on the " underground railroad " and was fearless in aiding fugitive slaves to freedom, cooperating with John Brown during his operations in Iowa. Mr. Clarke prepared the original ordinances for the government of Iowa City. He was reporter of the decisions of the Iowa Supreme Court for five years. As an influential member of the Constitutional Convention of 1857 he acted as chairman of the committee on judiciary. Early in the Civil War Mr. Clarke was appointed paymaster in the army, serving until 1866. He was then chosen chief clerk in the Interior Department at Washington, resigning when Andrew Johnson began his war on the Republican party, and returning to the practice of law in Washington, he died February 7, 1903.
COKER F. CLARKSON was a native of the State of Maine where he was born in the year 1810. His father removed with his family to Indi- ana in 1820 going by wagon. After assisting his father on the new farm until about seventeen, Coker learned the printing business. He secured a position in the office of the LawrenceJturg Statesman and after three years was placed in charge of the paper. In the course of four years he was able to buy the establishment and published the Brookville American until 1854 when he disposed of the property and, in 1855, located in Grundy County, Iowa. Here he lived until 1878. He was a close observer, an excellent writer and was one of the pioneers in agricultural writing in Iowa. In 1863 he was elected to the State Senate from the district con- sisting of the counties of Hardin, Grundy, Black Hawk and Franklin. He was appointed chairman of the committee on agriculture and helped to devise the system of disposing of the Agricultural College land grant by which a large revenue was derived from it while the government lands were obtainable for free homesteads. He served four years in the Senate and in 1868 was a prominent candidate for Congress in the old Sixth Dis- trict which embraced more than a third of the counties of the entire State. In December, 1870 he, with his two sons, Richard P. and James S., purchased the Iowa State Register, of which he became agricultural editor. In the contest between the farmers and the Washburn Barb Wire Trust he gave the Farmers' Association continued and valuable aid, helping to
54 HISTORY
break the oppressive monopoly. He continued his editorial work up to the time of his last sickness and died on the 7th of May, 1890. In early life Mr. Clarkson was a Whig in politics. When the Republican party was organized he united with it and was an influential member.
JAMES S. CLARKSON was born at Brookville, Indiana, May 17, 1842. His early education Avas obtained in the common schools and in his father's printing office. In 1855 his father removed with his family to Grundy Coimty, Iowa, where James remained eleven years assisting in farm labor and management. In 1866 he began work as a compositor on the Iowa State Register at Des Moines. He was soon promoted to local editor, and upon the election of F. W. Palmer, its editor in chief, to Congress, James S. assumed editorial management. In 1870 the establishment was pur- chased by the father and two sons ; Coker F. conducting an agricultural de- partment, and the elder son, Richard P., assuming the business manage- ment. Each chief proved to be qualified to bring his department to the highest degree of excellence and the State Register, which had long been the leading journal of Iowa, soon attained national influence and fame. Its influence in the Republican party of the State soon became supreme and its brilliant editor-in-chief was chosen chairman of the Republican State Committee. In this position he developed remarkable executive ability. He was appointed by President Grant postmaster of Des Moines, serving six years. He was a delegate to several Republican National Con- ventions and in 1880 became a member of the National Republican Com- mittee. He was an ardent supporter of James G. Blaine for President and a personal friend of that statesman. In the presidential campaign of 1884, Mr. Clarkson was one of the national managers for the Republicans and from 1890 to 1892 was chairman of the National Executive Com- mittee. In 1891 he was president of the Republican League of the United States. Upon the election of President Harrison Mr. Clarkson was ap- pointed First Assistant Postmaster-General and during his administra- tion of that department appointed 38,000 postmasters. As an editor and writer during half a life-time as a journalist in Iowa, Mr. Clarkson had few equals and no superiors. He was repeatedly tendered important federal offices by Republican Presidents. At twenty-five he was offered the Swiss mission by President Grant, but preferred the field of jouinalism in which he had won more than State-wide fame. When Garfield became President Mr. Clarkson was again offered a post abroad, and in 1890 was tendered his choice of appointments as minister to China or Russia, but again de- clined. In 1891 he sold his interest in the State Register and removed to New York City which has since been his home. He has always taken a deep interest in education and served as trustee of the State College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts. He has written two works of fiction which have had large sales, but do not bear his name as author. In 1902
OF IOWA 55
he was appointed by President Roosevelt Surveyor of Customs for the port of New York.
RICHARD P. CLARKSON, eldest son of Coker F. Clarkson, was born at Brookfield, Indiana, in 1840. He learned the printing business in his father's office at that place and after the family removed to Iowa in 1855 Richard worked for many years on the prairie farm which his father improved in Grundy County. He secured a position as compositor in the office of the State Register at Des Moines in the spring of 1861 and in October enlisted as a private in the Twelfth Iowa Infantry. At the Battle of Shiloh he Avas captui'ed with the regiment after a gallant fight and for seven months was a prisoner. After being exchanged he returned to his regiment serving until the close of the war. In 1870 the father and two sons, Richard P. and James S. purchased the Iowa State Register establishment and for many years worked together in their several depart- ments, making it the most influential Republican paper in the State. Richard P. was the business manager and in 1889 became the sole owner of the establishment and from that time forward assumed editorial man- agement of the paper. In June, 1902, after thirty- two years of service in the exacting field of daily journalism he sold the establishment and was appointed by President Roosevelt United States Pension Agent for Iowa and Nebraska. , ;
DAVID C. CLOUD was born in Champaign, Ohio, on the 22d of Janu- ary, 1817. He received but a common school education and learned the carpenter's trade. In 1839 he came to Iowa making his home at Musca- tine where he worked at his trade several years. His evenings were spent studying law and at the end of six years without instruction he was able to pass an examination Avhich admitted him to the bar. In 1851 he was elected Prosecuting Attorney and rose to prominence in his new profession. The office of Attorney-General was created in 1853 and D. C. Cloud was nominated by the Democratic State Convention for the position. He was elected, serving four years. In 1856 he was elected to the House of the Sixth General Assembly and was made chairman of the committee of ways and means. When the Republican party was organized, Mr. Cloud, being strongly opposed to slavery, united with that party. He wrote and published several books on political and industrial subjects. The chief among these were works on " The War Power of the President " and " Monopolies and the People."
LORENZO S. COFFIN was born in Alton, New Hampshire, on the 9th of April, 1823. He was reared on a farm with but little opportunity to secure an education. With two years' instruction in Oberlin College after leaving home he obtained a position as instructor in Geauga Semi-
56 HISTORY
nary where James A. Garfield and the girl who afterwards became his wife, were pupils. In 1855 Mr. Coffin came to Iowa, taking a claim near Fort Dodge. Here he was elected superintendent of schools and made fre- quent addresses in the different parts of the county urging better methods of farming and improvement in the public schools. He was a frequent contributor to agricultural journals, and for several years conducted an agricultural department in the Fort Dodge Messenger. In 1883 he was appointed Railroad Commissioner, by Governor Sherman, serving five years. During his term it became his duty to investigate the cases of serious accidents and he became convinced that many of them might be avoided by the use of automatic couplers. From this time forward Mr. Coffin entered upon the formidable work of securing legislation to require the railroads of the country to equip their cars with automatic couplers. He has told the story of his successful work in the Annals of Iowa. It is sufficient to say that he was instrumental in procuring acts of the Iowa Legislature and also an act of Congress requiring the railroads to use the safety couplers. It is estimated that the loss of life of railroad employees has been reduced by this reform more than sixty per cent. Mr. Coffin has also for years carried on a movement among railroad men against the use of intoxicating liquors. His latest benevolent work is in behalf of discharged convicts from the penitentiaries. He has built on his farm a temporary home for this class of people called " Hope Hall," where ex- prisoners may live until employment can be found for them. For more than twenty years Mr. Coffin has given a large share of his time to reform work, chiefly in the causes here mentioned.
CHESTER C. COLE was born in Chenango County, New York, June 4, 1824. He prepared for college at Oxford Academy and at the age of eighteen entered the junior class of Union College, afterwards taking the law course at Harvard University. Going to Frankfort, Kentucky, he re- ported the legislative proceedings for a daily paper. He was admitted to the bar of Crittenden County and there entered upon the practice of his profession, in which he soon attained high rank. In May, 1857, he re- moved to Des Moines, and soon became one of the most successful lawyers of the Capital City. In 1859 he was the Democratic candidate for judge of the Supreme Court but was defeated. In 1860 he was nominated by the Democrats of the Second District, which then embraced the south half of the State, for Representative in Congress but was defeated by Samuel R. Curtis, Republican. When the attack was made by Rebels of South Caro- lina on Fort Sumter, Mr. Cole was one of the first of the prominent Demo- crats to declare for the Union and urge the cooperation of men of all par- ties in support of the Government. Failing to bring about such a patri- otic stand on part of his Democratic associates he left his party with such men as Governor N. B. Baker, R. G. Kellogg, Cyrus Bussey and
/XO ' 'fc^' '^£[^:C
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EDWIN H. CONGER
OF IOWA 57
M. M. Crocker and united with the Republicans in support of the adminis- tration of Abraham Lincoln. In February, 1864, Mr. Cole was appointed l^ Governor Stone judge of the Supreme Court, to which position he was elected by the people in November for a full term of six years and was reelected, serving until January 13, 1876, when he resigned. He became Chief Justice in January, 1870. Judge Cole was one of the most active promoters of the Soldiers' Orphans' Home and in 1865 was associated with Judge Wright in establishing a law school at Des Moines which was after- wards moved to and became the Law Department of the State University at Iowa City. Judge Cole was for several years editor of the Western Jurist. He was also editor of a new edition of Iowa Law Reports. As a lawyer he has long ranked among the ablest of the State.
EDWIN H. CONGER, soldier, banker and statesman, was born in
Knox County, Illinois, March 7, 1843. He attended the public schoole in
boyhood and, entering Lombard University at Galesburg, graduated in
1862. Mr. Conger enlisted as a private in an Illinois regiment. He made
a brave soldier and was promoted several times, finally becoming captain
of his company and at the close of the war was brevetted major. Upon
his return home he entered the Albany Law School, where he graduated in
1866 and entered upon practice at Galesburg, but two years later removed
to Iowa, locating on a farm near Dexter. After five years he became a
resident of the village and engaged in banking. In 1875 he established
another bank at Stuart. He was for several years one of the trustees
of Mitchellville Seminary. In 1878 he was elected treasurer of Dallas
County and in 1880 was nominated by the Republican Convention for
State Treasurer. He was elected, serving two terms with marked ability.
Remaining in Des Moines, after he retired, in 1886 he was elected to
Congress in the Seventh District. In 1888 he was reelected, serving until
appointed by President Harrison minister to Brazil where he served with
distinction for four years. Upon the election of McKinley, in 1897, Major
Conger was restored to the Brazilian mission. But American interests in
China requiring an experienced diplomat, the President transferred him
to that empire. When the Boxer uprising took place and the massacres
began, great anxiety was felt for the safety of all of the foreign ministers
at Peking, who were soon isolated from all communication with their
governments, the city being surrounded and in possession of the hostile
armies of Boxers. For weeks Peking was cut off from any communication
with the outside world and it was feared that all of the foreign ministers
with their families had perished from the attacks of fanatical insurgents.
The anxiety of the Iowa people was intense for the safety of Major Conger
and his family and one morning the news came that all of the foreign
ministers and their families had, after a long and heroic defense, been
slaughtered. Finally the allied armies of America and Europe forced
58 HISTORY
their way to the Chinese Capital and relieved the besieged ministers, who with their families and other Christians had been shut up for weeks in the British legation buildings fighting day and night for their lives, sub- sisting a part of the time on mule meat. All through the terrible ordeal Major Conger was one of the bravest of the defenders and his wise counsel in the dire extremity was acknowledged by all to have aided materially in saving the little garrison from extermination. Returning home for a few months' rest Major Conger and family met with a hearty reception. After consultation with the President he returned to his post in China.
JOHN CONNELL was born in Paisley, Scotland, on the 16th of March, 1824. His parents emigrated to the United States in 1831, set- tling in Connecticut, where the son remained until 1852, when he came to Iowa and located in Tama County. He lived on a farm near Buckingham and later moved to Toledo, being one of the early settlers in the county which helped to organize it. In 1854 he was the Whig candidate for Representative in the Fifth General Assembly for the Twenty-third Rep- resentative District composed of the counties of Poweshiek, Jasper, Ben- ton and Tama, was elected and, when the Whig party ceased to exist, Mr. Connell united with the new Republican party. In September, 1862, he was appointed lieutenant-colonel of the Twenty-eighth Iowa Volunteer In- fantry. In March, 1863, he was promoted to colonel and took command of the regiment. He was in Bank's Red River campaign, and at the Battle of Sabine Cross Roads lost his left arm and was taken prisoner. He retired from the service in March, 1865. In 1867 he was appointed Assessor of Internal Revenue for the Fourth District, serving until 1877, when he became collector of the same District.
JAMES P. CONNOR was born January 27, 1851, in Delaware County, Indiana. When a child the family moved to Black Hawk County, Iowa, where he grew to manhood. He worked in the fields and attended the district school until the age of sixteen when he entered Upper Iowa Univer- sity where, for four years, he earned the means to pay his expenses. In 1872 he entered the Law Department of the State University, graduating in June, 1873, beginning to practice the same year at Denison, which has since been his home. In 1880 he was elected District Attorney for the Thirteenth District, holding the oflice for four years, when he was chosen circuit judge, retaining that position until the change in the judicial system. In 1886 he was elected judge of the Sixteenth Judicial District, serving four years, when he resumed the practice of law. In 1900 Judge Connor was elected Representative in Congress from the Tenth District, and in 1902 he was reelected, for a second term. He has been an active Republican and in 1892 was a delegate from Iowa to the National Repub- lican Convention.
JAMES P. CONNOR
OF IOWA 59
JOHN C. COOK was born in Seneca County, Ohio, December 26, 1846. He studied law and was admitted to the bar. He came to Iowa, taking up his residence at Newton in Jasper County, where he entered upon the practice of his profession. In 1878 he was chosen judge of the Sixth Judicial District. In 1880 he was nominated by the Democrats for Rep- resentative in Congress in the Sixth Congressional District. His com- petitor on the Republican ticket Avas M. E. Cutts. The returns in several precincts were disputed but the certificate was awarded by the canvass- ers to Mr. Cutts. Mr. Cook contested the seat before Congress and, after a long delay, during which time Mr. Cutts was acting as the member, the seat was awarded to Mr. Cook who served the remainder of the term. He removed from Newton to Webster City Avhere he became the attorney for a railroad company.
JOHN P. COOK, one of the pioneers of Iowa, was born in White- side, Oneida County, New York, August 31, 1817. His education was ac- quired in the public schools and at an early age he began the study of law. In 1836 he went west first stopping at the frontier village of Daven- port in the " Black Hawk Purchase." He was admitted to the bar and be- gan to practice in Tipton, Cedar County and in 1842 he was elected to the Council of the Territorial Assembly from the District composed of the counties of Cedar, Jones and Linn. He served through the term of four years, in two regular and one extra session. In 1848 he was elected to the State Senate and was one of the leading members of the Second and Third General Assemblies. Soon after the expiration of his term, Mr. Cook moved to Davenport and entered into partnership with his brother, Ebenezer, in the practice of law. Soon after he became a member of the banking firm of Cook and Sargent which established banks at Iowa City. Des Moines and Florence, Nebraska. In 1852 Mr. Cook was nomi- nated by the Whigs of the Second District for Representative in Congress. The District then embraced the entire north half of the State and his Democratic competitor was Lincoln Clark then a member of Congress. Mr. Cook was elected by a majority of five hundred seventy-three and served but one term. When the \^'hig party disappeared Mr. Cook became a Democrat. He died in Davenport on the 16th of April, 1872.
DATUS E. COON was one of the pioneer newspaper men of Iowa. He established the first newspaper in IMitchell County, at Osage, in 1856, called the Democrat and supported the administration of James Buchanan. In 1858 he established a paper called the Ccr7-o Gordo Press, at Mason City, the first in the county. Two years later, in 1860, he moved to Elling- ton and there established the first paper published in Hancock County. When the Civil War began he received authority from Governor Kirk- wood to raise a company for the Second Towa Cavalry. It became Com-
60 HISTORY
pany I in the organization of the regiment. He was a gallant soldier and was promoted to major in September, 1861, to colonel in 1864 and bre- vetted Brigadier-General in March, 1865. He located in Alabama at the close of the war and was elected to the Legislature during the recon- struction period. Mr. Coon was appointed by President Hayes Consul to Babaca, Cuba. In 1875 he went to San Diego, California, as Superintend- ent of the Chinese Exclusion Law, where he was killed by the accidental discharge of a pistol on the 17th of December, 1893.
GEORGE B. CORKHILL, lawyer, soldier and editor, was born Ib Harrison County, Ohio, in 1838. In 1847 the family removed to Iowa, locating at Mount Pleasant. He graduated from the Wesleyan Univer- sity of Mount Pleasant, afterwards taking the law course at Harvard University. He was admitted to the bar at Mount Pleasant and began practice; but in 1862 entered the Union army, having been appointed by President Lincoln Commissary of Subsistence and assigned to the Army of the Potomac, where he served until the close of the war, having been pro- moted to the rank of lieutenant-colonel. After leaving the army be be- came a law partner of A. H. Bereman at St. Louis for a time but re- turned to Mount Pleasant and in 1869 was appointed District Attorney of the First District. He was later appointed clerk of the United States Dis- trict Court for Iowa. Mr. Corkhill was for some time private secretary to Senator Harlan and was special agent of the Department of the Interior under him. He was editor-in-chief of the Washington Chronicle for some time. In 1880 he was appointed by President Hayes United States Dis- trict Attorney for the District of Columbia and acquired national fame in conducting the prosecution of Guiteau, the assassin of President Gar- field. He also prosecuted the suits against the famous " Star Route " officials. Colonel Corkhill was a life-long Republican. His first wife was Olive B. Miller, the eldest daughter of Judge Samuel F. Miller, Iowa member of the United States Supreme Court. Colonel Corkhill died at Mount Pleasant July 6, 1886, from disability contracted during the war.
JOHN M. CORSE was born April 27, 1835, at Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. In 1842 his father removed to the new Territory of Iowa, locating at Bur- lington. The son, John, after acquiring an education became a clerk in a drug and book store. In 1853 General A. C. Dodge, who was a friend of the father, secured the son an appointment in the Military Academy at West Point. After two years' instruction he left the Academy and en- gaged in business with his father at Burlington. Later he studied law with C. Ben Darwin, finally took the law course at Albany, New York, and was admitted to the bar. He was a "Douglas Democrat" and in 1860 received the nomination of that party for Secretary of State, but with his party was defeated. When the Civil War began he helped raise men
OF IOWA 61
for the First Battery of Light Artillery. Soon after he received the ap- pointment of major of the Sixth Regiment of Infantry and was in the Battle of Shiloh. In May he was promoted to lieutenant-colonel and was in command of the regiment. In March, 1863, he was commissioned colonel and in August was promoted to Brigadier-General. In 1864 he was in Sherman's great campaign through the Gulf States and greatly distin- guished himself by an heroic defense of Allatoona against an assault by a greatly superior force. He served with distinction to the close of the war and was brevetted Major-General of volunteers in April, 1866. In 1867 he was appointed Collector of Internal Revenue in Chicago. He was one of the incorporators of the Texas Pacific Railroad Company. In 1871 he removed to Boston where in 1886 he was appointed postmaster. He died in that city on the 27th of April, 1893.
AYLETT R. COTTON was born in Austintown, Ohio, November 29, 1826. He received a liberal education and first engaged in school teach- ing. In 1844 he came with his father's family to Iowa and located at De Witt in Clinton County, where he began to study law. After making a journey to California, he began the practice of his profession at De Witt in 1851. He was elected county judge serving two years and then became Prosecuting Attorney. Removing to Lyons he became mayor of the city in 1855. He was elected a member of the Constitutional Convention in 1856 and took an active part in framing the new Constitution. Mr. Cotton was elected to the House of the Twelfth General Assembly in 1867, was reelected at the close of his term and chosen Speaker of the House in the session of 1870. He was elected to Congress in the fall of 1870, serving two terms, having been a Republican from the time of the organization of that party. He removed to California.
ROBERT G. COUSINS was born in Cedar County, Iowa, in 1859, graduated from Cornell College, Mount Vernon, having finished his course in 1881 and was admitted to the bar the following year. In the fall of 1885 he was elected to the House of the Twenty-first General Assembly and at the session of the Senate held in 1887 to try the impeachment charges preferred against J. L. Brown, Auditor of State, Mr. Cousins was chosen by the House to act as one of the prosecutors. The Senate acquit- ted the auditor: but it was conceded that the prosecution was ably con- ducted and Mr. Cousins' argument was an eloquent presentation of the case and brought the young laAvyer into prominence. In 1888 he was chosen Prosecuting Attorney and Presidential elector in the Fifth Dis- trict. In 1892 he was nominated by the Republicans of the Fifth District for Representative in Congress and elected by a plurality of 1,098. He has been repeatedly reelected, serving in the Fifty-fourth, Fifty-fifth, Fifty- sixth and Fifty-seventh Congresses and has won the reputation of being
62 HISTORY
one of the most eloquent public speakers in the House of Representa- tives.
JOHN COWNIE was born in Alyth, Perthshire, Scotland, December 8, 1843. The family coming to America located in Scott County, Iowa, when the son was but twelve years of age. His education began in Scotland and after coming to this country he, by hard study, qualified himself for teach- ing. He became deeply interested in farming and became an active and enterprising member of the Swine Breeders' Association, Iowa Draft and Coach Horse Association, the Improved Stock Breeders' Association, and in 1894 became one of the directors of the State Agricultural Society. In 1896 he was chosen one of the presidential electors on the Republican ticket, and in 1898 was elected President of the State Agricultural Society. When the State Board of Control was established, Mr. Cownie was ap- pointed one of its members by Governor Shaw.
PHILIP M. CRAPO is a native of Freetown, near New Bedford, Massachusetts, where he was born June 30, 1844. In youth he enjoyed excellent educational advantages, but chose to forego a college career that he might enlist in the Third Massachusetts Infantry, serving in the east- ern department. After the war he became a civil engineer in Michigan and was engaged in the State offices at Detroit in the preparation of the Military History of Michigan. In 1868 Mr. Crapo came to Iowa as the representative of the Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance Company which he served in various capacities for more than twenty-one years. He has always been a public spirited citizen and aided materially in numerous important enterprises in Burlington. Re assured the establishment of the Burlington Free Public Library and has recently made possible the erection of a permanent home for it by subscribing half the cost of a beautiful building. He was also chiefly instrumental in providing a public park for Burlington which bears his name. Mr. Crapo assured the success of the Semi-Centennial Celebration of the admission of the State into the Union, which was held in Burlington in 1896, serving as President of the Board of Commissioners which had charge of the enterprise. He was largely in- strumental in securing the establishment of the Soldiers' Home at Mar- shalltown and delivered the address on behalf of the soldiers at the dedica- tion of the building.
SAMUEL A. CRAVATH, physician and journalist, was born at Con- neaut, Pennsylvania, September 27, 1836. He entered the preparatory department of Oberlin College in 1852, graduating in 1858. On account of his high standing as a classical student he was chosen to teach Greek and Latin while pursuing his studies and also taiight district school during vacations to defray his expenses. After graduating he became principal of Madison Seminary and later superintendent of the schools of Madison,
OF IOWA 63
studying medicine in the meantime. In 1864 he received the degree of M. D. from the Cincinnati College of Medicine and Surgery. He began the practice of medicine at Springfield, Ohio, but removed to Iowa in 1865, locating at Mitchell, where he established the Mitchell County News in 1869. In January, 1872, he purchased a half interest in the Grinnell Herald, where for a time he was associated with Albert Shaw, the founder of the Review of Reviews. Dr. Cravath retained editorial management of the Herald until 1890. He has held large business interests in Grinnell and has served as one of the trustees of Iowa College.
MARCELLUS M. CROCKER, lawyer and soldier, was born in Johnson County, Indiana, February 6, 1830. With his father's family he came to Jefferson County, Iowa, in 1844, where he attracted the notice of Shepherd Leffler, who was a member of Congress living at Burlington. When Crocker was sixteen years of age he had acquired an education. Leffler and General A. C. Dodge, who was a United States Senator, joined in se- curing him the appointment of cadet in the Military Academy at West Point. He entered upon his military education, but the death of his father made it necessary for him to leave the Academy before he could graduate. It was in the fall of 1849 when he returned home to look after the affairs of his father's estate that he entered the office of Judge Olney and took up the study of law. In the course of two years he was ad- mitted to the bar and began practice at Lancaster, in Keokuk County. In the spring of 1854 he removed to Des Moines and entered into partnership with D. 0. Finch. In 1857 he and P. M. Casady became partners in the practice of law and soon after J. S. Polk became a member of the firm. Mr. Crocker became in a few years one of the most prominent and suc- cessful lawyers in central Iowa. He was attending court at Adel when the news of the firing on Fort vSumter was received. He returned to Des Moines and made a thrilling address at a war meeting. From this time forward he was an uncompromising Union man, supporting Lincoln's ad- ministration, although he had been a firm Democrat from boyhood. He at once began to raise a company for the war, which became Company D of the Second Volunteer Infantry, of which he was commissioned captain. He won rapid promotion and in October, 1862, was commissioned Colonel of the Thirteenth Infantry. In the winter following he was promoted to a Brigadier-General. He took an active part in the battles of Shiloh and Corinth, and in the latter commanded a brigade which was composed of tlie Eleventh, Thirteenth, Fifteenth and Sixteenth Iowa regiments and became one of the most famous of the Army of the Tennessee. He was promoted to Major-General and placed in command of the Seventh Division of the Seventeenth Army Corps, which fought most gallantly with heavy loss at the battles of Jackson and Champion's Hill. In this campaign under the eye of General Grant, that great chieftain pronounced Crocker " competent to command an army." In 1863 he came home on sick leave. While in
64 HISTORY
Des Moines the Republican State Convention was in session, and there was a movement inaugurated to nominate him for Governor. But he de- clined the honor with the remark : " If a soldier is worth anything he can- not be spared from the field; if he is worthless, he will not make a good Governor." His last active service in the Civil War was with Sherman in the march to the sea, where his health began to fail. Early in the summer he was transferred to a command in New Mexico where it was hoped the climate would be beneficial to him. But he was already stricken with a fatal malady and in June, 1865, he went to Washington where he was prostrated with sickness, but lingered until August 26, when he passed away at the early age of thirty-five.
HENRY J. B. CUMMINGS was born at Newton, New Jersey, May 31, 1831. He was educated in the public schools of Pennsylvania and at the age of nineteen became editor of a newspaper in Schuylkill County. He studied law, was admitted to the bar at Williamsport, Pennsylvania; but in 1856 removed to Iowa, locating at Winterset. He was elected Prosecut- ing Attorney. When the war of the Rebellion began Mr. Cummings helped raise Company F of the Fourth Infantry and was elected captain. In September, 1862, he was appointed by Governor Kirkwood colonel of the Thirty-ninth Volunteer Infantry, serving until 1865. Upon his return home he became the editor of the Winterset Madisonimi. In 1876 he was nominated by the Republicans of the Seventh District for Representative in Congress and elected, serving one term.
ALBERT B. CUMMINS, seventeenth Governor of Iowa, was born in Greene County, Pennsylvania, February 15, 1850. He acquired a good education, attending Waynesburg College. In 1869 he came to Iowa and secured a position in the recorder's office of Clayton County at Elkader. Later he became a civil engineer and was engaged in the location and con- struction of the Richmond & Fort Wayne Railroad in Indiana. He studied law and in 1875 was admitted to the bar and began practice in Chicago. In January, 1878. he located at Des Moines, and in 1881 entered into part- nership with Judge George G. Wright and his son Thomas S. Wright. Soon after he entered the firm he was placed in charge of the litigation known as the barb wire conflict. The farmers of Iowa had organized the Protective Association to resist the exorbitant demands of the Washburn and Moen syndicate which had purchased many patents and sought to