Gue, B. F. 1828 – 1904

GUE

Posted By: Joy Moore (email)
Date: 7/8/2019 at 09:36:06

Source: Decorah Republican June 9, 1904 Page 1

Called to Rest After a Long and Very Useful Life.
Ex-Lieutenant governor B. F. Gue died at Des Moines on the afternoon of the 1st almost without warning. He was out walking when he was smitten with heart failure. He recovered consciousness, was aided to his home where he died a few minutes after arriving.
Governor Gue was not one of Iowa’s greatest men but he rendered the commonwealth a service that has been exceeded by few of his associates. He was born in New York in December, 1828, and came to Iowa in 1852, locating first in Scott county. At once he began taking n deep interest in political affairs. He was an old-time abolitionist and united heartily in the convention which assembly in Iowa City in February, 1856, and organized the Republican party of this state. Successively he held the following positions: A representative in the Seventh General Assembly. That body created the State Agricultural College and Governor Gue was its ablest supporter. After two terms in the House he entered the Senate. In 1865 he was selected lieutenant governor and in 1866 he became president of the board of trustees of the State Agricultural College. One of his ideas was to make the institution coeducational and he won out, with what result the state of Iowa heartily appreciates. In 1873 he was made U. S. Pension Agent at Des Moines, a position he held for eight consecutive years. In 1864 Governor Gue bought the only newspaper office in the little town of Fort Dodge and began a successful career as an editor. In 1872 he removed to Des Moines to become the editor of the Iowa Homestead. After retiring from the pension agency in '81, he resumed his relationship with the Homestead. For many years he was one of the most active Republican campaigners in the state. Religiously he was a Unitarian and was one of the founders of the State Association of that denomination, also of the Pioneer Law Makers’ Association. During the later years of his life he compiled a History of the State of Iowa that is regarded as a very creditable piece of work. The later years of his life have been spent in the quiet enjoyment of a peaceful old age.

Transcriber’s Note: Find a Grave shows he is buried in Woodland Cemetery in Des Moines. He was born December 25, 1828.