Iowa Civil War Home

 IOWA IN THE CIVIL WAR  

History of Iowa Vol. IV;
New York City: 1903
Gue, Benjamin F. 

EZEKIEL S. SAMPSON was born in Huron County, Ohio, on the 6th of December, 1831. When a small boy his father removed to Illinois and in 1843 located on a farm in Keokuk County, Iowa. The son worked on his father's farm until he was nineteen years of age, attending the district school winters. He then learned to set type and earned money as a printer to pay his way in the higher schools until he secured a good education. In 1854 he went to Oskaloosa and began the study of law with Enoch W. Eastman and Samuel A. Rice and in the following year was admitted to the bar. He began to practice at Sigourney and in 1856 was elected Prosecuting Attorney. Early in 1861 he helped to raise a company for the Union army and was appointed captain of Company F, which was assigned to the Fifth Infantry. In May, 1862, he was promoted to major of the regiment, serving in that position until 1864, when it was mustered out. In 1865 he was elected to the State Senate and after serving one session was chosen District Judge and remained on the bench by reelection until 1874 when he was elected to Congress. Mr. Sampson served four years in the House of Representatives from the Sixth District, retiring in 1879 and resuming the practice of law. He died at his home in Sigourney on the 7th of October, 1892. (NOTE: This is as it was in the 1903 history book but it has been challenged by a relative that says he was a Lieutenant Colonel, not a Major.  The official records do show him as "promoted". We do not change bios that have been published but refer you to the official records)

ADDISON H. SANDERS was born on the 13th of September, 1823, in Cincinnati, Ohio. His education was begun in a printing office of his native city and completed at Cincinnati College. In 1845 and again in 1846 he came to Davenport, where his brother Alfred, was struggling to put his Gazette on a paying basis. During each of these visits he stayed several months, taking editorial charge of the paper and thus relieving his overworked brother, so that he might bring the business department into better condition. When the city had grown large enough to demand a daily paper, Addison H. removed to Davenport, in October, 1856, took editorial charge of the Daily Davenport Gazette and continued in that position until he entered the Union army. At the beginning of the Civil War no newspaper in Iowa had wider influence that the Daily Gazette of Davenport. Early in 1861, Add. H. Sanders was commissioned aid to Governor Kirkwood, serving with Judge Baldwin of Council Bluffs and later in the year he was placed in command of Camp McClellan, at Davenport, where the Union volunteers were mustering for the organization of regiments and for drill. The Sixteenth Regiment was organized early in the winter of 1862 and Governor Kirkwood was so impressed with the excellent work and superior qualifications of Add. H. Sanders, that he offered him the position of colonel of the new regiment. But having observed the disadvantage of placing inexperienced officers at the head of new regiments he declined the command, urging the selection of a regular army officer for the place. The Governor and General Baker realized the wisdom of such a selection and Captain Alexander Chambers of the Eighteenth United Stares Infantry was appointed colonel and Mr. Sanders was commissioned lieutenant-colonel. The regiment received its "baptism of fire" at the desperate and bloody battle of Shiloh and at Corinth, Lieutenant-Colonel Sanders was wounded very severely. He did gallant service during the war, often in command of the regiment. At the Battle of Atlanta, July 22, 1864, Colonel Sanders was taken prisoner, suffering everything but death in the Confederate prison and when exchanged was so low with starvation and fever that for a long time his recovery was doubtful. On the 2d of April, 1865, he was discharged from the service for disability, having been brevetted Brigadier-General for gallant conduct on many battle-fields Upon his return home, he was appointed postmaster of Davenport. In 1870 he was appointed by President Grant Secretary of Montana Territory and became acting Governor. In 1872 he was appointed Register of the United States Land Office for Montana. He returned to his old home at Davenport where for many years he has done editorial work on several of the daily papers. As a writer, General Sanders has for a third of a century ranked among the ablest in the State.

JAMES P. SANFORD was born in Seneca County, New York, November 11, 1832. When thirteen years of age he went to South America and spent four years in that country, Mexico and the West India Islands. In 1851 he located in New Orleans where he remained until 1855 when he removed to Iowa, taking up his residence at Bentonsport. The following year he became a Universalist minister, preaching his first sermon at Big Rock in Scott County on the 22d of March, 1856. He was a public speaker of unusual ability and eloquence and rose rapidly in the profession until in a few years he became one of the most famous ministers in Iowa. Early in the Civil War Mr. Sanford enlisted in the Second Iowa Cavalry and was commissioned first lieutenant and was afterwards promoted to captain. Upon the organization of the Forty-seventh Infantry he was commissioned colonel of that regiment. In 1864 he retired from the service and went to Europe, making an extensive tour of the countries of the old world. Upon his return he lectured on foreign lands and people he had visited. Mr. Sanford crossed the ocean fifteen times and extended his travels into almost every country of the eastern world. Possessed of rare descriptive powers and pleasing address, Colonel Sanford soon won national fame as a lecturer on foreign countries. He eventually became one of the most extensive travelers in America as well as one of the most notable lecturers.

Ira H. Sargent was long an important factor in the agricultural life of this state, was more than ordinarily successful in his operations, and is now retired from active business pursuits, spending the evening of life in his comfortable home in Spencer. He was born in Sydney, Canada, on the 5th of November, 1845, and is a son of E. H. and Louise Sargent, the former a native of Vermont and the latter of New York. They were married in Canada and lived in that country until 1855, when they came to Iowa, locating in Clayton county where the father engaged in farming, and there their deaths occurred. They became the parents of nine children, six of whom are now living. Ira H. Sargent secured his education in an old log schoolhouse in Clayton county, Iowa, where he lived until 1864, when, at the age of nineteen years, he enlisted for service in the Civil war, becoming a member of Company D, Fourth Regiment, Iowa Volunteer Infantry, with which command he served faithfully until the close of the war, being mustered out at Davenport, Iowa. He then returned to Clayton county and went to work on a farm. He spent practically his entire active life in agricultural pursuits up to the time of his retirement, and is now enjoying the fruits of his years of earnest effort.

    Mr. Sargent was married in 1867 to Miss Martha Stroud, who was born and reared at Decorah, Iowa, and whose death occurred in 1868. In 1873 he married Miss E. Persons, who also was a native of Iowa, and to this union were born eleven children, of whom seven are living namely: Cora B., the wife of William Bartlett; Ernest V., William A. and Lawrence E.; Rosa, the wife of William Puritan; Irna H.; and Clarence W. The mother passed away in 1918, and in 1921 Mr. Sargent was married to Mrs. Mary Woodward, who is a native of Indiana, and who has two sons by a former marriage, Frank and George. Mr. Sargent is a member of Annett Post, No. 124, Grand Army of the Republic, at Spencer, and of the Modern Woodmen of America. In all the relations of life he has been true to every trust and his career has been characterized by the attributes that constitute good citizenship in days of peace, as well as in that momentous period when he was numbered among the "boys in blue."

JOHN SCOTT was born in Jefferson County, Ohio, April 14, 1824.  He attended the common schools until sixteen years of age when he began to teach.  He came to Iowa in 1843 but returned to Ohio and Kentucky, teaching school until May, 1846, when he enlisted in a regiment of Kentucky volunteers fitting out for the Mexican War.  In 1847 he, with Cassius M. Clay and seventy others, was taken prisoner and marched to the City of Mexico where they were held in captivity for eight months.  From 1852 to 1854 he was editor of the Kentucky Whig.  He removed to Iowa in 1856, locating in Nevada, where he was engaged in farming and real estate.  In 1859 he was elected to represent the counties of Story, Boone, Hardin and Hamilton in the State Senate.  He served in the regular session of 1860 and the war session of 1861 and then resigned to enter the Union army.  Mr. Scott was appointed lieutenant-colonel of the Third Regiment and was in command at the Battle of Blue Mills, engaging a superior army of the enemy.  In 1862 he was promoted to colonel of the Thirty-second Infantry where he served with distinction until May, 1864, being engaged in many severe conflicts.  In 1867 he was elected Lieutenant-Governor of Iowa on the Republican ticket, serving two years.  In 1870 Colonel Scott was appointed Assessor of Internal Revenue, holding the office until it was discontinued.  He has been intimately associated with the industrial progress of the State for more than a quarter of a century and has been president of the State Agricultural Society, of the State Road Improvement Association, the Improved Stock Breeders' Association and delegate to the National Agricultural Congress.  He was for many years an able contributor to agricultural journals.  In 1885 he was again elected to the State Senate where he was the author of the bill to establish a State Board of Control for the various public institutions.  He has several times come within a few votes of the nomination for Congress in Republican conventions.  Colonel Scott is the author of several books.  In 1849 he published a narrative of the imprisonment of himself and companions during the Mexican War.  In 1895 he published a "Genealogy of Hugh Scott" and his descendants, and the "Story of the Thirty-second Iowa Volunteers."  In 1896 Colonel Scott was elected president of the "Pioneer Lawmakers' Association."

 WILLIAM H. SEEVERS was born in Shenandoah County, Virginia, April 8, 1822.  His boyhood was passed on his father's farm and his education was acquired in the common schools.  He began to read law in 1843 and removed to Oskaloosa, Iowa, in 1844, where he began practice.  Mr. Seevers was elected Prosecuting Attorney in 1848, serving one term.  In 1852 he was elected judge of the Third Judicial District, serving until 1856.  In 1857 he was elected to the House of the Seventh General Assembly and was chairman of the judiciary committee.  In 1872 he was a delegate to the Republican National Convention which nominated General Grant for President the second time.  He was a member of the commission to revise the laws of the State and was  editor of the Code of 1873.  In 1875 he was again elected to the General Assembly.  In 1876 he was appointed Judge of the Supreme Court to fill a vacancy where he served until 1888.  Judge Seevers died at his home in Oskaloosa, March 24, 1895.

JOHN SCOTT was born in Jefferson County, Ohio, April 14, 1824. He attended the common schools until sixteen years of age when he began to teach. He came to Iowa in 1843 but returned to Ohio and Kentucky, teaching school until May, 1846, when he enlisted in a regiment of Kentucky volunteers fitting out for the Mexican War. In 1847 he, with Cassius M. Clay and seventy others, was taken prisoner and marched to the City of Mexico where they were held in captivity for eight months. From 1852 to 1854 he was editor of the Kentucky Whig. He removed to Iowa in 1856, locating in Nevada, where he was engaged in farming and real estate. In 1859 he was elected to represent the counties of Story, Boone, Hardin and Hamilton in the State Senate. He served in the regular session of 1860 and the war session of 1861 and then resigned to enter the Union army. Mr. Scott was appointed lieutenant-colonel of the Third Regiment and was in command at the Battle of Blue Mills, engaging a superior army of the enemy. In 1862 he was promoted to colonel of the Thirty-second Infantry where he served with distinction until May, 1864, being engaged in many severe conflicts. In 1867 he was elected Lieutenant-Governor of Iowa on the Republican ticket, serving two years. In 1870 Colonel Scott was appointed Assessor of Internal Revenue, holding the office until it was discontinued. He has been intimately associated with the industrial progress of the State for more than a quarter of a century and has been president of the State Agricultural Society, of the State Road Improvement Association, the Improved Stock Breeders' Association and delegate to the National Agricultural Congress. He was for many years an able contributor to agricultural journals. In 1885 he was again elected to the State Senate where he was the author of the bill to establish a State Board of Control for the various public institutions. He has several times come within a few votes of the nomination for Congress in Republican conventions. Colonel Scott is the author of several books. In 1849 he published a narrative of the imprisonment of himself and companions during the Mexican War. In 1895 he published a "Genealogy of Hugh Scott" and his descendants, and the "Story of the Thirty-second Iowa Volunteers." In 1896 Colonel Scott was elected president of the "Pioneer Lawmakers' Association

ELIJAH SELLS was born in Franklin County, Ohio, February 14, 1814. His father served under General Harrison in the War of 1812. The son came to Iowa in 1841, locating at Muscatine, where he engaged in business. He took a deep interest in the free soil movement and at one of the early Whig conventions secured the adoption of resolutions declaring it to be the duty of Congress to prohibit slavery in the Territories. This was the first convention in the State to make the declaration which afterwards became the cardinal doctrine of the Republican party. In 1844 he was a member of the First Constitutional Convention. He was elected a member of the First General Assembly of the State and again in 1852 served in the House. Mr. Sells was a delegate to the convention which organized the Republican party, was nominated for Secretary of Stare and elected. He was twice reelected, serving six years. In 1863 he was appointed paymaster in the army and afterwards held a position in the navy. He also served as Third Auditor of the Treasury. In 1865 he was appointed superintendent of Indian Affairs in one of the southern districts and removed to Kansas. He served three terms in the Kansas Legislature and in 1878 removed to Utah. In 1889 he was appointed Secretary of Utah Territory, serving four years. Mr. Sells died at Salt Lake City, March 13, 1897.

JOHN SHANE was born in Jefferson County, Ohio, on the 26th of May, 1822, and was educated at Jefferson College. He studied law with Edwin M. Stanton, Lincoln's great Secretary of War and was admitted to the bar in 1848, beginning practice at Steubenville. In 1855, he removed to Iowa, locating at Vinton where he engaged in the practice of law. He was a delegate to the State Convention which organized the Republican party at Iowa City in 1856. He entered the military service as captain of Company G, Thirteenth Infantry in 1861, in October was promoted to major and was in the Battle of Shiloh. Soon after he became lieutenant-colonel and in March, 1863, was promoted to colonel of the regiment. He served in this position with distinction until November, 1864, when the term of enlistment expired. In 1871 Colonel Shane was elected on the Republican ticket to the State Senate, serving four years. In 1876 he was appointed judge of the Eighth Judicial District and was elected in 1878 for a full term but was stricken with paralysis before the expiration and resigned. He died on the 18th of September, 1899.

WILLIAM T. SHAW was born in Steuben, Washington County, Maine, on the 22d of September, 1822. He was educated in the Maine Wesleyan Seminary and went to Kentucky where he taught school for some time. When the Mexican War began he at once enlisted and served through the war taking part in many of the principal battles. In 1849 and in 1852 he led parties across the great western plains which were then unsettled and infested with hostile Indians. In 1853 he came to Iowa, locating at Anamosa. Upon the organization of the Fourteenth Iowa Volunteer Infantry Mr. Shaw was appointed by Governor Kirkwood, colonel. He led the regiment in the thickest of the fight at the Battle of Fort Donelson and again at Shiloh where his regiment was assailed by overwhelming numbers and forced to surrender. At the disastrous Battle of Pleasant Hill, Colonel Shaw commanded a brigade and made a most gallant fight, aiding greatly in saving General Banks' army from disaster. In a letter written soon after the battle he exposed the incompetency and drunkenness of certain of his superior officers and they took their revenge by procuring his dismissal from the service. It was the general opinion of his associates in the Red River campaign that he richly deserved promotion to the rank of Brigadier-General. In 1875 he was elected on the Republican ticket a member of the House of the Sixteenth General Assembly.

 

 "History of Davenport and Scott County"
Vol. II by Harry E. Downer-
S. J. Clarke Publishing Co.
1910 Chicago

Madison J. Smith

 Surnames: Smith, Grandon, Brown, Johnson, Ritch.

 Madison J. Smith, better known as Joe Smith, who in the eighty-second year of his life is now living retired, is numbered among the oldest settlers of this district, having arrived in Scott county in 1835, only three years after the Black Hawk war, when the country was still inhabited by large bands of Indians and the work of progress and improvement had but just begun. Born in Greene county, Pennsylvania, on the 24th June, 1827, he is a son of Eli H. and Mary Ann (Grandon) Smith, natives of New Jersey and Greene county, Pennsylvania, respectively. As early as 1835 the father left his native state and, making his way down the Ohio river and up the Mississippi, landed at Le Claire on the 5th of April, being among the earliest settlers to take up their abode in this district. There were three hundred red men in camp at the time of his arrival and it was necessary for the family to live in an Indian tent until a cabin could be erected. He took up a farm of one hundred and sixty acres, a portion of which is now in the possession of our subject, and remained thereon until after the death of his wife, when he went to live with his son in North English. He was a farmer by occupation and also operated a stone quarry there for a number of years, her remains being laid to rest in Le Claire. In their family were thirteen children, namely: Matilda, Mahaly, Elizabeth, Susan, Cynthia, Jane, Madison J., Ira, John, Nathan, Eli, Martin and Mary. Of this number only five still survive, as follows: Madison J., of this review; Ira, residing in Scott county; Eli, a resident of Iowa county; Martin, of Missouri; and Mary. Madison J. Smith was a little lad of seven years when he came with his parents to Iowa and here shared with the other members of the family the privations and hardships incident to frontier life. As there were no schools in the district at that time, what education he received was obtained by reading and studying at night, while during the daytime he assisted in the arduous and difficult work of developing and improving a new farm. He continued to give his father the benefit of his aid until fifteen years of age, when he began working of river boats and was thus engaged until the outbreak of the Mexican war. In the fall of 1846 Mr. Smith enlisted from Rock Island as a member of Company F, Fourteenth Illinois Infantry, and was first stationed at Jefferson Barracks for about three months. He then went to New Orleans and thence to Mexico, where he participated in all of the battles from Buena Vista to Vera Cruz. He was wounded several times and at the battle of Contreras, when General LeBega was captured, he received a bullet shot through his head. He was believed to be dead but later recovered and rejoined his regiment. He was detailed as second lieutenant in charge of a number of men engaged in clearing roads, etc. After a most creditable military record he was honorably discharged in New Orleans in the fall of 1848. He returned home and was employed on the river for a while. He then went to DeKalb county, Illinois, where he invested in a small farm of thirty-two and a half acres. He was there married to Miss Sarah Jane Brown, on the 28th of December, 1849, who was a daughter of Eben Brown. After residing in that county for about four years, Mr. Smith sold his property and removed to Grundy county, Iowa, where he purchased one hundred and twenty acres of raw land from the government, upon which he erected a dwelling and to the development and cultivation of which he directed his energies, at the same time engaged to some extent in the practice of medicine. He had previously pursued a medical course at Richardson College, St. Charles, Illinois, under the direction of Dr. Richards, from which institution he was graduated after three years. He then entered the Eclectic Institute of Cincinnati, Ohio, from which he was also graduated after taking a course in medicine and surgery. He has his diploma from both institutions, which is rather remarkable from the fact that he had enjoyed no educational advantages whatever in his early life, all knowledge being gained through his own efforts entirely. After residing in Grundy county, Illinois, for about eight years Mr. Smith sold his farm and went to Butler county, Iowa, where he invested in one hundred and twenty-eight acres of partially improved land, upon which he made his home for four years, dividing his time between the occupation of farming and the practice of his profession. Later he again sold out and removed to Iowa county, Iowa, where he purchased one hundred and forty acres of land drawn from the active practice of medicine after leaving Iowa county, and after his arrival in Scott county was engaged in operating steamboats and rafts on the river for a number of years, continuing to make his home in Le Claire to the present time. In the fall of 1862, again actuated by a spirit of patriotism, Mr. Smith enlisted at Dubuque, Iowa, as a soldier in the Civil war, becoming a private in Company E, thirty-second Iowa Infantry. At Vicksburg he joined General Grant, whose acquaintance he had made during the Mexican war and at whose request he was selected for scout duty. Later he joined General Sherman and rode ahead of his army in the capacity of a scout throughout the entire march to the sea. His term of service covered about a year, after which he returned to Scott county and has since lived retired upon his small farm in Le Claire township. He is also the owner of valuable town property and as the result of former years of toil is now in possession of a competency which makes it possible for him to enjoy all of the comforts and many of the luxuries of life without further recourse to labor. As the years passed Mr. and Mrs. Smith became the parents of five children, namely: Eben, residing in Iowa county; Anna, of Cherokee; William, of Waterloo, Iowa; George, making his home in Redwood county, Minnesota; and Elias, living in Muscatine. The wife and mother was called to her final rest in Cherokee, Iowa, and on the 11th of August, 1903, he was again married, his second union being with Miss Amy L. Johnson, a daughter of Sylvanus A. Johnson, one of the early settlers of this county. Mrs. Smith was born on the farm which is yet her home on the 25th of May, 1860. Her father was a native of Vermont, where his birth occurred in 1826, and he came to Scott county in 1858, here passing the remainder of his life. He was a farmer and teamster by occupation. His wife was a native of Vincennes, Indiana, and went to Illinois with her parents, Henry M. and Lucinda Smith, there, in 1848, giving her hand in marriage to Nelson Ritch, who at that time was the owner of the farm upon which our subject now resides. Mr. Ritch passed away in 1853, and in 1859 his widow became the wife of Sylvanus Johnson, whose death occurred on the 5th of February, 1875. She survived until January 6, 1898, and was the mother of four children, namely: Amy L.: Caroline C.; Minnie, who passed away in infancy; and Winnifred. Mrs. Smith has a half-brother, Henry M. Ritch, and also a half-sister, Fannie Ritch. She has passed her entire life on the farm which is now her home, Eli H. Smith, the father of our subject, having entered it at an early date and later sold it to John Williams, who in turn sold it to Nelson Ritch, her mother's first husband. In politics Mr. Smith gives stalwart support to the prohibition party and has belonged to many temperance organizations, doing all in his power to further the cause of temperance in the community, for he realizes that the liquor traffic is one of the greatest evils against which the country has to contend. His has been a life of continuous activity, in which has been accorded due recognition of earnest labor, and now, in the evening of life, he can look back upon a past that has been fraught with honest effort, unswerving industry and untiring energy and has at all times been actuated by principles that are in keeping with honorable and upright manhood. His business methods have ever been such as to inspire confidence and trust in his fellowmen and his personal characteristics have gained for him the respect, esteem and good will of all with whom he has come in contact.

HOYT SHERMAN, son of Charles R. Sherman, Judge of the Supreme Court of Ohio, was born in Lancaster County, November 1, 1827, and is the younger brother of John Sherman, the distinguished Ohio statesman, and of General William T. Sherman of Civil War fame. Until eighteen years of age, Hoyt's time was divided between school and the printing office. In the spring of 1848 he came to Fort Des Moines, Iowa, then far out on the western frontier. In 1849 he was admitted to the bar and began to practice law, and also engaged in real estate business. In March of that year he was appointed by President Taylor postmaster of Des Moines, holding that position until the inauguration of President Pierce, when he resigned and was elected clerk of the District Court. In 1854 he was the senior member of the baking house of Hoyt Sherman & Co., and upon the establishment of the State Bank of Iowa he became cashier of the Des Moines branch and was one of the directors on part of the State to supervise the system and guard the public interests. When the Civil War began Mr. Sherman was appointed by President Lincoln paymaster in the Union army with the rank of major, holding the position for three years. He was one of the organizers of the Equitable Life Insurance Company of Iowa and for many years its general manager. That institution owes much of its stabililty and high standing to the fine executive ability and unquestioned integrity of Major Sherman. In 1866, Major Sherman was a member of the House of the Eleventh General Assembly where he was chairman of the committee on railroads and a member of the committee of ways and means. In 1886 he was one of the founders of the Pioneer Lawmakers' Association and has always been one of its most influential members, serving as president and long a member of the executive committee. He has contributed valuable historical articles to the Annals of Iowa on "Early Banking in Iowa," and on the "State Bank of Iowa." For many years he was the executive officer of the Associated Charities of Des Moines.

Buren Robinson Sherman, Co. G, 13th Iowa Infantry and former Iowa Governor, he was 24 when he enlisted at Vinton on Sept. 27, 1861, as Second Sergeant. On Dec. 23, 1861, he was promoted to Sergeant Major; and on Feb. 19, 1862, to Second Lieutenant. During the battle of Shiloh on April 6, 1862, he was wounded in the thigh, the bone being fractured and the flesh badly lacerated. On April 17, 1862, he was promoted to Captain. He returned home later in the month to recuperate, then rejoined his company, but a year later, on April 17, 1863, he resigned and returned home due to continuing recovery problems. Active in local Vinton and Benton Co. affairs, especially those involving veterans, Sherman served as Secretary on the Board of Directors of the Benton County Monument Association in 1865, a county organization whose aim was to erect a monument suitable to honoring the fallen soldiers of the Civil War. Brevet Brig. Gen. James Geddes served as President, and Col. John Shane (whose bios have appeared on this list) served as Vice President. Sherman was selected to preside over or participate in a number of veterans ceremonies and events in Benton Co. in the post-war years, both before and after his election to the Iowa governorship. In Sept. 1883, while Governor, he traveled to Cedar Rapids to attend the Reunion of the Crocker Brigade, which was composed of the 11th, 13th, 15th and 16th Iowa Infantry regiments. Capt. Sherman died Nov. 4, 1904, and is buried in Evergreen Cemetery, Vinton, Iowa, as are both Col. John Shane (died Sept. 18, 1899) and General James Geddes (died Feb. 21, 1887).

OLIVER P. SHIRAS, jurist, a native of Pennsylvania, was born in Pittsburg, October 22, 1833. He graduated from the Ohio University in 1853 and took a three years' course at Yale, graduating in the Law Department and in 1856 was admitted to the bar. He came to Iowa the same year, locating at Dubuque, where he became a member of the law firm of Bissell, Wells and Shiras. In 1862 Mr. Shiras joined the Union army as quartermaster of the Twenty-seventh Iowa Infantry, serving until November, 1864. He resumed the practice of law in Dubuque and in 1882 was appointed by the President Judge of the United States District Court for Northern Iowa. Judge Shiras has long been deeply interested in education and literary affairs, having served many years as president of the Literary Association of Dubuque. As a lawyer and judge he ranks among the ablest in the State.

IOWA
ITS HISTORY AND TRADITION
VOLUME III
1804-1926

GEORGE SHOOP

George Shoop has spent much of his life in the west and for many years has been a resident of Arthur, enjoying a high place in the esteem of his fellow townsmen. He was born April 2, 1844, in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and his parents, Samuel and Mary Ann Shoop, were also natives of the Keystone state, in which the mother passed away. The father came to Ida Grove, Iowa, in 1885 and spent his last years at Arthur. There were seven children in the family,namely: Sarah, who is deceased; George; Samuel and Catherine, who have passed away; and three who died in infancy. When a youth of sixteen Mr. Shoop began earning his own livelihood and for nine years was employed as a farm hand.

At the outbreak of the Civil war he joined the emergency corps. of which he was a member for ninety days, and then enlisted in the Union army, serving for a period of one hundred days. Mr. Shoop married Miss Elizabeth Chubb, who was a daughter of Edward and Sarah (Pike) Chubb and was born November 15, 1839, at Bay Roberts, Newfoundland. Of the children born to their union four are now living.

Mr. Shoop belongs to the local post of the Grand Army of the Republic and is a republican in his political views. He had no advantages at the outset of his career and all that he now possesses has been gained by hard work, self-denial and good management. He has reached the venerable age of eighty-two years and enjoys the contentment and tranquility of mind which follow a well spent life.

MILO SMITH was born in the State of Vermont about the year 1819. He came to Iowa taking up his residence at Clinton. The Twenty-sixth Regiment of Iowa Volunteers was raised in Clinton County in the summer of 1862. Milo Smith was appointed colonel and remained in command until near the close of the war, making an excellent officer. He resigned the command in January, 1865, and returned to private life and was soon after appointed General Superintendent of the Des Moines Valley Railroad which position he held many years.

From Iowa Official Register 1909-1910

PARDON A. SMITH, Member of the Board of Parole, was born in Ogle county, Illinois, September 1, 1840. His father, Pardon Smith, was born in the State of New York and his mother, Jane Smith, in the same state. In 1856 he came to Iowa with his parents where they settled on a farm in Clinton county. He attended the common schools during the winter months and worked by the month on a farm during the summer. July 12, 1861, he enlisted as a private in Company "A", Eighth Iowa Volunteer Infantry, and was with that command for more than three years. At the battle of Old River, Louisiana, May 16, 1864, he was severely wounded in the head and still carries an ounce of minnie ball in his neck, received in that engagement. In 1865 he married Roxie L. Alger, who died November 6, 1892, and September 4, 1894 he married Mrs. Alice M. Dreher. He has always been a Republican in politics. He has filled all of the township offices and served nineteen years as Justice of the Peace. In 1896 and again in 1898 he was elected to represent Greene county in the House of Representatives in the Twenty-sixth, Twenty-sixth extra and Twenty-seventh General Assemblies. He followed farming until February, 1884, since which time he has been editor and proprietor of the Scranton Journal. His term as a member of the Board of Parole will expire July 1, 1913.

WILLIAM R. SMITH was born in Ocean County, New Jersey, December 30, 1828. His boyhood days were spent on a farm and in the winter he attended the public school. In 1845 the family removed to Michigan where the son taught several winters. He had decided to study medicine and when about twenty-one went to New York City and attended lectures. In 1856 he removed to Iowa, locating in the frontier town of Sioux City. Northwestern Iowa, Dakota and northern Nebraska were at that time almost entirely unsettled. Sioux City was but a little village remote from railroad and reached only by a semi-weekly stage line from Dubuque. In the spring of 1861, when the Sioux Indians were threatening the frontier settlements of Iowa, Minnesota, Dakota and Nebraska military companies were organized for protection and Dr. Smith was chosen a lieutenant in one consisting of mounted riflemen, in which he served until relieved by the arrival of United States troops. He was appointed Government surgeon and was sent on a sanitary tour of inspection among the Iowa regiments serving in the Vicksburg campaign. In 1863 he was appointed surgeon of the Board of Enrollment for the Sixth Congressional District and served through the draft of 1864, being stationed at Fort Dodge. He served as mayor of Sioux City, was one of the incorporators of the First National Bank, also of the Sioux City & St. Paul and other railroad companies. In 1878 he was appointed by Governor Gear one of the Commissioners to the Paris Exposition. He was a member of the Cobden Club of England and deeply interested in tariff reform. Dr. Smith was one of the founders of the First Unitarian Church of Sioux City and an active member of the Iowa and Western Conferences of that denomination. In politics he was an independent Republican of the George William Curtis stamp and always acted up to his convictions of right, regardless of party platforms. he served for thirteen years as Receiver of the United States Land Office at Sioux City and as such had the custody of millions of dollars of the public money during the sales of public lands.

WILLIAM SMYTH was born in Tyrone County, Ireland, January 3, 1824. He came with his parents to America when about fifteen years of age and in 1840 located in Linn County, Iowa. Mr. Smyth studied law at Iowa City and in 1848 opened a law office in Marion. In 1853 he was appointed judge of the Fourth Judicial District, serving until 1857. In 1858 he was chosen by the Seventh General Assembly one of three commissioners to revise and edify the laws of the State. Their work was accepted by the Legislature and became the Code in 1860. Judge Smyth was then appointed on the Commission to Legal Inquiry. In 1861 he was one of the commissioners appointed to negotiate the bonds issued by the State to provide a war defense fund. In August, 1862, he was commissioned colonel of the Thirty-first Iowa Infantry and served in the field until December, 1864, when he resigned on account of failing health. In 1868 he was elected to Congress and served until his death in 1870.

SOLL, ANDREW - provided by his great grandnephew Daniel Zoll

The military career of Andrew Soll was unique among his compatriots in the Fifth Iowa Infantry. He enrolled in Company K of the Fifth, and later was wounded at Iuka, Mississippi, in a way that inhibited his continuing service in the infantry. As a result, he was allowed to transfer to the Mississippi Marine Brigade. In 1844, along with his brother John, left Germany. They originally settled in New York City. They moved to Lansing Iowa in 1853. Andrew was listed in the 1860 census in Lansing as a fireman. Andrew's brothers John and Joseph would eventually change the Soll name to Zoll. Andrew, however, enlisted into the army from Lansing in July 1861 under his anglicized name of "Soll." In September of 1862, Soll was wounded in the battle at Iuka. He recuperated in the hospital at Jefferson Barracks, Missouri. Actually, Soll suffered from two injuries, having received a rifle ball in left leg between the knee and ankle and another shot in his left thigh. Soll was not the only casualty. Of the 482 men of the Fifth Iowa who entered into this battle, seven commissioned officers were killed, and eight were wounded. Enlisted men suffered thirty-four deaths and 168 wounded. In the Fall, Soll was transferred to the hospital at Keokuk, Iowa. In the winter, he the musters report him as in the hospital in Quincy, Illinois. In April of 1863, he is curiously listed as being once again in the hospital in Keokuk.

His wounds apparently did not heal to the point where he could return to the Fifth. In 1863 the muster remarks that Soll was "discharged to enlist in Marine Brigade." For his enlistment in Company D of the First Infantry Mississippi Marine Brigade in February of 1863, Soll listed his occupation as farmer. He declared he was born in Germany and 26 years old. He had gray eyes, dark hair, and a dark complexion and was 5'4" tall. Commodore Davis Dixon Porter formed a Mississippi River Brigade in October of 1862. Members were recruited from invalids and convalescents in hospitals around St Louis, Missouri. They possessed the following boats: Autocrat, BJ Adams, Baltic, Diana, Fairchild, John Raine and Woodford. Organized and trained by Lieutenant Colonel George Currie.They had six companies of infantry and four squads of cavalry, and served in the Vicksburg Campaign. Following the war, Soll's pension application stated he resided mainly at Lansing, Iowa and Galesburg, Illinois. It cited his primary occupation as farming. He was now forty-three and his height was listed as 5'6" (did he grow two inches). While he had signed his wartime forms with an "x," Soll was now able to sign his legal name.  He subsequently moved to Park River, ND. The next and last item in his pension folder was a "Declaration for the Increase of an Invalid Pension" filed from Walsh county of the Territory of Dakota on 17 April 1886.  He was listed as a resident of Park River, aged 49 years.  He believed himself to be entitled to an increase of pension on account of "Increased disability and Lung Disease".  He Died on 30 March 1905 and is buried Oak Hill Cem. allamakee Iowa.  This account of a Fifth Iowa Infantry veteran is provided by his great-grandnephew, Daniel Zoll.

AARON M. SMITH                                                     (from the book, University Recruits, by D W Reed)
2d Lieutenant Company C, was a native of Indiana and a member of Company B, 1st Iowa Infantry.  He was severely wounded at Wilson's Creek and before wound healed came home and enlisted, September 19, 1861, in Company C.  At the organization of said Company he was elected 2d Lieutenant.  He was in command of the company at Fort Donelson after Lt. Henderson was wounded.

At time of Battle of Shiloh he was sick in camp, and escaped the prison life.  His health being poor he resigned his commission June 7, 1862, and went home.  About the time of the re-organization of the regiment at St. Louis he re-enlisted as private in Company C, and served as such until March, 186   when he was appointed Captain in the 71st U.S. Colored Infantry with which he served until the end of the war when he married and settled at South Bend, Indiana, where he died January 1, 1883.

THADDEUS H. STANTON was born in the State of Indiana in 1835. He came to Iowa in 1851 taking up his residence at Mount Pleasant where he became editor of an antislavery paper. Later he removed to Washington in this Stat and was for several years editor of the Washington Press, a Republican paper. He was correspondent of the New York Herald at the beginning of the Rebellion but enlisted and served three months. In October, 1861, he was elected to the House of the Ninth General Assembly and served through the regular and extra sessions. After the close of his term he reentered the military service and at the close of the war was appointed paymaster with the rank of major in the regular army. He held this position for twenty years and was successively promoted, reaching the rank of Brigadier-General. at the close of the Spanish war he retired from active service.

GEORGE A. STONE was born in Schoharie, New York, on the 13th of October, 1833, and came to Iowa with his father in 1839, locating in Washington County. After completing his studies at Mount Pleasant the son procured a position in a bank in that place, serving as cashier until the beginning of the Rebellion. Early in the spring of 1861 he assisted in raising Company F, First Iowa Volunteers, and was chosen first lieutenant. He took part in the Battle of Wilson's Creek and served in Missouri until the three months' regiment was mustered out. In October he was commissioned major of the Fourth Iowa Cavalry and in August, 1862, was appointed colonel of the Twenty-fifth Iowa Infantry. He served through the war with that regiment participating in the Battle of Arkansas Post, in the Vickburg campaign, the battles about Chattanooga and in Sherman's march to the sea. At the close of the war he was brevetted Brigadier-General. Upon his return to Mount Pleasant he again engaged in banking. In 1884 General Stone was appointed National Bank Examiner which position he held at the time of his death, which occurred on the 28th of May, 1901.

JOSEPH C. STONE was born in Westport, New York, July 30, 1829. He came with his father to the Territory of Iowa in 1844, attended the public schools and later studied medicine, graduating at the Medical Department of the St. Louis University in 1854. He enlisted as a private in the First Iowa Cavalry in June, 1861, and was successively promoted to adjutant of the regiment, captain and assistant adjutant-general of volunteers. He served in the close of the war and returned to the practice of medicine. In 1876 he was elected to Congress from the First District on the Republican ticket, serving but one term.

JOHN Y. STONE was born near Springfield, Illinois, on the 23d of April, 1843, and came with his parents to Iowa in 1856. He received a liberal education and at the beginning of the War of the Rebellion enlisted in the Fifteenth Iowa Infantry and served until peace was restored. He then returned to Glenwood and studied law with William Hale, afterwards entering into partnership with him. Mr. Stone was elected Representative in the House of the Twelfth and Thirteenth General Assemblies and to the Senate of the Fourteenth, serving four years in each branch. In 1875 he was again elected to the House, serving four years more, the last term as Speaker. He was a delegate to the National Republican Convention of 1876 and a member of the National Republican Committee from 1876 to 1880. He was again a delegate to the National Republican Convention in 1884. In 1888 he was nominated by the Republican State Convention for Attorney-General and elected, serving three terms. During his busy life in law in law and politics, General Stone has found time to engage largely in fruit growing. He began many years ago to plant apple trees in Mills County and continued until over eight hundred acres were in orchard, upon which were growing more than 100,000 bearing apple trees. He also planted a vineyard of more than 75,000 grape vines; these with his apple orchard made the largest fruit plantation in the State.

WILLIAM M. STONE, sixth Governor of Iowa, was born in Jefferson County, New York, October 14, 1827. In 1834 his parents removed to Coshocton, Ohio, and for two seasons he drove horses on the canal and when seventeen was apprenticed to a chairmaker. At twenty-one he began to read law and in 1851 was admitted to the bar. In 1854 he emigrated in Knoxville, Iowa, and began practice. He purchased the Knoxville Journal and took editorial charge of it. Mr. Stone was delegate to the convention which organized the Republican party and was nominated for presidential elector in the Fremont campaign of that year. He was an eloquent public speaker and won wide reputation. In April, 1857, he was elected judge of the Eleventh District. When the Civil War began he raised a company for the Third Infantry and was commissioned major of the regiment. He was taken prisoner at the Battle of Shiloh and after his release was appointed colonel of the Twenty-second Infantry. He resigned in August, 1863, having been nominated for Governor by the Republican State Convention. He at once entered upon the campaign and was elected over Colonel James M. Tuttle the Democratic candidate, by more than 38,000 majority. He was reelected by a reduced majority and during his term his private secretary in the absence of the Governor appropriated to his own use funds belonging to various counties of the State. An investigation by the General Assembly exonerated the Governor from any knowledge of or participation in the transactions. In 1877 Governor Stone was elected to the House of the Seventeenth General Assembly. In 1888 he was chosen one of the presidential electors and upon the accession of President Harrison he was appointed Assistant Commissioner of the Land Office at Washington and later was promoted to Commissioner. Governor Stone died in Oklahoma Territory, July 18, 1893.

ISAAC S. STRUBLE was born near Fredericksburg, Virginia, on the 3d of November, 1843. He received a common school education and attended the State University after removing to Iowa. He enlisted in Company F, of the Twenty-second Iowa Volunteer Infantry when eighteen years of age and was wounded at the Battle of Cedar Creek in October, 1864. Mr. Struble studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1870. In 1872 he took up his residence at Le Mars in Plymouth County and entered upon the practice of his profession. In 1882 he received the Republican nomination for Representative in Congress in the Eleventh District and was elected. He was three times reelected, serving eight years.

SAMUEL W. SUMMERS was born in Virginia, in 1820, and in 1842 removed to Iowa, locating in Van Buren County. He had studied law and was admitted to the bar but had a hard struggle to make a living at his profession at that early day when there was little business and less money. He finally removed to Ottumwa where he was more successful. In January, 1963, he was appointed colonel of the Seventh Iowa Cavalry which was sent west to operate against the Indians. His headquarters were most of the time at Omaha and his regiment did not have an opportunity to see much hard fighting and was mustered out in 1865.

ALBERT W. SWALM was born at Womelsdorf, Berks County, Pennsylvania, on the 30th of November, 1845. In 1855 he came to Iowa and learned the printing business at Oskaloosa. When the Civil War began he enlisted but was rejected on account of his youth. Later he joined Company D, Thirty-third Iowa Infantry and served through the war as a private. Just before the Rebellion ended he was recommended for promotion. Upon his return home he was employed on the State Register and was soon promoted to city editor. In January, 1870, he became the editor of the Grand Junction Headlight. A few years later he removed to Jefferson and took editorial charge of the Jefferson Bee. In 1873 he, with his wife, purchased the Fort Dodge Messenger, removed to that city and published that paper. Selling that establishment after a few years he returned to Oskaloosa and bought the Herald establishment. Here he held many official positions, among which were postmaster, four years; Indian Land Commissioner, member of the State Prison Commission, of the Republican State Committee, Regent of the State University from 1885 to 1897, and for thirteen years an officer in the Iowa National Guards, attaining the rank of colonel. He was for some years on the Governor's staff. In 1897 he was appointed Consul to Montevideo, in Uruguay, South America, by President McKinley. In March, 1903, Colonel Swain was by order of the President transferred to Southampton, England.

JOSEPH H. SWENEY was born in Warren County, Pennsylvania, on the 2d of October, 1845. He came to Iowa when a young man and graduated from the regular as well as the law course of the State University. Mr. Sweney has been engaged in farming and banking but gives most of his attention to law. In the War of the Rebellion he served three years in Company K, Twenty-seventh Volunteer Infantry. After the war he was for four years colonel of the Sixth Regiment of the National Guards and was promoted to Brigadier, and Inspector-General of the State. In 1883 he was elected on the Republican ticket State Senator for the Forty-first District, composed of the counties of Howard, Mitchell and Worth. He was in 1886 elected president pro tem. of the Senate. Mr. Sweney was reelected to the Senate at the close of his first term, serving eight years, most of the time being on the judiciary, railroad and military committees. In 1888 he was elected to Congress in the Fourth District, serving one term. He was nominated by the Republicans in 1890 but was defeated at the election by the Democratic candidate.