FAMOUS PEOPLE OF DES MOINES COUNTY, IOWA
Thanks To Debbie Clough Gerischer
one of the pioneer settlers in Iowa, was born February 8, 1810, at South Coventry, Connecticut. He was educated in the common schools, and at the age of sixteen became clerk in a store. In 1836 he emigrated to the "Black Hawk Purchase," first stopping at Fort Madison. In 1837, with two companions, he went up the Des Moines River to Horse Shoe Bend, where a claim was made and a town platted, which became Keosauqua. In 1839 Mr. Manning opened a store in a log cabin he had erected in his new town. In 1842 he built the first brick court house in the Territory, which was still standing in 1900. He ran the first loaded steamboat from St. Louis to Des Moines in 1843. The next year he built the first flat boat that floated down the Des Moines River. In 1856 he was appointed by the Governor Commissioner of the Des Moines River Improvement, serving two years. He was an enterprising business man, and for half a century was closely identified with many of the most important interests of that part of the State, accumulating a large fortune.
one of the pioneer lawmakers of Iowa, was born on the 5th of May, 1804, in the county of Guilford, North Carolina. He took a course in medicine at the Ohio Medical College and, locating at Greencastle, Indiana, entered upon the practice of his profession. He became on active Democratic politician and was elected to a seat in the Indiana Legislature. In 1837 he removed to the "Black Hawk Purchase" and located at Burlington, then a small frontier village where he practiced medicine. He became widely and favorably known and in 1844 was chosen a member of the First Constitutional Convention where he made the acquaintance of many young men who afterwards became famous in the history of Iowa. The Constitution framed by this Convention having been rejected, Dr. Lowe was elected to the Convention of 1846 which enacted the Constitution under which Iowa became a State. He was elected to preside over that body. When the United States Land Office was established at Iowa City Dr. Lowe was appointed receiver of public money and removed to the Capital. In 1853 he was appointed receiver of the United States Land Office at Council Bluffs. He became one of the founders of the city of Omaha, being a member of the company that platted the town in 1853. He died on the 13th of February, 1880.
was born in Dubuque County, Iowa, April 17, 1853. In youth he worked on a farm and in a blacksmith shop and became a land surveyor. He was a student, securing a good knowledge of Latin and higher mathematics. Early in the seventies he went to Farley where he invented and had patented several mechanical devices, chiefly improvements in agricultural implements. About this time he began to take an interest in geology and archaeology and made an amateur geological survey, covering 17,000 square miles in northeastern Iowa, being the most extensive survey ever made at private expense. From 1883 to 1893 he was in charge of the coastal plain operations of the United States Geological Survey, compiling many geological maps and making personal surveys covering more than 300,000 square miles. He has published several volumes and many papers on geological and anthropological subjects. Professor McGee has established various new principles in glacial and general geology, as well as tracing the beginnings of agriculture, marriage, domestication of animals, etc., in the field of anthropology. In addition to his official position in charge of the Bureau of American Ethnology at Washington, Professor McGee is non-resident professor of anthropology in the State University of Iowa and was representative of the United States Geological Survey in the International Geological Congress at Berlin in 1887; acting president of the American Association for Advancement of Science, 1897; president of the Anthropological Society of Washington, 1897-99; vice-presiden t of the National Geographic Society, 1898-9; first president of the American Anthropological Association and vice-president of the Ordicalogical Institute of America. He is a member of leading scientific and historical societies, being founder of Columbia Historical Society and first editor of the Geological Society of America.
one of the pioneers of northern Iowa, was born in Goochland County, Virginia, in November, 1805. He emigrated to the mining region of Michigan Territory in 1827 and was appointed clerk of the United States District Court of that Territory. He served in the Black Hawk War and in 1833 removed to Dubuque. At the first session of the Wisconsin Territorial Legislature Mr. Lewis served as chief clerk of the House of Representatives. Upon the creation of Iowa Territory in 1838 he was elected to the Council of the First Legislative Assembly where he took a prominent part in framing the first laws. In 1841 he was again a member of the Assembly and was chosen Speaker of the House. In 1850 he was elected to the State Senate where he served four years. He was appointed by Governor Lucas Major-General of the Iowa militia and assisted in its organization. In 1845 he was appointed Register of the United States Land Office at Dubuque. In 1853 he was appointed by President Pierce Surveyor-General for Iowa, Wisconsin and Minnesota and at the expiration of his term was reappointed by President Buchanan. He served twenty-four years as recorder of Dubuque County. Mr. Lewis was a prominent member of the Democratic party during all of his mature life and died in Dubuque, May 4, 1888, at the age of eighty-three.
first Governor of Iowa Territory, was born at Shepherdstown, Jefferson County, Virginia, on the 1st of April, 1781. His father was an officer in the Revolutionary War who, in 1800, liberated his slaves and removed to Scioto County, Ohio. Robert received his education under a private teacher and became a surveyor. When the War of 1812 began he was appointed captain in the regular army and as the war progressed attained the rank of colonel. He served nineteen years in the Ohio Legislature and during that period was presiding officer of both House and Senate. In 1832 he was president of the Democratic National Convention which nominated Andrew Jackson for President. In the same year he was elected Governor of Ohio and in 1834 was reelected, serving four years. On the 7th of July, 1838, he was appointed by President Van Buren Governor of the new Territory of Iowa. As his services in that position have been mentioned quite fully elsewhere it is sufficient here to say that he gave to Iowa an able, intelligent and faithful administration. At its close he retired to his farm near Iowa City in June, 1841. Governor Lucas was chosen a member of the First Constitutional Convention which met in 1844 and was one of its ablest and most useful delegates. He died at his home February 7, 1853.
grandson of General John M. Corse, one of Iowa's most distinguished soldiers, is a native of Burlington. Mr. McArthur received his education at the Institute College of Burlington, Chicago University and Cornell University of New York, where he graduated in 1881. He took the law course at Columbia College and was admitted to the bar in 1882. Immediately he entered upon practice in his native city and was soon after appointed deputy collector of Internal Revenue. He served as colonel on the staffs of Governors Jackson and Drake. In 1895 he was elected on the Republican ticket to the House of Representatives of the Twenty-sixth General Assembly where he was a prominent supporter of bills to permit the manufacture of spirituous liquors in the State, to drain lowlands of the Mississippi valley and to prohibit city councils from granting franchises to quasi-public corporations. In 1897 he was elected to the State Senate where he served in the Twenty-seventh General Assembly. In 1900 Mr. McArthur was appointed clerk of the United States District Court.
geologist, was born near Denmark, Iowa, March 10, 1859. He was reared in the atmosphere of the academy founded by the grandfather, Rev. Asa Turner, which he entered in 1872. Upon leaving the academy in 1878 the young man spent a year on his father's farm. In 1880 he was made teacher of natural science, a position which he held for three years. During this time he became especially interested in geology which led him to spend a year in Colorado, partly at Colorado College and partly in field work. In 1884 he entered the Iowa Agricultural College, and before completing his contemplated course preparatory to teaching, he became especially interested in glacial geology. Through the influence of W. J. McGee and Professor T. C. Chamberlain he received the position of Special Field Assistant on the United States Geological Survey. In 1890 he was made an Assistant United Geologist. He has given his attention chiefly to glacial geology, considering the deposits both in their economic and scientific phases. In 1892 he spent some time in the service of the Illinois Board of World's Fair Commissioners, preparing an exhibit of the soils of the State. His scientific publications began in 1884 and he has since contributed numerous valuable articles to scientific publications, among which may be mentioned the "Water Resources of Illinois," and two monographs published by the United States Geological survey, the first on the "Illinois Glacial Lobe," and the second "Glacial Formations and Drainage Features of the Erie and Ohio Basins."
who gave the name to Iowa before it had an organized existence as a Territory or State, was born in east Tennessee in 1807. With a common school education he entered the Military Academy at West Point in 1827 from which he graduated in 1831. He was appointed second lieutenant in the artillery service. In 1832 he was detached on topographic work and in 1834 was transferred to the First Dragoons, in the company commanded by Captain Jesse B. Browne. The regiment was sent to the upper Mississippi with headquarters at old Fort Des Moines (now Montrose) in Lee County, Iowa. It was from here in 1835 that Lieutenant Lea accompanied the exploring expedition under Captain Boone which marched through the wild regions bordering on the upper Des Moines, Boone and Iowa rivers. Lieutenant Lea wrote the first description of that part of the county ever published, from notes and maps made while on the march. After his return, he published a book of forty-five pages to which he gave the title "Notes on the Iowa District of Wisconsin Territory." This is believed to have been the first time the name "Iowa" was applied to the country which two years later became the Territory of Iowa. While in camp on the shores of a beautiful lake in southern Minnesota, Lieutenant Lea made a plat and sketch which was sent to the War Department, where the name "Albert Lea" was given it. He soon after resigned his commission and purchased claims at the mouth of Pine Creek on the west side of the Mississippi, eighteen miles below Rock Island, where he laid out a town which he named Ellenborough. He expected this to be an important city as the country became settled but the founding of Davenport on one side and Muscatine on the other, ruined his hopes and the plat became in time a farm. Lieutenant Lea was employed as a civil engineer to assist in establishing the disputed boundary between Iowa and Missouri. In 1841 he was chief clerk in the War Department and in 1843 was Professor of Mechanics in the University of Tennessee. During the Civil War he was an officer in the Confederate army. He died at Corsicana, Texas, on the 30th of January 1891.
was born in Bromberg, Prussia, on the 31st of May, 1824. When sixteen years of age he was sent to the University of Halle where he received a thorough military education. At the age of twenty he entered the Prussian army and in 1847 served against the Poles in a revolution. In 1849 he emigrated to America and coming to Iowa located at Burlington where he became a merchant. When the Rebellion began he was the first man in Iowa and the United States, to tender a military company to the National Government. He was captain of Company D, of the First Iowa Volunteers. In July, 1861, he was promoted to lieutenant-colonel of the Fifth Infantry and upon the death of Colonel Worthington was promoted to the command of that regiment. At the Battle of Iuka his regiment was in the thickest of the fight and lost two hundred seventeen men. In April, 1863, Colonel Matthies was promoted to Brigadier-General for his gallant services in several battles.
was born in Des Moines, Iowa, December 24, 1864. His education was begun in the public schools of his native city and continued in Callanan College. Later he entered the State University from which he was graduated in 1887. The following two years were devoted to study with Professor Wachsmith of Burlington. During 1889 and 1890, Mr. Keyes was an assistant on the United States Geological Survey and in the latter year received the degree of A. M. from the State University. Continuing his geological studies at John Hopkins University at Baltimore, he received from that institution the degree of Ph. D. in 1892. Dr. Keyes then returned to Des Moines and became Assistant State Geologist of Iowa. In 1894 he was appointed Director of the Bureau of Geology and Mines of Missouri, which position he held until 1897 when he returned to Des Moines. In 1902 he was elected president of the New Mexico School of Mines at Socorro. Dr. Keyes is a prolific writer; among his best known works may be cited "Origin and Relation of Central Maryland Granites," "Coal Deposits of Iowa" (Iowas Geological Survey Vol. II) and "Paleontology of Missouri" (Missouri Geological Survey Vol. IV, Pts. 1-2).
was born at Cadiz, Ohio, on the 28th of April, 1846, receiving
his education in his father's printing office. He enlisted in the Union army
in 1864 and became a lieutenant before the war closed. Soon after his father
removed to Mount Pleasant, Iowa, and became the owner of the Journal where
the son continued to assist in the office, until his father's death when he
became the proprietor of the establishment. He was a warm friend of Senator
James Harlan and in the contest for reelection in 1872, was one of the
Senator's strongest supporters. After Mr. Harlan's defeat Mr. Hatton removed
to Burlington where he became the editor of the daily Hawkeye and was
appointed postmaster of the city. When President Garfield was inaugurated
Mr. Hatton was appointed First Assistant Postmaster-General and upon the
resignation of Mr. Gresham he succeeded him at the head of the Post-Office
Department, becoming a member of President Arthur's Cabinet. He was at one
time chairman of the Republican State Central Committee of Iowa. He removed
to Washington D. C., and became one of the editors of the daily Post where he
died on the 30th of April, 1894.
was born in Windham, Connecticut, May 10, 1811. He graduated
at Yale College in 1832 and became a civil engineer. After a few years of
teaching he came to the west and settled on a farm near Burlington, then in
Wisconsin Territory, in 1837. In 1842 he served on a commission appointed by
Governor Chambers to adjust the claims of traders amounting to $250,000,
against the Sac and Fox Indians. Mr. Hebard built the first ridge on the
military road opened from Burlington to the Indian Agency on the Des Moines
River. He was elected to the Territorial Legislature in 1840 and was twice
reelected, serving in Third, Fourth and Sixth Legislative Assemblies, taking
a prominent part in framing laws for the new Territory of Iowa. In 1846 he
was elected to the First General Assembly of the State, serving at the
regular and extra sessions. In 1856 Mr. Hebard made a survey for the
Burlington Missouri Railroad from river to river. While on the survey he
selected and purchased a large tract of land in Montgomery County where the
town of Red Oak was afterwards laid out. He made his home on a fine farm
near the town. During the Civil War Mr. Hebard was employed by the
Government in building railroad bridges in the south as the Union armies
advanced. He was a life-long Democrat and died September 21, 1896.
was born near Mount Vernon, Knox County, Ohio, on the 18th
of February, 1830. He prepared for college at Granville Academy and Wesleyan University, Delaware, entering the Ohio Medical College at Cincinnati and was graduated from that institution. In 1855 he came to Iowa and began the practice of medicine at Muscatine, but soon removed to Oskaloosa, where in 1861 he became editor of the Weekly Herald. He was an accomplished writer and his paper attained wide influence in that section of the State. He was appointed postmaster of Oskaloosa, by President Lincoln. In 1865 he removed to Burlington becoming one of the owners and the chief editor of the Hawkeye. In 1869 he was elected by the Republicans to the State Senate, serving four years with marked ability. He was an earnest advocate of the taxation of corporate property on the same basis as other property and the taxation of the railroad bridges across the Mississippi and Missouri rivers. He favored the employment of women in the public service and the extension to them of the right of suffrage. In 1874 he was appointed Librarian of the War Department at Washington, with charge of the records of the Rebellion. In 1879 he was appointed by President Hayes Fourth Auditor of the Treasury, which position he held until 1885. He was a member of the council called by Plymouth Congregational church at Brooklyn, New York, which tried the charges preferred against Rev. Henry Ward Beecher in 1876. He was a life-long and prominent member of the Congregational church and moderator of its fifty-second annual meeting at Sioux City in 1891. At the celebration of the Semi-Centennial Anniversary of the admission of Iowa as a State held at Burlington in 1896, Dr. Beardsley was one of the chief managers. His great ardor in the work assigned to him led to overexertion bringing on nervous prostration from which he never rallied. He died at his home December 29, 1896.
one of the notable pioneer journalists of Iowa, was born at New
Haven, Vermont, January 21, 1816. His father removed to Ohio when he was a
child and Clark, after attending the public schools, entered Granville
College where he graduated. He acquired a knowledge of the printing business
and with the aid of his father purchased the Newark Gazette and for fourteen
years was its editor and proprietor. In 1854 he removed to Burlington, Iowa,
where, with the assistance of his brother-in-law, he purchased the Hawkeye,
then a tri-weekly journal. When the Republican party was organized the
Hawkeye became one of the ablest exponents of its principles and Mr. Dunham
developed into one of the most successful editors in the State. He knew how
to make a newspaper before the era of telegraphs and daily papers. While he
was not a voluminous writer, he knew just what the public wanted in a paper
and gave it. The Hawkeye under his management was the best known and most
influential paper in Iowa and became widely known throughout the West. Mr.
Dunham was a trusted friend of James W. Grimes, Samuel J. Kirkwood, James F.
Wilson and Samuel F. Miller. During the War of the Rebellion Mr. Dunham was
one of the first to realize that it could only end with the destruction of
slavery and the Hawkeye was striking sturdy blows against that remnant of
barbarism while others were vainly attempting compromise. In 1867 Mr. Dunham
was appointed postmaster of Burlingon, which position he held until his death
which occurred on the 12th of April, 1871.
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 brilliant 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 Office, 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 served two years.
In 1878 he was appointed Railroad Commissioner 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
faithfully, or brought to the performance of his official duties a more
conscientious regard for the general welfare of the people than Governor C.
C. Carpenter.
was born at Deerfield, New Hampshire, April 15, 1810. He
was educated in the public schools with a few terms at an academy, and worked
on his father's farm until the age of twenty-one when he began the study of
law, practicing in his native State until the summer of 1844 when he removed
to Iowa, locating at Burlington. Although a Democrat, he distinguished
himself the first year of his residence in Iowa by taking the stump against
the adoption of the Constitution recently framed by his party and helped to
defeat it at the election. Under this Constitution the boundaries of the
State would have extended north taking in a large portion of southeastern
Minnesota and would have excluded all of the Missouri slope west of a line
running north and south from near the west side of Kossuth and Ringgold
counties. Enoch W. Eastman, Theordore S. Parvin and Frederick D. Mills, all
Democrats and young men, warmly opposed the adoption of such boundaries and
influenced enough of their Democratic associates to unite with the Whigs to
defeat the Constitution. This was one of the most important public services
ever rendered the State. When Iowa was called upon to contribute a stone for
the Washington monument in 1850, Enoch W. Eastman was the author of the
inscription placed upon it: "Iowa-Her affections like the rivers of her
borders, flow to an inseparable Union." Mr. Eastman removed to Oskaloosa in
1847 and to Eldora in 1857. When the Rebellion began he left the Democratic
party and united with the Republicans. In 1863 he was elected
Lieutenant-Governor and in 1883 he was elected to the State Senate. He died
on the 9th of January, 1885.
was born at Burlington in the Territory of Iowa, on the 24th of
June, 1844. He received a college education, graduating from Yale in 1867
and from Columbia Law Department in 1869. He served as a lieutenant in a New
York regiment during the Civil War and, returning to Burlington, entered upon
the practice of law. In 1898 he was elected on the Republican ticket to
Congress from the First District, was reelected in 1900 and again in 1902.
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 newspaper fraternity and was offered a
position on the Burlington Hawkeye. In a few years he gave that paper a
national reputation and corresponding circulation outside of the State. As a
humorous writer he had few 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 Hawkeye's, Rise and Fall of the Mustache,
Innach Garden and Other Comic Sketches, and Life of William Penn.
Born at Batavia, New York, February 27, 1808, and was
reared on a farm. He attended district school winters and a few terms at
Wyoming Academy. He taught school three winters and helped to survey several
new counties. In 1828 he began to study law, removed to Ohio and was
admitted to the bar of Columbus. In 1839 he came to Iowa Territory and a
year later opened a law office at Mount Pleasant where in a few years he
acquired a large practice, attending courts in eleven counties. In 1844 he
was chosen a delegate to the First Constitutional Convention and was one of
the prominent framers of the Constitution that was rejected. Soon after he
removed to Burlington and in 1854 was appointed Supreme Judge to fill a
vacancy. In 1855 he was elected president of the Burlington Missouri
Railroad Company and was one of the influential promoters of that line. In
1857 he was again a member of the Constitutional Convention which framed our
present Constitution. He was one of the authors of the State Board of
Education which was provided for in that instrument. In 1859 he was elected
to the Eighth General Assembly and took a prominent part in the enactment of
the Code of 1860. In politics Judge Hall was a Democrat; as a lawyer, judge
and legislator, he had few equals in the State he served so long and well.
He died June 11, 1874.
was born April 27, 1835, at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In 1842
his father removed to the new Territory of Iowa, locating at Burlington. 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 engaged 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 for the First Battery of Light Artillery. Soon
after he received the appointment 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
distinguished 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.
third Governor of Iowa, was born at Deering, New Hampshire,
October 20, 1816. At the age of sixteen he entered Dartmouth College where
he graduated and began the study of law. In 1836 he came to the "Black Hawk
Purchase," stopping at Burlington. He served as secretary to Governor Henry
Dodge in September at a council held with the Sac and Fox Indians at Rock
Island, in which these tribes ceded to the United States a tract of land on
the Iowa and Missouri rivers. In 1837 Mr. Grimes was admitted to the bar and
was soon after appointed city solicitor. He entered into partnership with W.
W. Chapman, then United States District Attorney for Wisconsin Territory.
When the Territory of Iowa was established in 1838, Mr. Grimes was elected a
member of the House of the First Legislative Assembly at the age of
twenty-two. He was appointed chairman of the judiciary committee and was one
of the leaders in a conflict which the majority had with Governor Lucas over
the respective powers of the executive and legislative branches of the
Territorial government. He was the Whig candidate for member of the Council
of the Third Legislative Assembly but was defeated. In 1843 he was again
elected a member of the House. In 1852 he was elected to the House of the
Fourth General Assembly and was the recognized leader of the Whig minority.
He took an active interest in the improvement of the school system, the
encouragement of railroad building, the promotion of temperance and
opposition to the extension of slavery. In 1853 he helped to establish the
first agricultural journal in the State and was one of its editors. It was
named The Iowa Farmer and Horticulturist and was published monthly at
Burlington by Morgan McKenny. Mr. Grimes had attained such prominence in the
State that in 1854 he was nominated by the Whigs for Governor. His
well-known antislavery views rendered him acceptable to all who were opposed
to the extension of that institution. That issue was then becoming intense
and while many conservative Whigs united with the Democrats, all classes who
favored "free soil" united in the support of Grimes and he was elected. It
was the first defeat for the Democrats since Iowa was organized into a
Territory. In January, 1856, Governor Grimes wrote the call for the
convention which, at Iowa City on the 22d of February, founded the Republican
party of Iowa. After serving as Governor for the term of four years, Grimes
was chosen United States Senator by the Seventh General Assembly. He became
one of the leading members of that body and as a member of the naval
committee was a power in sustaining the administration of Abraham Lincoln
during the Civil War. He was one of the earliest advocates of the employment
of slaves in the Union armies and of their emancipation. As chairman of the
committee on the District of Columbia, in July, 1861, he secured the release
from jail of all slaves held by their masters. In 1864 Senator Grimes was
reelected. After the overthrow of the Rebellion, Senator Grimes, as a member
of the joint committee on reconstruction was one of the number who devised
the terms upon which the union of the States was restored. He was largely
instrumental in securing the National Arsenal on Rock Island and the
construction of the canal for steamers around the Des Moines Rapids of the
Mississippi River. On the trial of President Johnson in the impeachment
proceedings, Senator Grimes rose above party clamor and, actuated by the
highest considerations as a judge, voted "not guilty." Such was the clamor
of Republicans for conviction that the great Senator was assailed with a
storm of rage and abuse of the most malignant character, by his own party.
Conscious of his own rectitude, he bore the reproaches with unshaken
fortitude. He would not become a party to revolutionary methods of removing
the Chief Executive of the Nation at the demand of his political friends.
When the storm of rage and disappointment had passed and reason returned,
the country realized that his courageous act in that momentous crisis was the
noblest and most heroic of his official deeds. He was stricken with
paralysis and made a journey to Europe hoping to restore his shattered
health; but failing in that, resigned his seat in the Senate and returned
home where he died on the 7th of February, 1872. Benton J. Hall, a life-long
political opponent, said of him in the State Senate:
"Perhaps no other man had the opportunity, or used it with the avail that
Senator Grimes did to form and mould the State and its institutions. He was
one of the living men in the Territorial legislation and early State history.
Afterwards we find the same master mind molding the affairs of the National
Government. I doubt whether any Senator ever impressed himself in a greater
degree upon the Government in all directions. Whether in regard to the navy,
or army, or foreign relations, he made himself master of the subject, and
left his impress upon almost every page of the history of the Nation."
The veteran Congressman George W. Julian wrote of Senator Grimes, after his
death:
"I was one of the many men whose partisan exasperation carried them headlong
into the impeachment movement, in which the heroic conduct of Senator Grimes
has been so gloriously vindicated by time; and no man is more ready than
myself to do honor to the brave men who faced the wrath and scorn of their
party in 1868."
son of Senator Augustus C. Dodge, was born in Burlington,
Iowa, April 25, 1854. He pursued his education in Notre Dame University,
taking a scientific course and graduating in 1874, then entering the State
University he graduated from the Law Department in 1876, and began practice
in his native city. Mr. Dodge is an earnest Democrat, inheriting a taste for
politics. He has been a delegate to many State Conventions and was a
delegate at large to the National Democratic Convention at St. Louis at which
Grover Cleveland was nominated a second time. Mr. Dodge was elected to the
State Senate in 1885, serving by reelection in the Twenty-first,
Twenty-second, Twenty-third and Twenty-fourth General Assemblies. Among the
important acts of the Legislatures of which he was the author during his term
of service may be mentioned-one to prohibit the employment of children under
fifteen in factories, workshops and mines; one making the first Monday in
September a holiday known as Labor Day; and one to protect working people in
the use of their labels and trade marks. Senator Dodge was one of the two
members selected by the Senate to investigate charges made against the State
University. In 1890 he was appointed Lieutenant-Colonel on the staff of
Governor Boies.
was born at Eagle, Waukesha County, Wisconsin, May 22,
1854. He was educated in the district schools, applying himself to the more
advanced studies at home. He read law while working 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 began 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.
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 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 Attorney for the Territory. In 1838, when the
Territory of Iowa was established, 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
boundary. 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 October 9, 1892.
was born at Connersville in Indiana, December 3, 1818. He
acquired a liberal education, studied law and was admitted 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 territory 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 Lawmakers' 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.
was born at Blairsville, Pennsylvania, July 19, 1835. In
1843 his father removed with his family to Iowa Territory, making 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 Pottawattamie 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 known as
a man of ability by many of the leading statesmen of the country. He was a
strong, terse, vigorous writer, with positive convictions upon public
questions and had much originality of expression. He sought to make the
Nonpareil a molder of public opinion, rather than a reflector of it.
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 prevailing, 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
appointed by President Harrison, his old commander, Governor of the Territory
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 Democratic, the relations existing
between the executive and legislative branches of the Territorial government
were not harmonious. Soon after the inauguration 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.
Third Governor of the Territory of Iowa, was born July 5, 1812,
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 Gazette, 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
Wisconsin Territorial Gazette in 1837. This was the first newspaper
published in 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 Governor 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 successor. He was the 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,
having 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 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 perpetuated side by side.
Who rendered a great service to Iowa when a young man,
has left no record of his youth and place of nativity. We only learn that he
graduated at Yale College in 1840 and came to Iowa in 1841, locating at
Burlington where he became the law partner of J. C. Hall. He was a brilliant public
speaker and in 1845 rendered a voluntary service to Iowa which has immortalized
his name. Although a Democrat, he opposed the efforts of his party to secure
the adoption of the Constitution of 1844, under which the entire Missouri
slope would have been cut off from the State as defined in the enabling act of
Congress. Uniting his efforts with Theodore S. Parvin and Enoch W. Eastman, he
canvassed the Territory, urging the electors to vote against the adoption of
the Constitution which would do away with the symmetical proportions of the
State. The Whigs were opposed to the Constitution for various other reasons,
while the Democrats were urging its adoption as a party measure. The three young
lawyers, all Democrats, who opposed its adoption solely on the ground of
obnoxious boundary on the west were able to defeat it and thus preserve for all
time the fair proportions of the State when it was finally admitted. At the
beginning of the War with Mexico in 1846, Mr. Mills received a commission as
major in the army and was with the command of General Scott in his march to the
City of Mexico. After the Battle of Cherubusco, Major Mills led a detachment
in pursuit of General Santa Anna to the walls of the city where he was slain on
the 20th of August, in leading a charge. The Federal Government had his name
inscribed on a mural tablet in the chapel of the Military Academy at West
Point as one of the heroes of Cherubusco. The General Assembly of Iowa
recognized his service in civil affairs by giving his name to a county.
Debbie Clough Gerischer