Answering a query. Hamline Street, running north from East Monroe to the Burlington right-of-way, was named in honor of Bishop Leonidas Lent Hamline, one of the early bishops of the Methodist church, who for a time, made his home in Mt. Pleasant, his residence being at the south end of the street, and where the Van Cise residence now stands, and where he died March 23, 1865.

At the general conference of the Methodist church held at New York in 1844, he was elected and ordained a bishop. After six years of service, on account of continuing ill health, Bishop Hamline, in 1852, asked the general conference to relieve him of his duties, and place him upon the retired ministers list, which was done. Just when the bishop came to Mt. Pleasant to make his home is not certain, but it was prior to 1855, as in February 1855, the Hamline Literary society at Iowa Wesleyan was named after the bishop, and he was here then.

In 1850, Bishop Hamline presided over the annual conference of the Methodist church held at Fairfield. The long over-land journey from Ohio had been hard on him, and he was in a very feeble state of health. It is probable that his physical condition was the reason he came to Mt. Pleasant, where Iowa Wesleyan, a Methodist school, was established, and in which he was very much interested.

Bishop Hamline is another of the remarkable men who have been residents of this community. Aside from his work as a Methodist pastor, he was assistant editor of the Western Christian Advocate prior to becoming a bishop, and in 1840, was one of the organizers of "The Ladies Repository" a monthly magazine, and was its first editor.

-- “Bystander’s Notes“ by Charles S. Rogers, Publisher-Editor of  The Free Press [weekly newspaper published in Mt. Pleasant, IA] Wednesday, January 17, 1945 p. 2