|
ANNALS OF IOWA
January, 1863, Number I
HISTORICAL
INTRODUCTION
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| |
Late in
the year 1862 a small group of like-minded Iowa pioneers met
in Iowa City to consider embarking their frail craft on a
bold venture. The entire Nation was in the throes of a
bloody Civil War and dark days loomed on the horizon for the
Union cause. But time was of the essence for the little
group who were the Officers and Curators of the State
Historical Society of Iowa. Established by law at Iowa City
in 1857, these men were determined to secure a historical
publication that would contain the story of Iowa’s glorious
past. As they discussed the prospects of securing an
appropriation for a history magazine they could look back
over five busy years that had laid the foundation for such a
bold venture—war or no war.
To refresh their
memories, perhaps, they reread Section I of the Act of the
General Assembly creating the Society and appropriating $250
to be expended in collecting, embodying, arranging and
preserving in an authentic form, a library of books,
pamphlets, maps, charts, manuscripts, papers, paintings,
statuary, and other materials illustrative of the state of
the history of Iowa; to rescue from oblivion the memory of
its early pioneers: to obtain and preserve varieties of
their exploits, perils and hardy adventures: to secure facts
and statements relative to the history, genius and progress
or decay of our Indian tribes: to exhibit faithfully the
antiquities, past and present resources of Iowa: also, to
aid in the publication of such of the collections of the
Society as the Society shall from time to time deem of value
and interest: to aid in binding its books, pamphlets,
manuscripts and papers, and in paying other necessary
incidental expenses of the Society.
During the past
five years they had done quite well through individual
effort, except for that one phrase— “to aid in the
publication of such of the collections” as were considered
valuable. In their First Annual Report, dated December 1,
1857, the Board of Curators had called the attention of
Governor James W. Grimes and the General Assembly to the
following paragraph in the annual report of the New York
Historical Society which, they declared, “expresses our own
sentiments, and articulates our own feelings.” It read:
| The advantages resulting
from the study of history, and the collection of
historical records, cannot be too strongly urged on
the attention of the members of this Society. In
order that history may be written the most authentic
materials must be provided. No generation comprises
within its own knowledge and experience all that is
necessary to secure the integrity of its annals. It
must rely upon records, it must examine and compare
opinions, it must study the events of the past. It
must have the means of investigation and analysis at
hand. Collections like these by which we are
surrounded, and which are designed to preserve the
memories of other days, will be deemed of
inestimable value by generations which are to come
after us. |
| |
Who were these men who (in the midst of hard times and when
farmers were endeavoring to pay for their land) were bold
enough to launch a State Historical Society on the prairies
of Iowa. They constituted some of the leaders of the Hawkeye
State — a Governor and a future Governor— lawyers, judges,
newspaper editors, and a number of outstanding business and
professional men. The officers for 1857 were:
| President: |
| Hon. J. W.
Grimes |
| |
|
|
Vice-Presidents: |
| Hon. S.
J. Kirkwood |
Hon. F.
H. Lee |
| Hon. H.
W. Gray |
Hon. C.
F. Clarkson |
| Hon. E. Price |
| |
|
|
Corresponding Secretary: |
C.B.Smith |
|
Recording Secretary: |
Thomas
Hughes |
|
Librarian: |
John
Pattee |
|
Tresurer: |
J.P.
Wood |
| |
|
| Curators |
| Hon.
John Shane |
E.K.
Rugg |
| Hon.
D.P. Palmer |
William
Vogt |
| Hon.
D.W. Price |
T.S.
Parvin |
| Hon.
Charles Negus |
Hon. W.
Penn Clarke |
| Hon. W.
F. Coolbaugh |
J.C.
Culbertson |
| Hon. S.
H. Langworthy |
G.D.
Woodin |
|
F.B.Ballard |
Hon.
G.W. McCleary |
| M.B.
Cochran |
Legrand
Byington |
|
H.D. Downey |
Hon. S.G. Winchester |
|
|
|
Unfortunately the Panic of 1857 had cast its withering spell
on Iowa as well as on the Nation: witness the appropriation
of $250 from the General Assembly for the important work of
the State Historical Society. Despite this pittance the
Board of Curators had met regularly with a quorum always on
hand to do business, and with Curators coming from a
distance to “assist in carrying out the objects of the
Society.”
This unbounded enthusiasm, coupled with an
increase of the annual appropriation to $500 in 1860, and
the many hours unselfishly allotted to the Society by
Officers and Curators, were important factors in launching
the State Historical Society of Iowa on its publication
program in 1863. Perhaps a final factor in catapulting the
Curators into action was the fact that the Wisconsin and
Minnesota Historical Societies, like the Iowa Society, had
been publishing short Annual Reports from their beginnings.
In addition, however, the Wisconsin and Minnesota Societies
had a budget large enough to permit the publication of the
Collections in the case of the Wisconsin Historical Society
and the Proceedings in the case of the Minnesota Historical
Society. Deeply stirred by the success of these neighboring
Historical Societies, the Curators determined to issue a
publication in the form of a quarterly magazine which they
named The Annals o[ the State Historical Society o[ Iowa.
The Society was fortunate, perhaps, that Governor Samuel
Jordan Kirkwood had been serving as President of the Society
and strongly supporting its work since 1859.
The
first four numbers of the Annals of the Society were “issued
by the Committee of Publications, with the Assistance of the
LIBRARIAN.” Oliver M. Spencer served as Chairman of this
three man Committee during 1863 and their names appeared for
the first time on the front cover of the January, 1864,
number of the Annals of Iowa. They were:
| Oliver M. Spencer, D.D., |
President of the State
University |
| Nathan R. Leonard, |
Professor in the
University |
| Rev. Samuel Storrs Howe, |
Editor of the Annals |
| |
|
Let us say a few words about Reverend Howe, who edited the
first historical quarterly for the State Historical Society
of Iowa in 1863, which incidentally, was one of the very
first such quarterlies in the
United States. Samuel
Storrs Howe sprang from Colonial ancestry, the first Howes
coming to the Massachusetts Colony only thirty years after
its founding. His father. Job Lane Howe, was a son of
Captain John Howe of the Revolutionary army and his uncle,
Abner Howe, died in that struggle. The Howes gradually
migrated westward, Samuel Howe himself being born in
Shoreham, Vermont, on June 20, 1808. When Samuel Howe
was seventeen, he entered Middlebury College and graduated
third in his class in 1829. He attended Andover Theological
Seminary in 1829-1830, taught briefly at Castleton and
Canandaigua academies with his elder brother, and then
continued his studies at Andover and Princeton. After
holding various teaching and preaching positions in New
England and New York, the Reverend Samuel Storrs Howe
accepted a call to the Presbyterian church in Iowa City.
Upon his arrival in Iowa City, Reverend Howe found the
“Old Stone Church” on Burlington Street only partially
finished. He promptly set to work collecting funds for its
completion, little realizing at the time that it would
become the home of the State Historical Society from 1868 to
1882. Meanwhile, his facile tongue, his rich cultural
background, his knowledge of the Bible, mathematics, the
classics, and a wide range of subjects, had marked Reverend
Howe as an unusually gifted man. When the Officers and
Curators of the State Historical Society began to look about
for someone to help edit their new historical quarterly, it
is not surprising that they should select Samuel Storrs Howe
— preacher, orator, author, antiquarian, and a man who had
manifested a deep and abiding love for his newly adopted
home. Reverend Howe was not without editorial experience. On
February 1, 1854, he had brought out Volume I, Number 1, of
the Iowa State Journal, a Temperance magazine published
bi-monthly with Howe both editor and publisher.
The
Annals of Iowa received a warm reception from its inception.
The Davenport Gazette declared the magazine “ought to be in
the library of every citizen of Iowa.” The Vinton Eagle was
impressed with the “large amount of interesting material” in
the Iowa City quarterly that was made available to the
people of Iowa for only fifty cents per annum. The Cedar
Valley Times of Cedar Rapids was also highly complimentary,
declaring:
| ANNALS. — The October number of the “Annals of
the State Historical Society” has come to hand. It is full
of interesting and valuable matter. The publication belongs
exclusively to Iowa. It is published at Iowa City by the
State Historical Society, and its object is to collect and
preserve, in a permanent form, the facts connected with the
early history of Iowa. Its cost is only 50 cents a year, and
it ought to be taken by the people and ensured a permanent
existence. |
| |
The Dubuque Times praised the many
excellent contributions found in the Annals of the State
Historical Society of Iowa and the Marshall County Times
felt the Iowa City publication was “one of the most
interesting publications in the State of Iowa, and should be
found in every household in the State.” In its Fourth
Biennial Report to the Governor and General Assembly dated
December 1, 1863, the Board of Curators could look back
with considerable satisfaction on the first four issues of
their quarterly.
In the third chapter of the
constitution of the State Historical Society it is declared
to be a part of its object to “diffuse and publish
information relating to the description and history of
Iowa.” From the lack of adequate funds this has been to a
great degree impossible heretofore, and a large number of
histories of counties and other papers of historic
character, have accumulated on our shelves: but as there was
a small surplus in the treasury at the close of 1862, it was
thought proper to commence the publication of a quarterly
magazine devoted to this object, to be published in octavo
form, each number to consist of not less than forty-eight
pages, and the number of copies issued to be five hundred.
Accordingly, the first number of the “Annals of the State
Historical Society of Iowa” made its appearance in the month
of April, 1863, and the last number for the year is just now
issued. A copy of the same is herewith furnished.
Owing to the limited state of our funds, it was deemed
necessary to charge for this magazine the sum of fifty cents
per annum; we had hoped that the returns from the
subscription list would, in a large measure, cover the cost
of publications, but as we have not been able to employ an
agent, hitherto, to canvas for subscribers, the list is yet
but limited, and the returns of course meager.
To
continue its work, the Treasurer of the Society showed a
balance of $219.46 on hand. President F. H.
Lee reported
that the articles for the “Cabinet” for display purposes
included: Minerals, 14; flags, 5; portraits, 120; and
curiosities of nature and art, 49.
Total, 188. The
whole number of books in the library totaled 2,204 and the
exchange papers or magazines numbered 51. Clearly, the
resources available for research and editorial purposes in
1863, while limited when measured by present-day holdings,
showed a steady increase in acquisitions over the first six
years of the Society’s existence.
Then, as now, the
Board of Curators were aware of the thoughtless neglect of
many lowans who failed to preserve their contemporary
records for the use of posterity. To the Union soldier the
Board expressed concern over the fact “that many of those
most actively engaged in the work of putting down the
rebellion, are not awake to the importance of preserving the
records we wish, thus greatly enhancing our labor and
leaving to be done by other hands that which they alone can
do perfectly.” The members of the General Assembly were also
lectured on their responsibility in personally seeing that
records were preserved. In concluding this report we would
respectfully request of each member of your honorable body
to interest himself practically in the work of preserving
the history of our counties, our State, our soldiers and our
public men. You have with us, a common interest in this
matter. By your personal efforts, each in his own district
or county, more can be done for our cause than it is in the
power of any other class of men to accomplish. We cheerfully
give of our time and labor to the task of collecting and
arranging such matters as come to our hand. Our hearts are
interested in the work, and we shall feel well repaid if
through the co-operation of others, we shall be enabled to
preserve for future generations, a complete record of the
past and present of our State.
A distinguishing
feature, not only of the first volume of the Annals of Iowa
but also of subsequent volumes, was the effort of succeeding
editors to secure contributions on the histories of the
various counties. The first volume had carried a series of
articles on Scott County by Willard Barrows which was
actually continued through the January and April issues of
1864. In the next four years varying accounts, some brief,
some long, appeared on Davis, Lee, Marshall, Polk, and
Wapello counties, but none, strangely, on Johnson County. In
the October, 1867, issue of the Annals of Iowa, the editor
wrote:
The Historian of Johnson County is called for.
Will he come forward and take his place in The Annals? It is
a remarkable fact that, although the State Historical
Society is eleven years old, and located in this County, and
The Annals have been published here since 1863, not a line
has ever been written (so far as known) relative to Johnson
County. Why, we are unable to explain, unless it be from the
extreme modesty of our old settlers that renders them
reluctant to appear in print.
Certainly a county,
which is among the earliest settled in the State, containing
a city which is its ancient capital, where the first
Legislature convened; where the first high courts were held;
where embryotic statesmen, since famous, made their debut in
public life, declaimed their maiden speeches and blushingly
drank in the applause; where its first Governor [Lucas], an
excellent and eloquent old man, lived and died; where nearly
all the State charitable and educational institutions have
at some time been located; has a history of more than
ordinary interest and importance.
Col. Trowbridge,
Capt. Irish, Henry Feltner, David Switzer, Sam’l H. McCrory,
Philip Clark, Cyrus Sanders, Stephen B. Gardiner, and others
whose names do not occur to us now of the earliest class,
and Judge Lee, Maj. Bowen, Gillman Folsom, Dr. Murray,
George Paul, J. Hartsock, Robt. Walker, John Parrott, and
many others of a later date of old settlers, whom we meet
daily in our streets, carry about in their memories the
material for a history of great interest to the present and
value to the future. Gentlemen, come forward and be
heard.
The first volume of The Annals o[ Iowa set the
pattern for the next four volumes — 1863-1867 inclusive — in
that they averaged 48 pages per issue. In the issue for
October, 1863, it was announced that a “full index” would be
prepared when successive numbers indicated “a volume of good
size.” Apparently this was reached after five years and
twenty numbers, paged consecutively to 967, with an
additional five pages devoted to listing the “Editors,” the
“Portraits and Embellishments,” and an “Index,” the latter
being in reality a simple Table of Contents arranged
alphabetically and embracing a scant four pages.
The
State Historical Society Library has one of these hefty
tomes, bound in three-quarter leather, and stamped in gold
with T. S. Parvin’s name on the spine. A book mark with
Parvin’s picture stated:
| “Presented to the Young Women’s
Christian Association Library of the S. U. L, Iowa City, by
T. S. Parvin, LL.D. No. 1. This collection of lowana is for
reference and consultation and not to be removed from the
Reception Room.” |
| |
The publication of the Annals of
Iowa through twelve consecutive years was a Herculean task.
The forty-eight issues totaled almost 3,400 pages, thus
averaging about seventy pages per number. In addition to
this, thirty-one beautiful steel engravings were included,
all portraits of notable lowans with the exception of one
showing Old Capitol on the State University of Iowa campus
at Iowa City.
While the greatest number of portraits
were Civil War heroes, two Territorial and two State
Governors were included. The remainder was made up of such
notable pioneers as Willard Barrows, George L. Davenport,
and Antoine LeClaire, whose portraits appeared in the first
volume which is reproduced herewith. One misses the
portraits of three distinguished lowans — James W. Grimes,
Samuel Jordan Kirkwood, and James Harlan, each of whom was
intimately associated with the work of the Society. James
Grimes served two terms as president of the Society while
Samuel Kirkwood served six terms as president between
1859-1865, and headed the Society when it launched the
Annals of Iowa in 1863. Since Kirkwood was also Governor
of Iowa during much of this time his influence was
particularly helpful when it came to soliciting
financial support from the General Assembly.
The
unusual merit of the “Portraits and Embellishments” which
appeared as the frontispiece in 31 of 48 numbers of The
Annals of Iowa makes their listing entirely proper at this
point.
| Willard Barrows |
Jan. 1863 |
| George L. Davenport |
July 1863 |
| Antoine LeClaire |
Oct. 1863 |
| Hiram Price |
Jan. 1864 |
| G.C.R. Mitchell |
Apr. 1864 |
| Benjamin Stone Roberts |
July 1864 |
| Hosea B. Horn |
Oct. 1864 |
| Samuel A. Rice |
Jan
1865 |
| Iowa State University |
Apr
1865 |
| Samuel R. Curtis |
Apr. 1866 |
| Granville Mellon Dodge |
July 1866 |
| Marcellus M. Crocker |
Oct. 1866 |
| Francis J. Herron |
Jan. 1867 |
| William Vandever |
Apr. 1867 |
| Cyrus Bussey |
July 1867 |
| Samuel Merrill |
Jan. 1868 |
| James M. Tuttle |
July 1868 |
| William M. Stone |
Oct. 1868 |
| D. Franklin Wells |
Jan. 1869 |
| Oran Faville |
Apr. 1869 |
| Robert Lucas |
Jan. 1870 |
| J.A. Williamson |
Apr. 1870 |
| N.W. Mills |
July 1870 |
| Brig. Gen. John Edwards |
Oct. 1870 |
| Col. John A. Garrett |
Jan. 1871 |
| Charles Negus |
Apr. 1871 |
| John Chambers |
July 1871 |
| Philip Viele |
Jan
1872 |
| Theodore S. Parvin |
Apr
1872 |
| James (and E.B.L.)
Grant |
Oct
1873 |
| William Edward Miller |
Oct
1874 |
| |
|
In its Ninth Biennial Report for the
period ending November 15, 1875, the Board of Curators
expressed regret that publication of the Annals of Iowa had
been suspended for lack of funds. For want of means to
continue it, at the end of last year the Board were obliged
to suspend the publication of the Annals of Iowa. This
quarterly had become a favorite with many, especially among
the old settlers, who looked upon it in a manner as their
peculiar organ, and it was with the greatest reluctance, and
only by the compulsionof circumstances, that its
suspension, which the Board hope the legislature will not
allow to be more than temporary, was permitted, after
its continuous and regular issue as a quarterly serial for a
period of
twelve years. Besides its general usefulness as
a historical periodical, and particularly as a permanent
depository of the record of early pioneer life in Iowa, it
served as a valuable means of exchange with the press of our
State, and with Historical Societies in all parts of the
country. At the time of its suspension, some valuable
historical manuscripts were in process of serial appearance
in its pages, and its suspension has involved an abrupt
interruption to their publication, discouraging and
provoking to the authors, annoying to the Board, and
discreditable to the State. As an indication of the interest
taken in the work it may be mentioned that the contributions
of money advanced by individuals to enhance its
attractiveness amount to a sum, since the beginning of 1870,
equal to the entire cost of its publication for two years.
The Board therefore hope the means will be afforded them of
speedily resuming its publication.
The State
Historical Society of Iowa was not the only Society to run
upon hard times for lack of a sufficient appropriation. Just
as the Officers and Board of Curators in Iowa City had
looked with envy upon youthful Minnesota to the north and
its publications in 1862, so the Minnesota Historical
Society pointed to Iowa and Wisconsin while bewailing its
unhappy lot in its Annual Report to the Legislature in 1868:
| During the past two years we have been compelled to forego
the publication of our valuable and important manuscript
materials for history, our funds being needed for more
urgent uses. The issue of our “Collections” should be
resumed ere long, for our citizens are thereby encouraged to
contribute historical papers that may draw forth treasures
of material for the history of our State. There are two
examples of the successful results of this: the Iowa
Historical Society, which publishes a quarterly magazine
devoted to securing and publishing scraps of Iowa history:
and the Wisconsin Historical Society, which is allowed to
print 150 pages a year at the expense of the State, three of
the annual pamphlets (being consecutively paged) forming
a volume. We have still on hand, however, a quantity of the
pamphlets forming our second volume of collections. |
| |
One cannot help but look back with gratitude, despite
this suspension, to the men who had the vision and
courage to launch the Annals o[ Iowa in 1863. Their names
deserve to be emblazoned in the obelisk of fame erected in
memory of those who have striven to disseminate a deeper
understanding and appreciation of Iowa history. The Officers
and Curators in 1863-1864 were:
| President |
| S.J. Kirkwood |
Johnson County |
| |
|
| Vice Presidents |
| Geo. W. McCleary |
Johnson County |
| O.M. Spencer |
Johnson County |
| F.H. Lee |
Johnson County |
| Willard Barrows |
Scott County |
| H.B. Horn |
Davis County |
| |
|
| Librarian
|
T.S. Parvin |
Johnson County |
| Corresponding Secretary |
T.S. Parvin |
Johnson County |
| Recording Secretary |
J.W. Morrison |
Johnson County |
| |
|
|
| Board of
Curators |
| O.M. Spencer |
Johnson County |
| S.M. Osmond |
Johnson County |
| F.H. Lee |
President |
Johnson County |
| G.H. Jerome |
Johnson County |
| I.N. Jerome. |
Johnson County |
| N.R. Leonard |
Johnson County |
| J.P. Wood |
Johnson County |
| G.W. McCleary |
Johnson County |
| Jas T. Robert |
Johnson County |
| Wm. Crum |
Johnson County |
| S.S. Howe |
Johnson County |
| J.R. Hartsock |
Johnson County |
| F.M. Gray |
Johnson County |
| Wm. H. Tuthill |
Cedar County |
| W.H.
Harris |
Des Moines County |
| H.A. Wiltse |
Dubuque County |
| J.B, Grinnell |
Poweshiek County |
| E. Price |
Clayton County |
| |
|
A word should be said of the typography and general
makeup of the first volume of the Annals o/ Iowa. One must
remember that these numbers were printed during the Civil
War, when labor was scarce, and when at least one of the
printers of the firm of Jerome & Duncan, L. A. Duncan, was
off on the fighting front. The type was badly worn, and all
too much broken. It was set by hand, which would only add to
the number of errors that were bound to occur.
The
type frequently was not cleaned and the press work poor.
Furthermore, the camel drum press of that period made it
virtually impossible to gain uniform impression. The work of
Jerome & Duncan of Iowa City stands in sharp contrast to the
second volume, which was printed by Luse & Lane in
Davenport. Indeed, with the exception of one other year (1865) all the other volumes of the Annals of Iowa were
printed by this same firm in Davenport, although under a
constantly changing combination of names. In photographing
the pages for offset reproduction every effort was made to
secure a more uniform impression. The limitation in
attaining this, as well as the contrast with modern
printing, can be seen by comparing the offset printing with
the letterpress in the Historical Introduction.
The
Ninth Biennial Report of the State Historical Society of
Iowa was the most voluminous issued up to that date. It
contained fifty printed pages, only six of which dealt with
normal routine business matters. Twenty-four pages were
devoted to a Membership List of the Society in 1875, the
names of Officers and Curators of the Society from 1857 to
1875, and an impressive list of “Donors.” The final eighteen
pages contained a speech by Henry Clay Dean entitled “The
Philosophy of the History of the Louisiana Purchase” which
was delivered before the 17th Annual Meeting of the State
Historical Society held at Iowa City on June 29, 1874.
It was not until 1885, in the Fifteenth Biennial Report
of the State Historical Society to the Governor of Iowa,
that the Board of Curators was able to announce publication
of a new historical quarterly— the Iowa Historical Record.
The first number of this 48-page journal appeared in
January, 1884, ten years after the suspension of the Annals
of Iowa. The need for such a publication had been recognized
by the Society throughout the decade but a meager biennial
appropriation had made publication impossible. The Iowa
Historical Record was continued as the Society’s publication
through eighteen volumes, discontinued in 1902, when the
State Historical Society of Iowa commenced publishing in a
new historical quarterly under the title — Iowa Journal of
History and Politics — the "and Politics” being a bow to the
founder and Editor, Benj. F. Shambaugh, destined to become
the Society’s Superintendent while serving as Head of the
Political Science Department at the University of Iowa. The
title was shortened to Iowa Journal of History in 1949 when
William J. Petersen became Superintendent and Editor.
Some idea of the magnitude of material contained in the
Society’s three publications may be gained from the fact
that the twelve quarterly volumes of the Annals of Iowa
contained 3,400 pages, the eighteen volumes of the Iowa
Historical Record 3,482 pages, and the fifty-nine volumes of
the Iowa Journal of History and Politics 32,937. In addition
to these quarterly publications, the State Historical
Society instituted a monthly magazine. The Palimpsest, in
1920 which is in its forty-fifth volume in 1964, and
numbered 20,509 pages, not counting the almost two
thousand pages devoted to pictures over the past fifteen
years.
These periodicals, totaling over 60,000 pages,
and the almost one hundred books published by the Society
since the turn of the Century, constitute one of the most
impressive publication programs of any historical society.
The little group of Officers and Curators, molders of
the destiny of the State Historical Society of Iowa, would
be truly thrilled if they could see today what a significant
beginning they had made when they launched the first number
of the Annals of Iowa in 1863.
They would be even
more thrilled if they would read the tribute paid the
Society on the 100th Anniversary of its founding in 1957 by
two of the Nation’s outstanding professional historians.
Written expressly for Publishers’ Weekly by Paul M. Angle
and Earl Schenck Miers, the tribute declared in part:
In
order to “rescue from oblivion’’ the memory of the early
pioneers, the State Historical Society of Iowa was
charged with establishing a library, promoting the study of
history, and publishing “information relating to the
description and history of Iowa.’’ A fine library, soon to
be housed in the Society’s new building, and long shelves
of publications attest to the diligence with which the
Society has pursued these objectives.
Throughout its
history, the State Historical Society of Iowa has emphasized
research and publication. A complete collection of its
imprints would include more than 150 books and pamphlets,
fifty-four volumes of the Iowa Journal of History, a
scholarly quarterly which, under various titles, has been
published in eighty-three of the Society’s one hundred
years, and thirty-seven volumes of the Palimpsest, a unique
popular monthly. No field of Iowa life has remained
untouched, and while high standards of scholarship have
always been maintained, many publications have been sought
by readers beyond the Society’s five thousand members.
States older than Iowa may have larger historical
literatures, but no state has had its past so thoroughly
explored and so widely disseminated by its own historical
society. One would be remiss, in accepting such warm
praise, if proper recognition were not paid the present
Board of Curators who have given of their time and
talent, made over many long periods of years, and frequently
at considerable expense to themselves. It is only
through the warm support of the General Assembly and the
unselfish service of such lowans, as are noted below,
that the fine publication program of the State Historical
Society has been maintained over the years. Their names,
too, must be boldly inscribed with those who have labored
diligently to see that Iowa’s history must be preserved.
| President |
| William R.
Hart |
| |
| Treasurer |
| Will J.
Hayek |
| |
| Board of
Appointed by Governor |
| Gregory Brunk |
Des Moines |
| James I. Dolliver |
Spirit Lake |
| William R. Ferguson |
Glidden |
| Eugene E. Garbee |
Fayette |
| Margaret Hinderman |
Washington |
| William C. Jaragin |
Storm Lake |
| Anna Lomas |
Red Oak |
| William B. Poinsett,
III |
Dubuque |
| Helen Vanderburg |
Shell Rock |
| |
|
| Superintendent |
| William J. Petersen |
Petersen |
| |
|
| Curators Elected
by Members |
| Sutherland Dows |
Cedar Rapids |
| William R. Hart |
Iowa City |
| L.R. McKee |
Muscatine |
| Dr. Henry G. Moershel |
Homestead |
| James Nesmith |
Iowa City |
| L.C. Rummells |
West Branch |
| Walter F. Schmidt |
Iowa City |
| W. Howard Smith |
Cedar Rapids |
| Ingalls Swisher |
Iowa City |
| |
|
In reprinting
this historic volume the Officers and Curators of the State
Historical Society pay a grateful tribute to the vision of
the founders of The Annals of Iowa — the first of a long
line of historical periodicals and books published by the
Society over a century of time.
| William J. Petersen |
Superintendent and Editor
State Historical Society of
Iowa
Iowa City, Iowa |
| |
|
| |
| ~ transcribed and submitted by
Constance |
|
