DAVID C. CLOUD was born in Champaign, Ohio, on the 22nd of January, 1817. He received but a common school education and learned the carpenter's trade. In 1839 he came to Iowa making his home at Muscatine where he worked at his trade several years. His evenings were spent studying law and at the end of six years without instruction he was able to pass an examination which admitted him to the bar. In 1851 he was elected Prosecuting Attorney and rose to prominence in his new profession. The office of Attorney-General was created in 1853 and D.S. Cloud was nominated by the Democratic State Convention for the position. He was elected, serving four years. In 1856 he was elected to the House of the Sixth General Assembly and was made chairman of the committee of ways and means. When the Republican party was organized, Mr. Cloud, being strongly opposed to slavery, united with that party. He wrote and published several books on political and industrial subjects. The chief among these were works on "The War Power of the President" and "Monopolies of the People."
LORENZO S. COFFIN was born in Alton, New Hampshire, on the 9th of April, 1823. He was reared on a farm with but little opportunity to secure an education. With two years' instruction in Oberlin College after leaving home he obtained a position as instructor in Geauga Seminary where James A. Garfield and the girl who afterwards became his wife, were pupils. In 1855 Mr. Coffin came to Iowa, taking a claim near Fort Dodge. Here he was elected superintendent of schools and made frequent addresses in the different parts of the county urging better methods of farming and improvement in the public schools. He was a frequent contributor to agricultural journals, and for several years conducted an agricultural department in the Fort Dodge Messenger. In 1883 he was appointed Railroad Commissioner, by Governor Sherman, serving five years. During his term it became his duty to investigate the cases of serious accidents and he became convinced that many of them might be avoided by the use of automatic couplers. From this time forward Mr. Coffin entered upon the formidable work of securing legislation to require the railroads of the country to equip their cars with automatic couplers. He has told the story of his successful work in the Annals of Iowa. It is sufficient to say that he was instrumental in procuring acts of the Iowa Legislature and also an act of Congress requiring the railroads to use the safety couplers. It is estimated that the loss of life of railroad employees has been reduced by this reform more than sixty per cent. Mr. Coffin has also for years carried on a movement among railroad men against the use of intoxicating liquors. His latest benevolent work is in behalf of discharged convicts from the penitentiaries. He has built on his farm a temporary home for this class of people called "Hope Hall," where ex-prisoners may live until employment can be found for them. For more than twenty years Mr. Coffin has given a large share of his time to reform work, chiefly in the causes here mentioned.
CHESTER C. COLE was born in Chenango County, New York, June 4, 1824. He prepared for college at Oxford Academy and at the age of eighteen entered the junior class of Union College, afterwards taking the law course at Harvard University. Going to Frankfort, Kentucky, he reported the legislative proceedings for a daily paper. He was admitted to the bar of Crittenden County and there entered upon the practice of his profession, in which he soon attained high rank. In May, 1857, he removed to Des Moines, and soon became one of the most successful lawyers of the Capital City. In 1859 he was the Democratic candidate for judge of the Supreme Court but was defeated. In 1860 he was nominated by the Democrats of the Second District, which then embraced the south half of the State, for Representative in Congress but was defeated by Samuel R. Curtis, Republican. When the attack was made by Rebels of South Carolina on Fort Sumter, Mr. Cole was one of the first of the prominent Democrats to declare for the Union and urge the cooperation of men of all parties in support of the Government. Failing to bring about such a patriotic stand on part of his Democratic associates he left his party with such men as Governor N. B. Baker, R. G. Kellogg, Cyrus Bussey and M. M. Crocker and united with the Republicans in support of the administration of Abraham Lincoln. In February, 1864, Mr. Cole was appointed by Governor Stone judge of the Supreme Court, to which position he was elected by the people in November for a full term of six years and was reelected, serving until January 13, 1876, when he resigned. He became Chief Justice in January, 1870. Judge Cole was one of the most active promoters of the Soldiers' Orhpans' Home and in 1865 was associated with Judge Wright in establishing a law school at Des Moines which was afterwards moved to and became the Law Department of the State University at Iowa City. Judge Cole was for several years editor of the Western Jurist. He was also editor of a new edition of Iowa Law Reports. As a lawyer he has long ranked among the ablest of the State.
EDWIN H. CONGER, soldier, banker and statesman, was born in Knox County, Illinois, March 7, 1843. He attended the public schools in boyhood and, entering Lombard University at Galesburg, graduated in 1862. Mr. Conger enlisted as a private in an Illinois regiment. He made a brave soldier and was promoted several times, finally becoming captain of his company and at the close of the war was brevetted major. Upon his return home he entered the Albany Law School, where he graduated in 1866 and entered upon practice at Galesburg, but two years later removed to Iowa, locating on a farm near Dexter. After five years he became a resident of the village and engaged in banking. In 1875 he established another bank at Stuart. He was for several years one of the trustees of Mitchellville Seminary. In 1878 he was elected treasurer of Dallas County and in 1880 was nominated by the Republican Convention for State Treasurer. He was elected, serving two terms with marked ability. Remaining in Des Moines, after he retired, in 1886 he was elected to Congress in the Seventh District. In 1888 he was reelected, serving until appointed by President Harrison minister to Brazil where he served with distinction for four years. Upon the election of McKinley, in 1897, Major Conger was restored to the Brazilian mission. But American interests in China requiring an experienced diplomat, the President transferred him to that empire. When the Boxer uprising took place and the massacres began, great anxiety was felt for the safety of all of the foreign ministers at Peking, who were soon isolated from all communication with their governments, the city being surrounded and in possession of the hostile armies of Boxers. For weeks Peking was cut off from any communication with the outside world and it was feared that all of the foreign ministers with their families had perished from the attacks of fanatical insurgents. The anxiety of the Iowa people was intense for the safety of Major Conger and his family and one morning the news came that all of the foreign ministers and families had, after a long and heroic defense, been slaughtered. Finally the allied armies of America and Europe forced their way to the Chinese Capital and relieved the besieged ministers, who with their families and other Christians had been shut up for weeks in the British legation buildings fighting day and night for their lives, subsisting a part of the time on mule meat. All through the terrible ordeal Major Conger was one of the bravest of the defenders and his wise counsel in the dire extremity was acknowledged by all to have aided materially in saving the little garrison from extermination. Returning home for a few months' rest Major Conger and family met with a hearty reception. After consultation with the President he returned to his post in China.
JONN CONNELL was born in Paisley, Scotland, on the 16th of March, 1824. His parents emigrated to the United States in 1831, settling in Connecticut, where the son remained until 1852, when he came to Iowa and located in Tama County. He lived on a farm near Buckingham and later moved to Toledo, being one of the early settlers in the county which helped to organize it. In 1854 he was the Whig candidate for Representative in the Fifth General Assembly for the Twenty-third Representative District composed of the counties of Poweshiek, Jasper, Benton and Tama, was elected and, when the Whig party ceased to exist, Mr. Connell united with the new Republican party. In September, 1862, he was appointed lieutenant-colonel of the Twenty-eighth Iowa Volunteer Infantry. In March, 1863, he was promoted to colonel and took command of the regiment. He was in Bank's Red River campaign, and at the Battle of Sabine Cross Roads lost his left arm and was taken prisoner. He retired from the service in March, 1865. In 1867 he was appointed Assessor of Internal Revenue for the Fourth District, serving until 1877, when he became collector of the same District.
JAMES P. CONNOR was born January 27, 1851, in Delaware County, Indiana. When a child the family moved to Black Hawk County, Iowa, where he grew to manhood. He worked in the fields and attended the district school until the age of sixteen when he entered Upper Iowa University where, for four years, he earned the means to pay his expenses. In 1872 he entered the Law Department of the State University, graduating in June, 1873, beginning to practice the same year at Denison, which has since been his home. In 1889 he was elected District Attorney for the Thirteenth District, holding the office for four years, when he was chosen circuit judge, retaining that position until the change in the judicial system. In 1886 he was elected judge of the Sixteenth Judicial District, serving four years, when he resumed the practice of law. In 1900 Judge Connor was elected Representative in Congress from the Tenth District, and in 1902 he was reelected, for a second term. He has been an active Republican and in 1892 was a delegate from Iowa to the National Republican Convention.
JOHN C. COOK was born in Seneca County, Ohio, December 26, 1846. He studied law and was admitted to the bar. He came to Iowa, taking up his residence at Newton in Jasper County, here he entered upon the practice of his profession. In 1878 he was chosen judge of the Sixth Judicial District. In 1880 he was nominated by the Democrats for Representative in Congress in the Sixth Congressional District. His competitor on the Republican ticket was M. E. Cutts. The returns in several precincts were disputed but the certificate was awarded by the canvassers to Mr. Cutts. Mr. Cook contested the seat before Congress and, after a long delay, during which time Mr. Cutts was acting as the member, the seat was awarded to Mr. Cook who served the remainder of the term. He removed from Newton to Webster City where he become the attorney for a railroad company.
JOHN P. COOK, one of the pioneers of Iowa, was born in Whiteside, Oneida County, New York, August 31, 1817. His education was acquired in the public schools and at an early age he began the study of law. In 1836 he went west first stopping at the frontier village of Davenport in the "Black Hawk purchase." He was admitted to the bar and began to practice in Tipton, Cedar County and in 1842 he was elected to the Council of the Territorial Assembly from the District composed of the counties of Cedar, Jones and Linn. He served through the term of four years, in two regular and one extra session. In 1848 he was elected to the State Senate and was one of the leading members of the Second and Third General Assemblies. Soon after the expiration of his term, Mr. Cook moved to Davenport and entered into partnership with his brother, Ebenezer, in the practice of law. Soon after he became a member of the banking firm of Cook and Sargent which established banks at Iowa City, Des Moines and Florence, Nebraska. In 1852 Mr. Cook was nominated by the Whigs of the Second District for Representative in Congress. The District then embraced the entire north half of the State and his Democratic competitor was Lincoln Clark then a member of Congress. Mr. Cook was elected by a majority of five hundred seventy-three and served but one term. When the Whig party disappeared Mr. Cook became a Democrat. He died in Davenport on the 16th of April, 1872.
DATUS E. COON was one of the pioneer newspaper men of Iowa. He established the first newspaper in Mitchell County, at Osage, in 1856, called the Democrat and supported the administration of James Buchanan. In 1858 he established a paper called the Cerro Gordo Press, at Mason City, the first in the county. Two years later, in 1860, he moved to Ellington and there established the first paper published in Hancock County. When the Civil War began he received authority from Governor Kirkwood to raise a company for the Second Iowa Cavalry. It became Company I in the organization of the regiment. He was a gallant soldier and was promoted to major in September, 1861, to colonel in 1864 and brevetted Brigadier-General in March, 1865. He located in Alabama at the close of the war and was elected to the Legislature during the reconstruction period. Mr. Coon was appointed by President Hayes Consul to Babaca, Cuba. In 1875 he went to San Diego, California, as Superintendent of the Chinese Exclusion Law, where he was killed by the accidental discharge of a pistol on the 17th of December, 1893.
GEORGE B. CORKHILL, lawyer, soldier and editor, was born in Harrison County, Ohio, 1838. In 1847 the family removed to Iowa, locating at Mount Pleasant. He graduated from the Wesleyan University at Mount Pleasant, afterwards taking the law course at Harvard University. He was admitted to the bar at Mount Pleasant and began practice; but in 1862 entered the Union army, having been appointed by President Lincoln Commissary of Subsistence and assigned to the Army of the Potomac, where he served until the close of the war, having been promoted to the rank of lieutenant-colonel. After leaving the army he became a law partner of A.H. Bereman at St. Louis for a time but returned to Mt. Pleasant and in 1869 was appointed District Attorney of the First District. He was later appointed clerk of the United States District Court for Iowa. Mr. Corkhill was for some time private secretary to Senator Harlan and was special agent of the Department of the Interior under him. He was editor-in-chief of the Washington Chronicle for some time. In 1880 he was appointed by President Hayes United States District Attorney for the District of Columbia and acquired national fame in conducting the prosecution of Guiteau, the assassin of President Garfield. He also prosecuted the suits against the famous "Star Route" officials. Colonel Corkhill was a life-long Republican. His first wife was Olive B. Miller, the eldest daughter of Judge Samuel F. Miller, Iowa member of the United States Supreme Court. Colonel Corkhill died at Mount Pleasant July 6, 1886 from disability contracted during the war.
JOHN M. CORSE 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.
AYLETT R. COTTON was born in Austintown, Ohio, November 29, 1826. He received a liberal education and first engaged in school teaching. In 1844 he came with his father's family to Iowa and located at De Witt in Clinton County, where he began to study law. After making a journey to California, he began the practice of his profession at De Witt in 1851. He was elected county judge serving two years and then became Prosecuting Attorney. Removing to Lyons he became mayor of the city in 1855. He was elected a member of the Constitutional Convention in 1856 and took an active part in framing the new Constitution. Mr. Cotton was elected to the House of the Twelfth General Assembly in 1867, was reelected at the close of his term and chosen Speaker of the House in the session of 1870. He was elected to Congress in the fall of 1870, serving two terms, having been a Republican from the time of the organization of that party. He removed to California.
ROBERT G. COUSINS was born in Cedar County, Iowa in 1859, graduated from Cornell College, Mount Vernon, having finished his course in 1881 and was admitted to the bar the following year. In the fall of 1885 he was elected to the House of the Twenty-first General Assembly and at the session of the Senate held in 1887 to try the impeachment charges preferred against J.L. Brown, Auditor of the State, Mr. Cousins was chosen by the House to act as one of the prosecutors. The Senate acquitted the auditor; but it was conceded that the prosecution was ably conducted and Mr. Cousins' argument was an eloquent presentation of the case and brought the young lawyer into prominence. In 1888 he was chosen Prosecuting Attorney and Presidential elector in the Fifth District for Representative in Congress and elected by a plurality of 1,098. He has been repeatedly reelected, serving in the Fifty-fourth, Fifty-fifth, Fifty-sixth and Fifty-seventh Congresses and has won the reputation of being one of the most eloquent public speakers in the House of Representatives.
JOHN COWNIE was born in Alyth, Perthshire, Scotland, December 8, 1843. The family coming to America located in Scott County, Iowa, when the son was but twelve years of age. His education began in Scotland and after coming to this country he, by hard study, qualified himself for teaching. He became deeply interested in farming and became an active and enterprising member of the Swine Breeders' Association, Iowa Draft and Coach Association, the Improved Stock Breeders' Association, and in 1894 became one of the directors of the State Agricultural Society. In 1896 he was chosen one of the presidential electors on the Republican ticket, and in 1898 was elected President of the State Agricultural Society. When the State Board of Control was established, Mr. Crownie was appointed one of its members by Governor Shaw.
PHILLIP M. CRAPO is a native of Freetown, near New Bedford, Massachusetts, where he was born June 30, 1844. In youth he enjoyed excellent educational advantages, but chose to forego a college career that he might enlist in the Third Massachusetts Infantry, serving in the eastern department. After the war he became a civil engineer in Michigan and was engaged in the State offices at Detroit in the preparation of the Military History of Michigan. In 1868 Mr. Crapo came to Iowa as the representative of the Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance Company which he served in various capacities for more than twenty-one years. He has always been a public spirited citizen and aided materially in numerous important enterprises in Burlington. He assured the establishment of the Burlington Free Library and has recently made possible the erection of a permanent home for it by subscribing half of the cost of a beautiful building. He was also chiefly instrumental in providing a public park for Burlington which bears his name. Mr. Crapo assured the success of the Semi-Centennial Celebration of the admission of the State into the Union, which was held in Burlington in 1896, serving as President of the Board of Commissioners which had charge of the enterprise. He was largely instrumental in securing the establishment of the Soldiers' Home at Marshalltown and delivered the address on behalf of the soldiers at the dedication of the building.
SAMUEL A. CRAVATH, physician and journalist, was born at Conneaut, Pennsylvania, September 27, 1836. He entered the preparatory department of Oberlin College in 1852, graduating in 1858. On account of his high standing as a classical student he was chosen to teach Greek and Latin while pursuing his studies and also taught district school during vacations to defray his expenses. After graduating he became principal of Madison Seminary and later superintendent of the schools of Madison, studying medicine in the meantime. In 1864 he received the degree of M.D. from the Cincinnati College of Medicine and Surgery. He began the practice of medicine at Springfield, Ohio, but removed to Iowa in 1865, locating in Mitchell, where he established the Mitchell County News in 1869. In January, 1872, he purchased a half interest in the Grinnell Herald, where for a time he was associated with Albert Shaw, the founder of the Review of Reviews. Dr. Cravath retained editorial management of the Herald until 1890. He has held large business interests in Grinnell and has served as one of the trustees of Iowa College.
MARCELLUS M. CROCKER, lawyer and soldier, was born in Johnson County, Indiana, February 6, 1830. With his father's family he came to Jefferson County, Iowa, in 1844, where he attracted the notice of Shepherd Leffler, who was a member of Congress living at Burlington. When Crocker was sixteen years of age he had acquired an education. Leffler and General A.C. Dodge, who was a United States Senator, joined in securing him the appointment of cadet in the Military Academy at West Point. He entered upon his military education, but the death of his father made it necessary for him to leave the Academy before he could graduate. It was in the fall of 1849 when he returned home to look after the affairs of his father's estate that he entered the office of Judge Olney and took up the study of law. In the course of two years he was admitted to the bar and began practice at Lancaster, in Keokuk County. In the spring of 1854 he removed to Des Moines and entered into a partnership with D.O. Finch. In 1857 he and P.M. Casady became partners in the practice of law and soon after J.S. Polk became a member of the firm. Mr. Crocker became in a few years one of the most prominent and successful lawyers in central Iowa. He was attending court at Adel when the news of the firing of Fort Sumter was received. He returned to Des Moines and made a thrilling address at a war meeting. From this time forward he was an uncompromising Union man, supporting Lincoln's administration, although he had been a firm Democrat from boyhood. He at once began to raise a company for the war, which became Company D of the Second Volunteer Infantry. In the winter following he was promoted to a Brigadier-General. He took an active part in the battles of Shiloh and Corinth, and in the latter commanded a brigade which was composed of the Eleventh, Thirteenth, Fifteenth and Sixteenth Iowa regiments and became one of the most famous of the Army of Tennessee. He was promoted to Major-General and placed in command of the Seventh Division of the Seventeenth Army Corps, which fought most gallantly with heavy loss at the battles of Jackson and Champion's Hill. In this campaign under the eye of General Grant, that great chieftain pronounced Crocker "competent to command an army." In 1863 he came home on sick leave. While in Des Moines the Republican State Convention was in session, and there was a movement inaugurated to nominate him for Governor. But he declined the honor with a remark: "If a soldier is worth anything he cannot be spared from the field; if he is worthless, he will not make a good Governor." His last active service in the Civil War was with Sherman in the march to the sea, where his health began to fail. Early in the summer he was transferred to a command in New Mexico where it was hoped the climate would be beneficial to him. But he was already stricken with a fatal malady and in June, 1865, he went to Washington where he was prostrated with sickness, but lingered until August 26, when he passed away at the early age of thirty-five.
HENRY J. B. CUMMINGS was born at Newton, New Jersey, May 31, 1831. He was educated in the public schools of Pennsylvania and at the age of nineteen became editor of a newspaper in Schuylkill County. He studied law, was admitted to the bar at Williamsport, Pennsylvania; but in 1856 removed to Iowa, locating at Winterset. He was elected Prosecuting Attorney. When the war of the Rebellion began Mr. Cummings helped raise Company F of the Fourth Infantry and was elected captain. In September, 1862, he was appointed by Governor Kirkwood colonel of the Thirty-ninth Volunteer Infantry, serving until 1865. Upon his return home he became the editor of the Winterset Madisonian. In 1876 he was nominated by the Republicans of the Seventh District for Representative in Congress and elected, serving one term.
ALBERT B. CUMMINS, seventeenth Governor of Iowa, was born in Greene County, Pennsylvania, February 15, 1850. He acquired a good education, attending Waynesburg College. In 1869 he came to Iowa and secured a position in the recorder's office of Clayton County at Elkader. Later he became a civil engineer and was engaged in the location and construction of the Richmond & Fort Wayne Railroad in Indiana. He studied law and in 1875 was admitted to the bar and began practice in Chicago. In January, 1878, he located at Des Moines, and in 1881 entered into partnership with Judge George G. Wright and his son Thomas S. Wright. Soon after he entered the firm he was placed in charge of the litigation known as the barb wire conflict. The farmers of Iowa had organized the Protective Association to resist the exorbitant demands of the Washburn and Moen syndicate which had purchased many patents and sought to control the manufacture and fix the price of all wire fencing. Mr. Cummins was employed by the Farmers' Protective Association to fight the monopoly in the courts. The contest lasted several years. Mr. Cummins was obliged to meet the ablest patent lawyers in the country and equipped himself by a thorough study of patent law and decisions. To the surprise of the syndicate, its lawyers found the young Des Moines attorney a match for them on every point raised. In the end the monopoly was broken and Mr. Cummins had acquired State wide reputation as one of its ablest lawyers. In 1887 he was an independent candidate for Representative in the Twenty-second General Assembly and was elected over the Republican candidate. In 1892 he presided over the Republican State Convention and was chosen as one of the Presidential Electors on the Republican ticket. He was twice a candidate for United States Senator against Ex-Governor John H. Gear but was not successful. In 1896 he was President of the Republican State Convention and one of the Delegates to the National Convention. He served in the Presidential campaign as a member of the National Republican Committee. In 1901 he was nominated, after a notable contest, as the Republican candidate for Governor of the State and elected by a large majority.
CHARLES F. CURTISS was born near Galena, Illinois, December 12, 1863. About a year later the family removed to Story County, Iowa, and the son received his education in the public schools and at the State College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts, graduating as president of the class. For three years Mr. Curtiss managed the home farm of a thousand acres and was engaged in importing and breeding fine stock. During President Harrison's administration he was appointed State Statistical Agent, and in 1891 became assistant director of the Experimental Station of the Iowa State College. Professor Curtiss succeeded Secretary James Wilson as Director of the Experimental Station and Professor of Agriculture in 1897. He has a wide acquaintance among the agriculturists of the country and is a member of numerous organizations in which he has held the following positions: President of the Stock Breeders' Association, member of the executive committee of the International Live Stock Exposition, member of the executive committee of the American Association of Agricultural Colleges and Experimental Stations. He has served as judge of stock at a large number of State Fairs, the Pan-American, Trans-Mississippi and International Expositions. He is a frequent contributor to American and foreign agricultural publications, and the results of his investigations have been translated and republished in foreign countries.
GEORGE M. CURTIS was born in Oxford, Chenango County, New York, April 1, 1844. He was reared on a farm and in 1856 came with his parents to Ogle County, Illinois, and completed his education at Rock River Seminary, Mount Morris. He located at Clinton, Iowa, in 1867 and engaged in the lumber business. In the fall of 1887 he was nominated by the Republicans of Clinton County for Representative in the Twenty-second General Assembly. He was a delegate to the National Republican Convention of 1892 and in 1894 was nominated for Representative in Congress for the Second District. It had long been represented by a Democrat but Mr. Curtis overcame the Democratic majority and was elected by a plurality of 3,320. He was reelected and at the close of his second term declined a third.
SAMUEL R. CURTIS was born in Ohio on the 3d of February, 1807. He entered the Military Academy at West Point and graduated in 1831. At the beginning of the War with Mexico he was appointed Adjutant General of Ohio and soon after was commissioned Colonel of the Third Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He served with distinction through the war and was military governor of several of the captured cities. In 1847 he removed to Keokuk, Iowa and was for several years chief engineer of the Des Moines River improvement. He became civil engineer for several railroads constructed in Iowa, Indiana and Illinois. In 1853 he was nominated by the Republicans of the First District for Representative in Congress and elected, serving until 1861, when he resigned his seat to enter the military service. He was the first colonel of the Second Iowa Infantry and was soon promoted to Brigadier-General. He commanded the Union army in the Battle of Pea Ridge where he won a brilliant victory over superior numbers. General G. M. Dodge, one of the ablest of the higher officers from Iowa writes of that battle:
"Probably no one had a better opportunity than I to judge of the battle. My command opened the battle, and I think was the last to fire a gun. General Curtis, the commander of that army, was entitled to the full credit of that great victory. The battle virtually cleared up the southwest and allowed all our forces to concentrate on or east of the Mississippi. General Curtis had under him as the division commanders several experienced, educated soldiers, who performed their duties with great ability, but it was General Curtis who met and defeated up their own ground, three hundred miles away from any base, twice his number. He was attacked in the rear and on the flank with great force, the fighting lasting three days, and he defeated, yes, virtually destroyed, Van Dorn's army."
General Curtis was promptly promoted to Major-General in recognition of his great victory and given command of the Department of Missouri. After a vigorous campaign a clique of unscrupulous politicians of Missouri secured his removal and he was transferred to the Department of Kansas where he won additional honors. He was the first Major-General from Iowa, the only one who commanded an independent army. He was never defeated in battle and it was not creditable to the administration that a commander so able and successful should have been displaced from a Department where he had won enduring fame.
MARSENA E. CUTTS was born at Orwell, Addison County, Vermont, May 22, 1833. He received a liberal education and came to Iowa in June, 1855, settling on Poweshiek County. He studied law, was admitted to the bar and in 1858 was elected Prosecuting Attorney of that county and served as Representative in the Legislature for the extra session of 1861. In 1863 he was elected Senator for the Twenty-sixth District, composed of the counties of Iowa and Poweshiek, serving in the Tenth and Eleventh General Assemblies. In 1872 he was appointed by Governor Carpenter Attorney-General of the State to fill a vacancy. In November of the same year he was elected to full term of two years and reelected in 1874. In 1880 he was nominated by the Republicans of the Sixth District for Representative in Congress and in a very close vote was awarded the certificate of election. He served a part of the term but his election being contested by John C. Cook his Democratic competitor, the seat was finally awarded to him. In 1882 Mr. Cutts was again nominated for Representative in Congress in the Fifth District and was elected by a plurality over each of his competitors. He died before the expiration of his term in the prime of life. He was a lawyer, legislator and public speaker of marked ability and for many years one of the leaders of the Republican party of Iowa.