Iowa History Project
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A. L. HAGER was born near Jamestown, Chautauqua County, New York, October 29, 1850. In the spring of 1859 his father came to Iowa and located near Cottonville in Jackson County. The son received his education in high school and in the fall of 1874 entered the Law Department of the State University at Iowa City where he graduated in 1875. He removed to Greenfield in Adair County where he opened a law office. In the fall of 1891 he was nominated by the Republican Convention of the Sixteenth District, composed of Madison and Adair counties, for State Senator, was elected, serving two years, when he was elected Representative in Congress from the Ninth District. He was reelected in 1894 and again in 1896, serving six years. He presided over the Republican State Convention in 1892.
AUGUSTUS HALL was born at Batavia, New York, April 29, 1814, and spent his boyhood on his father's farm. After securing a good education he studied law and was admitted to the bar. After removing to Ohio he was elected county attorney in 1840, serving two years. In 1844 he removed to Iowa, settling at Keosauqua, Van Buren County, where he opened a law office. In 1852 he was chosen by the Democrats one of the presidential electors and cast his vote for Franklin Pierce. In 1854 he was the Democratic candidate for Congress in the First District and was elected over R, L. B. Clark, Whig. He served but one term, being defeated at the election of 1856 by Samuel R. Curtis the Republican candidate. Mr. Hall removed to Nebraska where he was, in 1857, elected Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. He died in that State in February, 1861.
BENTON J. HALL was the son of Judge J. C. Hall who was one of the early judges of the Iowa Supreme Court. Benton J. was born at Mount Vernon, Knox County, Ohio, on the 13th of January, 1835, receiving his education at Knox College and the Miami University in Ohio. In 1839 his father came with his family to the newly organized Territory of Iowa, opening a law office in Burlington, where his son, Benton J., began the study of that profession and was admitted to the bar in 1857. In 1871 he was elected, on the Democratic ticket, to the House of Representatives of the Fourteenth General Assembly, his colleague being John H. Gear. In 1881 he was elected to the Senate, serving four years. In 1884 he was elected to Congress in the First District, serving one term, being the first Democrat chosen from that District for thirty years. In 1886 he was appointed by President Cleveland Commissioner of Patents, and conducted the affairs of that office with distinguished ability. As a lawyer Mr. Hall ranked high and as a citizen he commanded the respect of all classes. He died on the 5th of January, 1894.
JONATHAN C. HALL was 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.
MOSES M. HAM, journalist and Senator, was born at Lyman, York County, Maine, on the 23d of March, 1833. He removed to the State of New York where his early education was acquired at Lima Seminary. He then entered Union College at Schenectady where he graduated in 1855. In 1857 he engaged in journalism, which became his life work. He came to Iowa in September, 1863, locating at Dubuque, where the following year he purchased an interest in the Dubuque Herald, one of the leading Democratic journals of the State. The Herald was always a live paper which could give and take hard blows in political conflicts. Mr. Ham was one of the leaders of his party and for sixteen years was a member of the National Democratic Committee for Iowa. He took deep interest in education and was for a long time president of the Dubuque school board and one of the regents of the State University. In 1877, he was elected to the State Senate for a term of four years, serving in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth General Assemblies. In March, 1896, Mr. Ham contributed to the Annals of Iowa the most valuable historical article on Julien Dubuque, "The First White Man in Iowa," that, so far as I am informed, has ever been written. It contained many heretofore unpublished facts relating to that settlement which, dating from soon after the close of the War of the American Revolution (1788), must be for all time of deep interest to Iowa people. In 1899, Mr. Ham disposed of a large interest in the Herald establishment and retired from its management after thirty-five years of continuous service. His son, Colonel Clifford D. Ham, succeeded to the editorial control of the daily Herald. Mr. Ham died at his home in Dubuque on the 25th of December, 1902.
JOHN T. HAMILTON was born near Geneseo, Henry County, Illinois, on the 16th of October, 1843. He was reared on a farm and received but an ordinary education. He removed to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, in 1868 and engaged in the sale of farm machinery. He has served on the board of supervisors, mayor of Cedar Rapids, president of Cedar Rapids Savings Bank and director of the Electric Light Company. In 1885 he was elected and was twice reelected, serving six years in the House. In 1890 he was elected Speaker of the House of the Twenty-third General Assembly. In October of the same year he was elected to Congress for the Fifth District on the Democratic ticket over George R. Struble, Republican, serving but one term. He was a candidate for reelection in 1892 but was defeated by R. G. Cousins, Republican.
WILLIAM W. HAMILTON was a native of England and located at Dubuque, upon his arrival in America, in 1845. He was a good lawyer and took a deep interest in all public affairs, including education and politics. In 1849 he was elected probate judge of Dubuque County, serving in that capacity until 1852, when the probate business was, by the new Code, turned over to the county judges of the several counties. In 1854 Judge Hamilton was elected to the State Senate from the northeastern district which consisted of the counties of Dubuque, Delaware, Buchanan, Black Hawk, Grundy, Butler, Bremer, Clayton, Fayette, Allamakee, Winneshiek, Howard, Mitchell, Floyd and Chickasaw. Before the meeting of the Sixth General Assembly, the senatorial district had been divided and the counties of Dubuque and Delaware made the Thirty-first District, from which Judge Hamilton was chosen to the Senate for four years. At the convening of the Sixth General Assembly, the Democrats were in a minority in the Senate and Judge Hamilton, who was a Whig, was elected president. He was a popular and able presiding officer and when the General Assembly was organizing many new counties and deciding upon their names, the rare compliment was extended to the presiding officer, of giving his name to the new county taken from the old county of Webster. In the meantime, before the next General Assembly was chosen, the new Constitution of 1857 was framed and adopted and new districts arranged, so that Judge Hamilton, with others, was thrown out, having served but half the time for which he had been chosen.
WILLIAM G. HAMMOND was born at Newport, Rhode Island, May 3, 1829. He graduated with the degree of A.B. in 1849 from Amherst, read law in Brooklyn and New York for three years and was admitted to the bar in 1851, practicing in those cities until 1856. He then went abroad for two years and returning in 1858, soon went to Iowa, joining an engineering party and working his way to the position of chief engineer in a new railroad enterprise. He was later professor of languages in Bowen Collegiate Institute at Hopkinton for a year. In 1863 he resumed the practice of law at Anamosa and three years later removed to Des Moines, where he became associated with Judges Wright and Cole in the Iowa Law School. In 1868 this institution was removed to Iowa City and became the Law Department of the State University with Mr. Hammond in charge; he became Chancellor in 1870 and the following year was appointed one of the Commissioners to codify the laws of Iowa. He received the degree of LL.D. from Iowa College in 1870 and also from Amherst in 1877. In 1881 Dr. Hammond resigned his position in the State University and became Dean of the St. Louis Law School which he retained until his death, April 12, 1894. In the history of the common law he was recognized as an authority without a superior in the United States. He published a Digest of the Decisions of the Supreme Court of Iowa, an edition of Blackstone's Commentaries and other works. From 1889 he was at the head of the committee on legal education of the American Bar Association. He was for several years president of the State Historical Society.
PHILIP C. HANNA was born in Waterloo, Iowa, June 27, 1857. He was educated for a Methodist minister and was engaged several years in that work. In 1889 he was appointed by President Harrison United States Consul General for Venezuela and during the administration of that office won world-wide fame for his energetic action in securing the release from imprisonment of the consuls of Russia, France, Belgium and several other nations. These consuls were seized by the dictator of that country and held for large ransoms, but through the prompt measures taken by Mr. Hanna were released. For this act Concul Hanna received the thanks of twenty-one nations for rescuing their consuls and citizens. After the overthrow of the dictator the Congress of Venezuela conferred upon Mr. Hanna the rank of count. In 1897 Mr. Hanna was appointed Consul General to Porto Rico and rendered distinguished services to our country during the war with Spain. After peace was restored Mr. Hanna was appointed Consul General at Monterey in Mexico.
JAMES HARLAN was born in Clarke County, Illinois, August 26, 1820. His father removed to Park County, Indiana, three years later where the son was reared on a farm. He graduated at Asbury University in 1845. In 1846 Mr. Harlan located at Iowa City where he studied law and was admitted to the bar. In 1847 he was nominated by the Whig party for Superintendent of Public Instruction and was elected over Charles Mason, the Democratic candidate. In 1849, at the Whig State Convention, Mr. Harlan was nominated for Governor but not being eligible on account of youth, he declined, and another candidate was named by the State Central Committee. In 1853 he was chosen president of the Wesleyan University at Mount Pleasant. At the session of the Fifth General Assembly in 1855, after a long and exciting contest for election of United States Senator, the Whigs and Free Soil members united upon Mr. Harlan and, casting their votes for him, he was declared elected for six years to succeed General Dodge. His election was contested in the Senate and the seat was declared vacant, in 1857. The Legislature being in session, Mr. Harlan was promptly reelected. In 1861 he was elected for a second term of six years. In March, 1865, he was invited to a seat in the Cabinet of President Lincoln as Secretary of the Interior but did not enter upon the duties of the position until May 15, when he resigned his seat in the Senate. In the meantime the President had been assassinated and was succeeded by Andrew Johnson. In September, Mr. Harlan resigned his seat in the Cabinet and in January, 1866, was again elected to the Senate for six years. During his long service to the Senate Mr. Harlan became one of the foremost leaders of the Republican party. Serving during all of the years in which the momentous issues of slavery, secession, rebellion and reconstruction were absorbing the profound attention of the ablest statesmen of America, he was called upon to assist in solving the most difficult problems that have arisen since the formation of our Government and was equal to the occasion. How wisely and ably he and his colleagues guided the Nation through its imminent dangers is recorded in history. Among the foremost statesmen of that period the name of James Harlan will always stand conspicuous. During the administration of President Grant, Senators Sumner and Schurz, who were among the great leaders of the Republican party for many years, became alienated from the President and organized an opposition in the Senate which assailed the Administration and its chief measures, with great bitterness. President Grant had negotiated a treaty with the government of San Domingo, by which that island desired to be annexed to the United States on favorable terms to our Nation. Sumner, Schurz and a few other Senators dominated by their influence, formed a combination which was strong enough to defeat the ratification of the treaty. In a studied speech Sumner assailed President Grant personally in one of the most abusive speeches ever delivered in the Senate, in connection with this treaty. Senator Halan in a calm, able and statesmanlike address, made a masterly reply in vindication of President Grant and his patriotic services to the country in civil and military affairs, and the wisdom of the policy that would have given to the Nation one of the most important and productive islands of the West Indies. This speech of the senior Iowa Senator made a profound impression upon the country and Europe and placed him in the front rank of patriotic American statesmen. As his third term drew to a close, a powerful movement was organized by the northern half of the State (which had long been unrepresented in the Senate) to secure the election of a member living in that section. William B. Allison was the candidate united upon and in the Republican caucus he was nominated over Mr. Harlan and elected. Senator Harlan had for nearly eighteen years served as the colleague of such eminent statesmen as Seward, Douglas, Sumner, Fessenden, Edmunds, Bayard, Jefferson Davis, Mason, Grimes and Henry Wilson. He was a trusted adviser of Presidents Lincoln and Grant. His knowledge of the affairs of government was unsurpassed. As a public speaker he was clam, deliberate, logical and impressive. After his retirement to private life, Mr. Harlan was, from 1882 to 1885, the Presiding Judge of the Alabama Claims Commission. He was one of the commissioners who erected the Iowa Soldiers' Monument. His last act in a public capacity was presiding at the laying of the corner-stone of the Iowa Hall of History, May 17, 1899. He died at mount Pleasant on the 6th of October of the same year.
W. F. HARRIMAN was born in Warner, New Hampshire, August 16, 1841. His education was acquired in the public schools of his native town and in the New London Literary and Scientific Institution. He worked on a farm and taught school until his parents removed to Iowa in 1860, when he began to read law. In 1869 he was admitted to the bar at Charles City and settled in Cherokee where he began practice. He soon became a large land owner and planted the first artificial grove in that county. In 1876 he removed to Hampton in Franklin County where he resumed the practice of law. Retiring from active practice in 1888, Mr. Harriman engaged extensively in farming and stock raising. In 1891 he was elected on the Republican ticket Representative in the House of the Twenty-fourth General Assembly, serving by reelection also in the Twenty-fifth General Assembly. In 1895 he was elected to the Senate from the district composed of the counties of Cerro Gordo, Hancock and Franklin, serving in the Twenty-sixth and Twenty-seventh General Assemblies. He was the author of the act creating the Department of Agriculture.
ELDEN J. HARTSHORN, soldier and legislator, was born in Lunenburg, Vermont, June 16, 1842. He was educated in the public schools and St. Johnsbury Academy where he prepared for college. In 1862 he enlisted in Company E, Fifteenth Vermont Volunteers, and was soon promoted to second lieutenant. He was offered a West Point cadetship, but declined to leave the service. In 1864 Lieutenant Hartshorn was promoted to captain of Company G, Seventeenth Vermont Infantry and joined Burnside's Ninth Army Corps in the Army of the Potomac. The regiment was in the battles of the Wilderness, Spottsylvania, Tolopotomy Creek, North Anna River, Bethesda Church, Gold Harbor, Petersburg and the fall of Richmond. At the close of the war Captain Hartshorn studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1869 and coming west the following year, located at Emmetsburg, in Palo Alto County, Iowa. Here he was land agent for the Milwaukee Railroad and represented many non-resident land owners. In 1873 he was elected Representative in the House of the Fifteenth General Assembly from the district consisting of the counties of Pocahontas, Buena Vista, Palo Alto and Emmet. He was elected to the Senate in 1875 serving in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth General Assemblies. In 1898 Captain Hartshorn was appointed to a position in the Interior Department at Washington.
SERRANUS C. HASTINGS was born in Jefferson County, New York, on the 22d of November, 1814. He was liberally educated and at the age of twenty became Principal of Norwich Academy. In 1834 he removed to Lawrenceburg, Indiana, where he studied law and was admitted to the bar. In the presidential campaign of 1836 he was employed as editor of the Indiana Signal, supporting Martin Van Buren for President. In 1837 he removed to the "Black Hawk Purchase," locating at Bloomington where he opened a law office. When Iowa was organized as a Territory Mr. Hastings was elected a member of the House of the First Legislative Assembly, serving two terms. In 1840 he was elected to the Council where he served in the Third, Fourth, Seventh and Eighth Legislative Assemblies and was President of the Council of 1845. He exercised wide influence in framing the laws of the Territory and was one of the compilers of the "Blue Book" of Iowa laws, being associated in that work with James W. Grimes. He was commander of three companies of militia, with the rank of major in the Missouri boundary conflict. In 1846, when Iowa became a State, Mr. Hastings was nominated by the Democrats for Representative in Congress for the State at large and elected over G. C. R. Mitchell the Whig candidate. In 1848 he was appointed Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Iowa. In 1849 he removed to California where he served as Attorney-General and later as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of that State. He died in San Francisco, February 18, 1893.
EDWARD HATCH was born in the State of Maine in 1832. He removed to Iowa and at the beginning of the Civil War was living at Muscatine where he was engaged in the lumber business. In August, 1861, Mr. Hatch was appointed major in the Second Iowa Cavalry. He rose rapidly to the rank of lieutenant-colonel and in June, 1862, was commissioned colonel of the regiment. He was an excellent cavalry officer and distinguished himself in many brilliant engagements while in command of that famous regiment. He was often in command of a brigade and in the spring of 1864 he was promoted to Brigadier-General. After the close of the war he was appointed colonel in the regular army and placed in command of the Ninth Cavalry. During his entire military career he was engaged in nearly a hundred battles. He served on the western frontier against the Indians up to the time of his death, which occurred from an accident near Fort Robinson, Nebraska, in April, 1889.
FRANK HATTON 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.
GILBERT N. HAUGEN was born in Rock County, Wisconsin, April 21, 1859.
He was reared on a farm and attended the common schools. In 1877 he
came to Iowa and bought a farm in Worth County where he engaged in farming,
grain buying, selling farm implements and hardware. In 1887 he was
elected county treasurer, serving six years. In 1895 he was elected on
the Republican ticket to represent the district composed of Worth and Winnebago
counties in the House of the Twenty-fifth General Assembly. He was
reelected in 1897, serving two terms. In 1898 he was elected to Congress
in the Fourth District and was reelected in 1900 and again in 1902.
WALTER I. HAYES was born in Marshall, Michigan, December 9, 1841. He
entered the Law Department of the Michigan University, graduating in 1863, and
coming to Iowa in 1866 became a law partner of Adjutant-General N. B. Baker.
He was three times elected city solicitor of Clinton, and was elected
judge of the Seventh Judicial District in 1878, serving until 1887. His
most notable decision during his term of service was that declaring the
Prohibitory Amendment to the Constitution, adopted by a vote of the people, to
be void. Upon appeal to the Supreme Court his decision was sustained.
In 1876 he was one of the Democratic candidates for Supreme Judge but was
defeated with his party ticket. In 1886 he was elected Representative in
Congress from the Second District and three times reelected, serving until
1895. Mr. Hayes was a warm supporter of the Hennepin canal. He
served at the extra session of the Twenty-sixth General Assembly, which acted
upon the new code. He was a life-long Democrat and one of the leaders of
the party in Iowa. He died on the 14th of March, 1901.
EDWARD R. HAYS was born in Wood County, Ohio, May 26, 1847. He was
educated at Heidelberg College, studied law and was admitted to the bar in
1869. He removed to Iowa, taking up his residence at Knoxville, and was
elected to Congress on the Republican ticket in 1890 to fill a vacancy
occasioned by the resignation of E. H. Conger.
WILLIAM C. HAYWARD was born in Cattaraugus County, New York, November 22,
1847. His education was acquired in the public schools of Minneapolis and
Iowa, and at the Iowa Agricultural College. He came with his parents to
Iowa in 1864. After leaving college he became county surveyor, and was
for twelve years postmaster at Garner. For fourteen years he was editor
of a country newspaper, and has since been engaged in milling, banking and
manufacturing. After removing to Davenport Mr. Hayward was five years
president of the school board. In 1897 he was elected on the Republican
ticket to the State Senate, serving in the Twenty-seventh, Twenty-eight,
Twenty-ninth and Thirtieth General Assemblies. He introduced a bill
providing for compulsory education which paved the way for the law which was
enacted at the following session.
ALBERT HEAD was born November 25, 1838, in Highland County, Ohio.
He was reared on a farm and in 1855 came overland in an emigrant wagon to
Iowa, locating in Poweshiek County. He taught school several years,
studied law, gaining admission to the bar in 1859. At the same time he
was engaged in publishing the Montezuma Republican in company with
Colonel S. F. Cooper. In 1861 Mr. Head assisted in the organization of Company
F. Tenth Iowa Volunteers, and was commissioned captain. In 1863 he was
promoted to Assistant Adjutant-General, serving on the staff of Generals
Matthies, McPherson and Raum. He was several times wounded in the battles
of Corinth, Champion's Hill and Vicksburg. Immediately after the close of
the war Captain Head settled at Jefferson in Greene County where he
resumed the practice of law and was interested in several business enterprises,
becoming president of a number of banks. He was president of the Greene County
Agricultural Society and a trustee of Drake University. In 1883 he was
elected Representative in the Twentieth General Assembly and was reelected to
the Twenty-first and chosen Speaker of the House of Representatives, and again
reelected to the Twenty-second and Twenty-third General Assemblies. He
has served as president and treasurer of the State Agricultural Society.
THOMAS D. HEALY was born in Lansing, Iowa, May 25, 1865, and secured a good
education in Notre Dame University, Indiana, and the Law Department of the Iowa
State University. He removed to Fort Dodge where he engaged in the
practice of law, and was for five years city solicitor. He was an active
Republican and served on the committee on resolutions in the Republican State
Convention of 1893. In 1895 he was elected to the State Senate for the
district composed of the counties of Calhoun and Webster, serving by reelection
in the Twenty-sixth, Twenty-seventh, Twenty-eight and Twenty-ninth General
Assemblies. He was the most influential advocate and founder of the
system of placing the public institutions of the State under the management of
a non-partisan Board of Control. He had gathered facts and statistics
relating to the working of this system in other States which were powerful factors
in overcoming the opposition to that policy and greatly aided in the enactment
of the law. After the system had been adopted Mr. Healy was influential
in securing the appointment of men of the highest character and qualifications
for members of the board.
ALFRED HEBARD 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.
THOMAS HEDGE 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.
JOHN M. HEDRICK was born in Rush County, Indiana, on the 16th of December,
1832. He received but a common school education yet qualified himself for
teaching by the time he was seventeen years of age. For three years he
worked on his father's farm summers, teaching winters. He came to Iowa
and opened a store in Ottumwa but soon after the beginning of the Civil War
entered the service as first lieutenant of Company D, Fifteenth Iowa Infantry
and was afterward promoted to captain. At the Battle of Shiloh he was
wounded and taken prisoner. After remaining a prisoner six months he was
exchanged, returned to his regiment and soon after was promoted to major.
The regiment was in Sherman's campaign through the Gulf States and, in
August, 1864, Hedrick was promoted to colonel. At the Battle of Atlanta
he was severely wounded and completely disabled for active service. In
the spring of 1865 he was brevetted Brigadier-General for gallant services in
the Atlanta campaign. After the war he was for many years editor of the Ottumwa
Courier. He was several years employed in responsible positions in
the revenue service.
HERMAN C. HEMENWAY, one of the
prominent lawyers and Republicans of Northern Iowa, is a native of the State of
New York, having been born at Potsdam, April 1, 1834. He acquired a good
education and taught school several years. He studied law, was admitted
to the bar, and began to practice at Freeport, Illinois, in 1860. The
next spring he removed to Iowa, locating at Independence, enlisted in the
Twenty-seventh Volunteer Infantry and served three years in the Civil War.
At the close of his term of enlistment he settled at Cedar Falls where he
resumed the practice of law. In 1875 he was elected Representative in the
Sixteenth General Assembly, and in 1877 he was elected to the Senate, serving
in that body in the Seventeenth, Eighteenth, Nineteenth and Twentieth General
Assemblies.
STEPHEN HEMPSTEAD, second
Governor of the State of Iowa, was born in New London, Connecticut, on the 1st
of October, 1812. In 1828 his father removed with his family to Missouri
where he made his home on a farm near St. Louis. In 1830 Stephen procured
a position as clerk in a store at Galena, Illinois, and when the Black Hawk War
came he enlisted in an artillery company and served until peace was restored.
He then entered college at Jacksonville where he remained until 1833 when
he began the study of law. In 1835 he was admitted to the bar and the
following year opened the first law office in the new town of Dubuque.
When Iowa Territory was established in 1838 Mr. Hempstead was elected to
the Council of the First Legislative Assembly. He was made chairman of
the judiciary committee when but twenty-six years of age. At the second
session Mr. Hempstead was chosen President of the Council. In 1844 he was
elected one of the delegates to the First Constitutional Convention and was
appointed chairman of the committee on incorporations. In 1845 he was
again chosen to the Council of the Seventh Legislative Assembly and in the
Eighth he was again elected President of the Council. In February, 1848,
he was appointed one of the commissioners to revise the laws of the State.
His colleagues were Charles Mason and William G. Woodward. They
prepared and reported to Code of 1851 which was approved by the General
Assembly and enacted into law. In 1850 Mr. Hempstead was nominated by the
Democratic State Convention for Governor, was elected over the Whig candidate,
James L. Thompson, and served four years. After the expiration of his
term, Governor Hempstead returned to Dubuque where he served as county judge
and auditor until 1873. He died on the 16th of February, 1883.
Governor Sherman issued a proclamation enumerating the valuable public
services of Governor and had the flag displayed on the State House at half-mast
in memory of the departed statesman. Although not a brilliant man,
Governor Hempstead was a sound lawyer, an intelligent and influential
legislator who gave the State valuable services in framing the early laws of
the Territory and State. His administration as Governor was alike
creditable to himself and to the State.
HENRY B. HENDERSHOTT was born in Miami County, Ohio, May 15, 1816, and his
youthful years were spent on a farm in Illinois. He earned his way through
college at Jacksonville by labor on a farm. In 1837 he came to the
"Black Hawk Purchase" and studied law in Burlington. He began
to practice at Agency City in 1843 and two years later was appointed
Prosecuting Attorney for the Seventh District. As clerk of the court, he
organized the county of Wapello. In 1847 he was appointed Deputy
Surveyor-General of Iowa and Wisconsin under General Jones. In 1848 he
was appointed one of the commissioners, with Joseph G. Brown, to settle the
disputed boundary between the States of Iowa and Missouri. They, in
conjunction with a similar commission from Missouri, established a boundary
line which was finally adopted and confirmed by the courts as the true and
permanent boundary. In 1850 Mr. Hendershott was elected to the State Senate
from the district composed of the counties of Wapello, Lucas and Monroe,
serving four years. He took a prominent part in the enactment of the Code
of 1851. He was a member of the Iowa Geographical and Historical
Societies and was a frequent contributor to their publications. In 1856
he was elected judge of the Third District. He was one of the early and
influential leaders of the Democratic party in Iowa. He died at Ottumwa
August 10, 1900.
DAVID B. HENDERSON was a native of Scotland, having been born at Old Deer, on
the 14th of March, 1840. He came to America with his father's family in
1846 and in 1849 removed to Iowa, locating on a farm in Fayette County.
He remained with his father on the farm assisting him in the summer season
and attending school in the winter and finally entered the Upper Iowa
University, where he was pursuing his studies when the Rebellion began.
The students were greatly excited and in their young enthusiasm many
hastened to enlist, among whom was Henderson, who was not yet twenty-one.
He volunteered in August, 1861, and was chosen first lieutenant of
Company C, Twelfth Infantry. He was wounded at Fort Donelson and again
severely at Corinth, having his left foot amputated, so that he had to leave the
service in February, 1863. When the Forty-sixth Regiment was organized in
June, 1864, he was so far recovered that he was appointed colonel and assumed
command for the "hundred days" service. In the meantime he had
served as Commissioner of the Board of Enrollment of the Third District.
In November, 1865, he was appointed Collector of Internal Revenue for the
Third District, serving until June, 1869, when he resigned and became a member
of the law firm of Shiras, Van Duzee & Henderson. Soon after he was
appointed Assistant District Attorney for the Northern District of Iowa,
serving two years. In the fall of 1882 he was elected on the Republican
ticket Representative in Congress for the Third District. He was
continuously reelected to the close of the close of the Nineteenth Century.
At the opening of the Fifty-sixth Congress, December, 1899, Colonel
Henderson was unanimously nominated by the Republicans for Speaker and elected.
During the fourteen years that he had served on the floor of the House,
Colonel Henderson had won the respect and esteem of his colleagues of all
political parties. He is an eloquent and impressive public speaker and
has exercised marked influence upon legislation. In Iowa, where he is as
widely known as any man in public life, no citizen of the State has more, or
warmer friends. Although representing a district that has sometimes been
very close politically, he was never defeated, but served longer continuously
that any other Representative in the lower House of Congress from Iowa, since
it has lad an existence as a State.
PARIS P. HENDERSON was born at Liberty, Union County, Indiana, January 3,
1825. He was educated in the common schools and in 1849 came to Iowa,
making his home in Warren County, where he was appointed organizing sheriff, a
position he held until 1859 when he was elected on the Republican ticket to the
State Senate. He served in the regular session of 1860 and at the extra
war session of 1861. He then resigned and entered the military service as
captain of Company G, Tenth Iowa Infantry. On the 27th of January he was
promoted to the rank of lieutenant-colonel; in February, 1863, he was promoted
to colonel of the regiment and served with distinction to the close of the war.
Returning to Indianola, he was elected treasurer of Warren County and
later mayor of Indianola.
JOEL E. HENDRICKS, a noted
mathematician, was born in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, March 10, 1818. He
early developed a love of mathematics and began to teach school at nineteen
years of age. He chanced to procure Moore's Navigation and Ostrander's
Astronomy and, without instruction, soon became able to work in trigonometry
and calculate solar and lunar eclipses. He took up algebra while teaching
and soon became master of that science without instruction. He taught
mathematics two years in Neville Academy, Ohio, and then occupied a position on
a Government survey in Colorado in 1861. In 1864 he located in Des
Moines, Iowa and pursued his mathematical studies. In 1874 he began the
publication of the Analyst, a journal of pure and applied mathematics
and soon won a reputation in Europe among eminent scholars as one of the most
advanced mathematicians of the day. His Analyst was taken by the
colleges and universities of Europe and found a place in the best foreign
libraries. His name became famous among all mathematical exerts of the
world. Among his correspondents were Benjamin Silliman, John W. Draper
and James D. Dana; while his journal was authority at Yale and Johns Hopkins
Universities. For ten years, up to 1884, this world-famous Analyst was
published at Des Moines by Dr. Joel E. Hendricks. Up to the time it was
discontinued, no journal of mathematics had been published so long in America.
It is one of the remarkable events of the Nineteenth Century that a
self-educated man should, by his own genius and industry, without instruction,
reach such an exalted place among the world's great scholars. Dr.
Hendricks died in Des Moines on the 9th of June, 1893.