Iowa History
Project
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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.
BERNHART HENN was born in 1820 at Cherry Valley, New York. He
secured a good education and in 1839 came to Iowa, locating at Burlington where
he was clerk in the United States Land Office. In 1844 Mr. Henn was
appointed Register of the United States Land Office which had been removed to
Fairfield. After serving four years he was elected to Congress on the
Democratic ticket from the First District. He was reelected, serving four
years. In 1853 he organized the firm of Henn, Williams & Company, which
was extensively engaged in banking and real estate business in different parts
of the State. This company laid out a portion of Fairfield and was among
the original proprietors of Fort Dodge. Mr. Henn was a gifted writer and
a frequent contributor to the Burlington Gazette. Although never a
member of the State Legislature or a Constitutional Convention, Mr. Henn
exercised wide influence in framing laws and shaping public policy in the early
history of the Territory and State. He was an ardent Democrat of the old
school and long one of the political leaders of the State. He died at
Fairfield August 31, 1868.
WILLIAM P. HEPBURN was born at Wellsville, Ohio, on the 4th of November, 1833.
His father removed with his family to Iowa in 1841. The son
attended the public schools and learned the printer's trade, afterwards read
law and was admitted to the bar and, in 1856, was elected Prosecuting Attorney
in Marshall County. In 1858 he was chosen chief clerk of the House of the
Seventh General Assembly. In October of the same year he was elected
District Attorney of the Eleventh District. When the Rebellion began, Mr.
Hepburn raised a company for the Second Iowa Cavalry, of which he was
commissioned captain. In September, 1862, he was promoted to major of the
regiment and in November became lieutenant-colonel, serving until the regiment
was mustered out in 1864. In 1876 he was one of the presidential electors
on the Republican ticket. Having removed to Page County he was, in 1880,
elected to Congress by the Republicans of the Eighth District. He was
reelected in 1882 and again in 1884. In 1886 he was defeated by Major A.
R. Anderson. In 1888 he was chosen presidential elector. In 1892 he
was again elected to Congress and has been reelected in 1894, 1896, 1900 and
1902. Mr. Hepburn is a public speaker of unusual power and eloquence as
well as an able debater. His long term of service in Congress has given
him great influence in that body and for many years he has been one of the
earnest workers for the construction of the Nicaraguan inter-ocean ship canal.
JOHN HERRIOTT was born at Herriottsville, in Allegheny County,
Pennsylvania, October 24, 1844, where his youthful years were spent on a farm.
He usually attended school a few weeks in the winter season until he was
twelve years of age when he received three months' instruction in the Normal
School in the winter of 1865. When the Civil War began young Herriott
enlisted in a Pennsylvania regiment and served as a private soldier in nearly
all of the great battles fought by the Army of the Potomac up to September 27,
1864, when his term of service expired. In August, 1865, he emigrated to
Iowa, settling on a farm near New Liberty, Scott County. In 1872, Mr.
Herriott removed to Stuart where he opened a drug and book store. He was
elected on the Republican ticket treasurer of the county, serving two terms and
making a record which brought him out as a prominent candidate for State
Treasurer. He received the Republican nomination for that position in
1894, was elected and twice reelected, serving three terms. He brought
marked ability to the discharge of the duties of that office, introducing many
new methods in the transaction if its important duties, which met general
approval. As a member of the Executive Council Mr. Herriott took an
independent stand in advocacy of whatever he believed to be right. He was
a courageous advocate of important reforms in the assessment of corporate
property, acting alone in that respect in the Executive Council. So
warmly was his position endorsed by the people, that his Congressional District
gave him a unanimous support for Governor in the Republican State Convention of
1901. The convention, however, nominated A. B. Cummins for Governor and
Mr. Herriott for Lieutenant-Governor, to which position he was elected by a
large majority.
FRANCIS J. HERRON was born in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, on the 17th of
February, 1837. He was educated at Western University in that city and
began his business career as a clerk in a banking house. He afterwards
became a partner in the bank. In 1855 he came to Iowa and with a brother
established a bank at Dubuque. He was among the first to enter the
military service upon the opening of the Civil War in 1861, having been chosen
captain of Company I, which was incorporated into the First Iowa Volunteers,
organized and sent to the field under the first call of President Lincoln for
75,000 men for three months' service. Mr. Herron took part in the Battle
of Wilson's Creek and distinguished himself, so that when the Ninth Regiment
was organized in September, he was commissioned lieutenant-colonel. He
participated in the three days' Battle of Pea Ridge, where he was wounded and
taken prisoner. He was promoted to Brigadier-General for gallant conduct
in that battle. In the Battle of Prairie Grove General Herron won
additional fame for his brilliant leadership and was in December made a
Major-General. His services throughout the war were recognized by the
great commanders under whom he served, and he must ever rank among the
ablest military officers from Iowa in the Civil War. He removed to New
York where his death occurred on the 8th of January, 1902.
SUMNER B. HEWETT was born in Northbridge, Massachusetts, on the 22d of June,
1833. He received a liberal education in the schools of that State, and
in 1854 removed to Iowa, becoming a resident of Wright County, where his
father's family were among the earliest pioneers. He selected for his
home a beautiful farm including EAgle Grove, and six hundred acres of adjoining
prairie. In 1861, Mr. Hewett was appointed county judge, serving three
years. In 1862 he was appointed Collector of Internal Revenue for the
Sixth Congressional District which then embraced nearly one-third of the
territory of the State. He had served as one of the secretaries of the
State Senate in the session of 1862. He was for many years one of the
directors of the State Agricultural Society, and an influential member of that
organization. In 1871 he was elected to the House of Representatives of
the Fourteenth General Assembly for the district consisting of the counties of
Hamilton, Humboldt and Wright. He served on the committees of
Agricultural College, of which he was chairman, railroads and public buildings.
When the Northwestern Railroad was built through Wright County, the town
of Eagle Grove included within its limits a portion of Judge Hewett's farm.
He removed to California many years ago.
AZRO B. F. HILDRETH, one of the
veteran journalists of Iowa, was born in Chelsea, Vermont, February 29, 1816.
He began teaching at the age of sixteen and going to New York in 1837
learned the printer's trade. In 1839 he established a newspaper at
Lowell, Massachusetts, and for several years conducted papers in that State and
Vermont. In the spring of 1856 Mr. Hildreth removed to Charles City,
Iowa, where he built a printing house and established the Charles City
Intelligencer, which for fourteen years he made one of the largest and best
printed of the weekly papers of the State. In 1858 Mr. Hildreth was
elected a member of the State Board of Education and took a prominent part in
framing laws which have given to Iowa an excellent school system. He was
the leader of the movement to admit girls to the State University on equality
with boys, a measure which encountered strong opposition. In 1863 Mr.
Hildreth was elected to the House of the Tenth General Assembly, was chairman
of the committee on schools and was untiring in efforts in behalf of liberal
laws for the promotion of education. In politics he is a Republican.
GERSHEM H. HILL was born at Granavillo, Clayton County, Iowa, May 8, 1846.
He went to Grinnell in 1860 and was employed on the farm of Hon. J.
B. Grinnell, the founder of the town and college. One night in June, 1861,
young Hill drove a wagon load of escaping slaves from Grinnell's house, which
was a station on the "underground railroad," to Marengo, on their way
to Canada and freedom. He obtained his education in the public schools
and in 1863 began school teaching in Marshall County. Soon after he
enlisted in the Forty-sixth Iowa Regiment and served under Colonel David B.
Henderson. In 1865 Mr. Hill entered GRinnell College, graduating in 1871.
He then began the study of medicine at the State University, and later at
Rush Medical College, where he graduated. In 1875 he was chosen a
physician in the Hospital for Insane at Independence, and in 1881 he was
promoted to superintendent and has continued in that position up to the present
time. His management of that institution has been marked for peculiar
ability in the administration of its affairs. He writes for several
medical journals and is a member of the leading medical associations of the
country. He is a lecturer on insanity at the Medical Department of the
State University, and is often called upon as an expert in that malady.
SYLVESTER G. HILL was born on the 10th of June, 1820, in Washington County,
Rhode Island. He received an academic education at Greenwich. In
1840 he removed to Cincinnati, Ohio, where he engaged in the lumber business.
In 1849 he went to California with the great emigration of gold seekers.
Failing to find profitable business, he came the following year to Iowa,
locating at Muscatine. In July, 1862, he recruited a company of volunteers
of which he was chosen captain. In August his company was assigned to the
Thirty-fifth Regiment of Volunteer Infantry. On the 10th of August he was
promoted to colonel of the regiment. He led it in the Vicksburg campaign
and McPherson's expedition to Brownsville and was also in the REd River
campaign under Banks and later served with Sherman. In the Battle of
Nashville, fought in December, Colonel Hill commanded a brigade and while
making a gallant charge on the enemy's works, was shot through the head and
instantly killed.
DAVID B. HILLIS was born in Jefferson County, Indiana, July 25, 1825.
He was educated at the University of South Hanover, studied medicine at
Madison and for eleven years practiced his profession in his native State.
In 1858 he removed to Iowa, locating at Bloomfield. In 1860 he
removed to Keokuk where he was engaged in business when the war began. In
August, 1861, he was appointed aide-de-camp to Governor Kirkwood, serving until
March, 1862, when he was appointed lieutenant-colonel of the Seventeenth Iowa
Infantry. In August, 1862, he was promoted to colonel of the regiment and
resigned during the siege of Vicksburg, after having distinguished himself at
the battles of Jackson and Champion's Hill. He died at Keokuk on the 9th
of September, 1900.
JOHN HILSINGER was born at Marathon, Cortland County, New York, on the 4th
of March, 1835. He secured a good education, read law with Judge Kingsley
and was admitted to the bar at Ithaca, in 1857. He came to Iowa in 1858,
making his home at Sabula in Jackson County where he taught school for two
years, but has been engaged in the practice of law since 1860. Mr.
Hilsinger was for about ten years one of the county supervisors, was postmaster
of Sabula two terms, and has also been mayor of the city three years. In
1863 he was nominated by the Republicans for State Senator, and although
Jackson County is generally carried by the Democrats, by reason of personal
popularity and superior qualifications for the position, he was elected,
serving in the Tenth and Eleventh General Assemblies. He was an
influential member of several important committees and an able and discreet
legislator. He has long been a prominent and trusted leader in the
Republican party of the State. He was a delegate to the Republican
National Convention which in 1868 nominated General Grant for President.
ALFRED N. HOBSON is a native of Pennsylvania, having been born in Allegheny
City, April 1, 1848. His father removed his family to Iowa in 1855,
settling in Fayette County. Alfred N. was educated at Upper Iowa
University and at the State University. He studied law with his father
and Hon. L. L. Ainsworth at West Union. He spent three years in the
office of the Assessor of Internal Revenue, and later entered into partnership
with L. L. Ainsworth in the practice of law. He was mayor of West Union
in 1882. In 1894 he was elected judge of the Thirteenth Judicial District
consisting of the counties of Allamakee, Chickasaw, Clayton, Fayette, Howard
and Winneshiek and was reelected in 1898 and again in 1902. His term will
expire in 1906.
ADONIRAM J. HOLMES was born on the 2d of March, 1842, in Wayne County, Ohio.
His parents removed to Wisconsin while he was a child and there he
entered Milton College but before finishing the course enlisted in the Union
army, serving until the close of the war. Returning to Janesville he
studied law and was admitted to the bar but afterwards took the full course in
the Law Department of the State University of Michigan. In 1868 he
located at Boone, Iowa. In 1881 he was elected to the House of the
Nineteenth General Assembly, serving one term. In 1882 he was elected to
Congress on the Republican ticket and twice reelected, serving six years.
He died January 23, 1902.
WILLIAM H. HOLMES was born at Woodstock, New York, December 27, 1827. He
received a common school education and, in the spring of 1852, became a
resident of Jones County, Iowa, where he engaged in surveying and farming.
In 1854 he was elected as a "Free Soil" Whig to represent Jones
County in the house of the Fifth General Assembly. He supported the bill
to remove the Capital from Iowa City to Des Moines and was reelected, serving
two terms, having become a Republican upon the organization of that party. In
1859 he was chosen county judge. In 1861 he was elected to the State
Senate where he served until October, 1862, when he resigned, having been
elected State Treasurer, serving two terms in that position. He was one
of the trustees of the State Agricultural College for several years and
president of the board. In 1883 he removed to Nebraska where he served a
county judge. He died at Neligh in that State December 14, 1895.
ASA HORR, scholar and
scientist, was born at Worthington, Ohio, September 2, 1817. His
education began early and he remained a student of science throughout his life.
Trained as a physician and surgeon in which profession he attained
distinction, he at the same time investigated many branches of science.
He became a resident of Iowa as early as 1847, settling at Dubuque which
became his permanent home. He was the leader in the organization and
promotion of the Iowa Institute of Science and Art which organized sat Dubuque,
and was its president for many years. He was one of the one hundred
American and English short-hand writers who were chosen to make improvements in
phonography. Dr. Horr was president of the Dubuque and Cedar Valley
Medical Societies and was an excellent botanist; for more than twenty years he
was one of the leading observers for the Smithsonian Institution. He was
also interested in geology, mineralogy and astronomy, and gave particular
attention to meteorology. To him and Professor Lapham of Milwaukee is due
the present method of forecasting the weather, used by the Government. He
was a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Dr. Horr was especially successful in bringing the sciences to the
comprehension of these without scientific knowledge, and donated four hundred
volumes of valuable books to the Historical Department of Iowa. He died
at his home in Dubuque, June 2, 1896.
CHARLES C. HORTON was born January 13, 1839, at Goshen, Orange County, New
York. He came with his father to Iowa in 1848, locating at Muscatine
where he attended the public and private schools. In 1857 he returned to
New York and entered Delaware Collegiate Institute at Franklin, graduating in
the literary and scientific course in 1859. In 1861, Mr. Horton enlisted
as a private in Company A, Second Iowa Cavalry, where he won rapid promotion to
first lieutenant. In June, 1862, he was promoted to captain and was in
command of a battalion most of the time until he was commissioned major in
1863. He was in command of the regiment at times and in 1864 was promoted
to lieutenant-colonel. From this time he was in command of the regiment
or a brigade until mustered out in 1865. He participated in the following
engagements: New Madrid, Island Number Ten, Booneville, Farmington,
Corinth, Iuka, Tupelo, Jackson and Nashville, where the Second Brigade charged
upon and captured the first two forts taken in that battle and its flag was the
first planted upon the works. Colonel Horton was wounded in the
engagement at Coldwater. In 1880 Colonel Horton was appointed special agent
of the United States Land Office, resigning to become special examiner of the
Pension Bureau, in which position he served fifteen years. In 1873 he was
elected on the Republican ticket Representative in the Fifteenth General
Assembly, serving by reelection two terms. He was the author of bills
creating a School for Feeble Minded Children at Glenwood, and one to
consolidate the Soldiers' and Orphans' Homes at Davenport. In 1897
Colonel Horton was appointed commandant of the Soldiers' Home at Marshalltown.
HENRY HOSPERS was born in Hoog Blockland, the Netherlands, February 6,
1830. He came to America in 1840, locating at Pella, in Marion County,
Iowa. Here he taught the first school and established the first newspaper
in the Dutch language. In 1870 a new colony was formed in Sioux County
where a large tract of land was acquired and Orange City was laid out, Of
this colony Mr. Hospers became the leader, The county had been under the
control of unscrupulous adventurers and under the lead of Mr. Hospers the
county government was reformed and the finances honestly managed. He was
elected to the House of Representatives of the Twenty-second and Twenty-third
General Assemblies and served in the Senate of the Twenty-sixth and
Twenty-seventh General Assemblies representing the district composed of the
counties of Lyon, Osceola, Sioux and O'Brien. Mr. Hospers was deeply
interested in education and good government and as long as he lived wielded
great influence in the Sioux County colony which he led to northwestern Iowa
when that region was one vast, wild prairie. He died October 21, 1901.
EMERSON HOUGH was born at Newton, Iowa, June 28, 1857. He graduated
at the State University and in 1880 traveled extensively through the wildest
portions of the west, exploring the Yellowstone Park on snow shoes. It
was largely due to this trip that the act was passed by Congress for the
protection of the buffalo. Since 1889 Mr. Hough has been western manager
of Forest and Stream. He is best known through his graphic pictures
of the west of twenty years ago. The "Story of a Cowboy" is in
truth a history of a class that will soon be extinct. "The Girl of
the Halfway House" is also a strong story of the west. "The
Mississippi Bubble" is his latest work.
NOEL B. HOWARD was born in Vermont in 1838 and educated at the Norwich
Military Academy. He went south and for a time taught in a military
school in one of the Atlantic southern States. Coming to Iowa in 1860 he
was located at Lyons when the Civil War began. He enlisted in Company I,
Second Iowa Infantry in May, 1861, and was elected first lieutenant. He
was in the Battle of Shiloh and promoted immediately after to captain of the
company. In October, 1862 he was promoted to major of the regiment.
In 1864 he became lieutenant-colonel and soon after colonel of the
regiment and at the Battle of Atlanta he was severely wounded. He served
with distinction in Sherman's campaign through the Gulf and Atlantic States and
retired at the close of the war with a fine reputation as an officer.
ORLANDO C. HOWE is a name that will be for all time associated with the
greatest tragedy of Iowa history. He was born at Williamstown, Vermont,
on the 19th of December, 1824, was educated at Aurora Academy in the State of
New York and studied law at Buffalo, where he was admitted to the bar.
Mr. Howe came to Newton, Iowa, in 1855. In the fall of 1856, he, in
company with his brother-in-law, B. F. Parmenter and R. U. Wheelock made a trip
up through the wild prairie regions of northwestern Iowa. They camped on
the shore of west Okoboji, and were so charmed with the beautiful lakes and
groves that each took a claim, intending to return and make homes the next
spring. Early in March they again arrived at the lakes and were horror-stricken
by the discovery that the little colony that had settled there the year before
had been massacred by the Sioux Indians. Not one remained alive to tell
of the cruel fate that had exterminated the entire settlement. The three
horror-stricken men hastened back to Fort Dodge, spread the alarm among the
isolated cabins on the way, helped to organize the "Relief
Expedition" under command of Major Williams and joined in its terrible
march and endured its almost unparalleled sufferings. When the Indians
had been permanently driven from Iowa, Mr. Howe returned to his claim, making
it his home. In 1858 he was chosen District Attorney, serving four years.
When the Civil War came, Mr. Howe raised a company of cavalry which was
Company L, Ninth Iowa, in which he served to the close of the war. From
1875 to 1880 he was Professor of Law in the State University at Iowa City.
Later he removed to Barber County, Kansas, where he became county
attorney and was for several years district judge. In August, 1899, he
became insane and died at Topeka, on the 31st of that month, highly esteemed by
all who knew him. His name is inscribed on the monument at Okoboji,
erected by the State, in memory of the massacre of 1857.
SAMUEL A. HOWE, pioneer educator,
was born in Vermont in 1808. He early removed to Ohio and engaged in
teaching where John Sherman and William T. Sherman were among his pupils.
He resolved to secure a liberal education and defrayed the greater part
of his expenses through Athens University by work about the institution.
After completing his literary studies he turned his attention to law, but
soon abandoned this and began teaching. He established a reputation as an
educator and inspirer of youth, as we find General Sherman saying on his march
to the sea:
"Professor Howe I consider to be the best
teacher in the United States. I am more indebted to him for my start in
life than to any other man in America."
Ex-Governor Alvin Saunders of Nebraska wrote to Mr.
How's son: "It is to the kindness of your father that I am indebted
for much of the success of my life." In 1841 Professor Howe removed
to Iowa and located near Mount Pleasant, teaching in a log school-house the
following winter. In 1843 he removed his school to Mount Pleasant and
there being no other accommodations it was located in the upper room of the old
log jail. In 1844 the school was temporarily removed to the Cumberland
Presbyterian church and the following year was transferred to the Academy
building erected for the purpose, where it still remains, having an unbroken
record of over fifty years of continuous existence, making it probably the
oldest continuously operated school in the State. After the dissolution
of the Whig party Professor Howe became a Free Soiler. In 1848 he became
a stockholder in the only antislavery paper in the Northwest, the Iowa
Freeman. During the presidential campaign of 1856 it was one of the
most influential advocates of the principles of the Republican party. He
was a firm believer in woman suffrage, temperance, the abolition of the death
penalty and was strongly opposed to land monopoly. During his early
advocacy of abolition of slavery he suffered much persecution, having property
destroyed and was finally mobbed by pro-slavery ruffians on the streets of
Mount Pleasant. Professor Howe defiled persecution, hatred loss of
property and social ostracism and stood firmly by his principles through life.
He died in Mount Pleasant, February 15, 1877.
JAMES B. HOWELL was born near Morristown, New Jersey, on the e4th of July,
1816. His father removed to Ohio in 1819, where he became a member of the
State Senate and afterwards member of Congress. James was sent to the
Miami University from which he graduated in 1837, studied law and was admitted
to the bar in 1839. In 1841 he came to Keosauqua, Iowa, where he opened a
law office and afterwards became a partner of James Hall. In 1846 he was
the Whig candidate for district judge but was defeated. In 1845, he, with
J. H. Cowles purchased the Des Moines Valley Whig and soon after gave
most of his time to the editorial management of that paper which had a large
circulation in that part of the State. In 1849 the paper was removed to
Keokuk where in time it became the Daily Gate City. Mr. Howell had
long been one of the most influential Republican editors in the State and in
1870 he was elected by the General Assembly to fill the vacancy in the United
States Senate for the unexpired term of James W. Grimes. At the
expiration of the fractional term in 1871, Mr. Howell was appointed by
President Grant one of the three judges of the Court of Southern Claims which
he held until a short time before his death which occurred on the 17th of June,
1880.
ASAHEL W. HUBBARD was born at
Haddam, Connecticut, January 18, 1819. He was reared on a farm and
educated in the common schools. After teaching for a few months in
Rushville, Indians, he began to study law. There he practiced his
profession sixteen years. In 1847 he was elected to the State Senate,
serving three years. In 1857 he removed to Sioux City, Iowa, and the
following year was elected judge of the Fourth Judicial District, serving four
years. In 1862 he was nominated by the Republicans of the Sixth District
for Representative in Congress. The district then extended from Black
Hawk County west to the Missouri River and from Boone County to the Minnesota
line, embracing one-third of the counties of the State. Judge Hubbard was
elected and twice of the counties of the State. Judge Hubbard was elected
and twice reelected, serving six years. He was influential in securing
legislation which hastened the building of several lines of railroad through
his district, besides securing to Sioux City a branch of the Union Pacific
Railroad. He was one of the founders of the First National Bank of Sioux
City and its president many years. Judge Hubbard died on the 22d of
September, 1879.
ELBERT H. HUBBARD was born in Rushville, Indiana, August 19, 1849, and
received his education in the common schools and at Yale College, in Connecticut.
He came with his father (Judge A. W. Hubbard), to Iowa in 1856, the
family locating at Sioux City. E. H. Hubbard studied law with C. R. Marks
and was admitted to the bar in 1874, beginning practice with his preceptor.
He became one of the prominent lawyers of Sioux City and one of the
influential leaders of the Republican party in that section of the State.
In 1881 he was elected Representative in the Nineteenth General Assembly
and in 1899 was elected to the State Senate, serving in the Twenty-eight and
Twenty-ninth General Assemblies.
NATHANIEL M. HUBBARD was born in Oswego, New York, September 24, 1829. He
was reared on a farm, acquired a good education and taught school. He
graduated at the Alfred, New York, University and studied law, coming to Iowa
in April, 1854, locating at Marion in Linn County where he began the practice
of his profession. In February, 1856, he was a delegate to the State
Convention which met at Iowa City and organized the Republican party of Iowa.
In August, 1862, he raised a military company for the Twentieth Iowa
Volunteer Infantry, of which he was chosen captain, serving under General
Francis J. Herron. In March, 1863, he was promoted to judge advocate on
the staff of General Herron and served in the army until April, 1865,
when he was brevetted major. In November, 1865, he was appointed district
judge but resigned the following year to accept the position of attorney for
the Northwestern Railway Company. For many years he was the Iowa attorney
for that company and long ranked among the ablest lawyers in the State.
He was for more than a quarter of a century one of the most influential
leaders of the Republican party in Iowa. He died at his home in Cedar
Rapids, June 12, 1902.
SILAS A. HUDSON was born in Mason County, Kentucky, December 13, 1815, and
came to Iowa in 1839, locating at Burlington. He was a clerk in one of
the early Territorial Legislatures and was chief clerk of the House of the
First General Assembly of the State in 1846. He drafted the charter of
the city of Burlington and the ordinances under which it was governed for
twenty years. Mr. Hudson was an intimate friend of George D. Prentice,
Horace Greeley, Abraham Lincoln and General U. S. Grant and was instrumental in
making the arrangements under which Lincoln went to New York and made his great
Cooper Institute speech which led to his nomination for President. He was
a cousin of General Grant, whom he knew from boyhood. After General Grant
became President, he appointed Mr. Hudson Minister to the Central American
States, a position he held until 1872. He died at Burlington on the 19th
of December, 1896.
JOSEPH C. HUGHES was born in Washington County, Pennsylvania, April 1, 1821.
He completed his collegiate course at Jefferson College, Cannonsburg, and
was a graduate in medicine of the University of Maryland. In 1845 he
located at Mount Vernon, Ohio, and five years later became demonstrator in
anatomy in the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Keokuk, Iowa, then the
Medical Department of the State University. In 1851 he was elected to
fill the chair of anatomy and the following year became dean of the faculty.
In 1853 he was elected to the chair of surgery which he held for many
years. For three sessions he performed double duty, lecturing often three
times a day and to him is largely due the upbuilding of the institution in
early days. Dr. Hughes also founded a medical and surgical infirmary and
an eye and ear institute in connection with the college and under his
management. At the beginning of the Civil War, Dr. Hughes was appointed
Surgeon-General for Iowa, a position he held until peace was established.
He organized and had personal charge of the army hospitals at Keokuk
which were among the largest in the west, having as many as 2,000 patients
within the wards at one time. Dr. Hughes was also president of the Boar
of Medical Examiners during the war. In 1866 he was elected one of the
vice-presidents of the American Medical Association and was its delegate to the
British Association for the Promotion of Science, the Provincial Medical
Association of Great Britain and the American Medical Society of Paris.
He was twice president of the State Medical Society of Iowa and for a
time editor of the Iowa Medical Journal.
JOHN A. T. HULL was born in Sabrina, Clinton County, Ohio, May 1, 1841.
His father removed to Iowa in 1849, locating in Van Buren County.
The son received his education at the Mount Pleasant Wesleyan College and
graduated from the Cincinnati Law School in 1862. He then enlisted in the
Union army, was chosen first lieutenant of Company C, Twenty-third Iowa
Infantry, and was in November promoted to captain. Mr. Hull was wounded
in the Battle of Black River Bridge, May 17, 1863, and in October resigned on
account of his wounds. He was for several years editor of the Bloomfield
Republican and in 1872 was chosen secretary of the State Senate, which
position he continued to hold until the close of the session of 1878. In
the summer of that year he was nominated by the Republican State Convention for
Secretary of Stare and elected, serving in that office for three terms.
In 1885, he was the Republican candidate for Lieutenant-Governor and was
elected, serving four years. In 1889 he was a prominent candidate before
the Republican State Convention for Governor but was unsuccessful. In
1892 he was elected Representative in Congress for the Seventh District and has
been reelected continuously to the close of the Nineteenth century. As
chairman of the committee on military affairs, he became one of the most
influential members during the War with Spain and the Philippine Islands.
JOHN D. HUNTER, pioneer
journalist, was born August 12, 1834, at Knoxville Jefferson County, Ohio.
His early education was acquired in the public schools and closed with
two years in Ashland Academy. At the age of fifteen he entered his
father's printing office where he learned the trade, and when twenty, he issued
the first number of the Hoosier Banner. He came to Iowa in 1856,
locating in 1858 at Eldora where he purchased a half interest in the Hardin
County Sentinel. He held a number of positions of trust in the
county, and in 1863 removed his paper to Iowa Falls. When the Civil War
began Mr. Hunter resigned the office of county treasurer to enter the army
where he served until peace was restored. In 1867 he purchased the Hamilton
Freeman, removing to Webster City which became his permanent home, where he
has conducted that journal for more than thirty-six years. He was elected
to the House of the Twelfth General Assembly, representing the district
composed of the counties of Wright, Hamilton, Franklin and Hancock, and serving
two terms. Mr. Hunter was the author of the first bill introduced into
the Iowa General Assembly providing for a Board of Control for the management
of the State institutions. A favorable report was made by the committee
to which the bill was referred, but it was defeated in the House. He will
be remembered long in the annals of wise legislation as the originator of the
plan which after many years of consideration by Governors and legislators was
enacted into law, working a great reform in the government of the public
institutions of the State. It has been already demonstrated that the
adoption of Mr. Hunter's bill of thirty years ago would have saved to the State
millions of dollars without in any way having detracted from the efficiency of
the institutions. In 1872 Mr. Hunter was appointed trustee of the Iowa
Reform School.
JAMES S. HURLEY was of Quaker ancestry, and was born in Champaign County,
Ohio, May 18, 1829. In 1840 the family removed to Iowa, locating in
Wapello, Louisa County. His early education was acquired in the public
schools and in 1852 he entered the academic department of Knox College at
Galesburg, Illinois. In 1853 he entered a law school and was admitted to
the bar in 1854, serving the following year as prosecuting attorney for the
county. In 1861 he was elected to the State Senate and during his term
secured the passage of a bill for the settlement of the long pending swamp land
claims. Under the provisions of this act a large amount of swamp land was
reclaimed. As chairman of the committee on State Library in the session
of 1864, Senator Hurley secured the enactment of laws greatly improving the
library. He was one of the originators of the railroad from Burlington to
Cedar Rapids and became a director of the company and member of the executive
committee. In 1869 Mr. Hurley was again elected to the Senate where he
was chairman of the committee on public lands. In 1872 he was chairman of
the judiciary committee being the author of important changes in the judicial
system. He was also the author of the act of that session regulating the
taxation of railroad property. Mr. Hurley died many years ago.
STILSON HUTCHINS, journalist, was
born at Whitefield, New Hampshire, in November, 1838, and was educated in the
Boston High schools, preparatory schools, and graduated at Harvard University.
In November, 1854, he came to Iowa, first locating at Osage, in Mitchell
County, where he established the North Iowan, which he published until
about the year 1860 when he removed to Des Moines and purchased the State
Journal, a Democratic paper founded by William Porter. Under the
energetic management of Mr. Hutchins the Journal became one of the
leading Democratic papers of the State and its proprietor acquired wide
influence in his party. After a few years Mr. Hutchins disposed of the Journal,
removing to Dubuque where for four years he was editor and proprietor of the Daily
Herald. In 1866 Mr. Hutchins removed to St. Louis and established the
Daily Times which he published until 1877. During this time he was
a member of the Missouri Legislature. Returning to New Hampshire he
served a term in the Legislature in 1880. Soon after he went to
Washington, D. C., and established the Washington Post which became the
leading daily paper at the National Capital. For many years he has been
engaged in large business enterprises in that city.
JAMES G. HUTCHISON was born September 11, 1840, in Northumberland County,
Pennsylvania. He received a liberal education, graduating at Dickinson
Seminary in 1862 after taking a four years' course. He entered the army
as first lieutenant, One Hundred Thirty-first Volunteer Infantry, serving in
the Army of the Potomac at the great battles of Fredericksburg, Antietam and
Chancellorsville. He took part in the Gettysburg campaign as captain in
the Twenty-eighth Infantry, called out to repel the Confederate invasion of Pennsylvania
and received special mention for bravery in the assault on Maryes Hill at the
Battle of Fredericksburg. Returning from the war he graduated from the
Cleveland Law School and removed to Iowa, locating at Ottumwa where he entered
into partnership with Hon. E. H. Stiles. In 1879 Captain Hutchinson was
elected on the Republican ticket Representative in the House of the Eighteenth
General Assembly. In 1881 he was elected to the State Senate where by
reelection he served eight years. He was the author of the law for
registering voters which has become the settled policy of the State. As a
member of the committees on judiciary, appropriations and chairman of ways and
means he became the leader of the Senate and by wise measures relieved the
State from a large indebtedness during his term of service. In 1889 he
was nominated for Governor by the Republican State Convention at the time when
there was a large defection from the party on prohibition. Mr. Hutchison
made a strong canvas, standing manfully upon the prohibition platform adopted
by his party, but the defection of the saloon element of the Republicans which
went to the support of the Democratic candidate, elected Horace Boies Governor.
Captain Hutchison was for seven years president of the Ottumwa National
Bank and has for a quarter of a century been the promoter of large business
enterprises in Ottumwa.
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