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         HON. DAMON NOBLE SPRAGUE, a leading lawyer of Louisa County, Iowa, was born on the 21st of March, 1832, near Cooperstown, Otsego Co., N. Y., and is the son of Dr. Jenks S. and Prudia (Noble) Sprague. He was educated at Hartwich Seminary, and at Delaware Collegiate Institute, of New York. He entered upon the study of law in the office of Spencer & Kernan, of Utica, who were among the most prominent jurists of the great State of New York, and who had the honor of acting in a like capacity for the Hon. Roscoe Conkling. Mr. Sprague was admitted to the bar in September, 1854, and like many another newly-fledged Eastern lawyer of those days, sought the West as a field for future operations. He came to Wapello, Iowa, April 1, 1855, and entered upon the practice of his profession. The following year he formed a law partnership with Col. John Bird, under the firm name of Bird & Sprague, which connection continued until 1860. Mr. Sprague was elected a Representative to the Lower House of the Iowa Legislature, Eleventh General Assembly, during 1867 and 1868, and served on important committees. In 1870 he was elected District Attorney when the district comprised four counties, was re-elected, and served twelve years in all.

On the 25th of June, 1863, at Wapello, Iowa, Mr. Sprague was united in marriage with Miss Mary I. Isett. Mrs. Sprague was born in Allegheny County, Pa., and came to Wapello, Iowa, with her parents in early childhood. But one child was born to them, a daughter, Helen, who died at the age of four and a-half years. Mr. and Mrs. Sprague are members of the Protestant Episcopal Church.

In 1872 Mr. Sprague removed to Keokuk, where he practiced his profession until 1886, when he returned to Wapello, and has since continued to make this city his home. He is the owner of two farms situated near the city; one of forty acres lies adjoining the town, while the other, comprising 120 acres, is but one and a-half miles distant. Both are well improved, and stocked with blooded cattle and horses. In politics Mr. Sprague has always acted with the Democratic party. When the late war broke out, like all true Democrats who believed in preserving the Union and the Constitution, he took a prompt and decided stand in support of the Government, and was the first to make a war speech on the public square of Wapello on that trying occasion. As he did not believe that the Constitution of the United States “was leagued with hell and a covenant of the devil,” and was not in favor of “letting the wayward sisters go in peace,” he took strong grounds in favor of prompt and stringent measures to put down armed resistance to the laws. His whole course during the war was consistent with the purest patriotism and highest public spirit. His fellow-citizens paid him the compliment of recognizing that fact, when, during the heat of a political campaign his opponent, who was ignorant of his antecedents, undertook to cast a slur upon his record, and found when the votes were counted that where he was known best Mr. Sprague had benefited largely by the uncalled for attack. His vote in his home town was the largest ever given for a Democratic candidate. As a lawyer he is well up in his profession, and after thirty-three years’ practice in Iowa has won a foremost place among the leading members of the bar.