History of Iowa From the Earliest Times To The Beginning of the Twentieth Century
Unless otherwise noted, biographies submitted by Becke Dawson.
HENRY C. CALDWELL was born in Marshall County, Virginia, September 4, 1832. His father came with his family to the ‘Black Hawk Purchase' in 1836, locating at Bentonsport, in Van Buren County. Here the son assisted in the work of the farm, attending the public school in the winter. He began to read law at the early age of thirteen and in 1847 walked to Keosauqua and procured a place in the law office of Wright and Knapp. After a few years he became a partner in the firm and when twenty-four was elected prosecuting attorney. In 1859 he was elected to the House of the Eighth General Assembly and was appointed chairman of the judiciary committee. When the Civil War began he was commissioned major of the Third Cavalry and reached the rank of colonel in 1864. In June of that year he was appointed by President Lincoln Judge of the United States District Court for Arkansas. He served in that position until 1891 when he was appointed Judge of the United State Circuit Court for the District of Arkansas, Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota, North and South Dakota, Wyoming and Colorado. He has rendered many important and far-reaching decisions affecting the rights of the common people and especially protecting laborers from oppression of powerful corporations. In his official capacity he is above the influence which wealth and power too often combine to accomplish selfish purposes.
TIMOTHY J. CALDWELL, pioneer physician, was born in North Carolina, in 1839, growing to manhood on a farm and acquiring his early education in the common schools of his native State. In 1853 he removed to Iowa, settling at Redfield in Dallas County, and three years later began the study of medicine. Later he entered the Medical College at Keokuk, from which he was graduated in the class of 1861. He located at Adel where he began to practice medicine. In 1864 he was appointed surgeon of the Twenty-third Iowa Volunteer Infantry, serving until the close of the war. He then spent a year in study at Philadelphia and another in New York and gave one winter to study at New Orleans. He has served as president of the State Medical Society of Iowa. In politics Dr. Caldwell is a Republican and in 1891 was elected Representative in the Nineteenth General Assembly. At the close of his term he was elected to the Senate from the District composed of the counties of Audubon, Guthrie and Dallas, where he served by reelection in the Twentieth, Twenty-first, Twentry-second and Twenty-third General Assemblies. Dr. Caldwell was president of the company which built the railroad from Waukee to Adel and has always been interested in the growth of his home town.
AMBROSE A. CALL, one of the earliest pioneers of Kossuth County, was born in Huron County, Ohio, June 9, 1833. He was educated in the common schools of Indiana and left home at the age of fifteen. In the spring of 1854 he came to Iowa, journeying from Iowa City over the wild prairies to Kossuth County, where with his brother, Asa C., he formed the nucleus of a settlement by erecting the first log cabin north of Fort Dodge. The two brothers founded the town of Algona, and in 1861 Ambrose established the ALGONA PIONEER PRESS, the first newspaper in that section of the State. For years these pioneers labored to secure railroads and develop their town and county, working also for the material interests and settlement of northwestern Iowa. Ambrose has acquired large interests in land and business enterprises in Algona and has expended his means freely in the improvements which have made Algona one of the most prosperous towns of northwestern Iowa. He has contributed many valuable historical articles to the literature of early times in that section of the State.
ASA C. CALL, one of the first settlers in Kossuth County, was born in Ohio in 1825. He was a graduate of Oberlin College and studied law. In 1850 he went to California remaining several years. In 1854 he, with his brother, Ambrose A., made a journey into northwestern Iowa far beyond any settlement and entered a large tract of prairie and woodland on the east fork of the Des Moines River. Here they built log cabins and began to found a settlement. They built a mill on the river bank and laid out a town which they name Algona. They secured the organization of Kossuth County, of which Algona was made the county-seat. Here, for years, the two enterprising brothers labored with great success to secure settlers and were liberal promoters of every enterprise for building up Algona. They established a newspaper, projected a college and finally secured one of the trunk lines of railroad. Asa C. was the first judge of the county, an influential Republican and in 1884 a delegate from Iowa to the National Republican Convention. The two brothers were for more than thirty years the most widely known of the pioneer settlers of northwestern Iowa and realized ample fortunes from their early investments. Asa C. died on the 6 th of January, 1892.
MARTHA COONLEY CALLANAN was born in Albany County, New York, May 18, 1826. Her youthful days were spent on a farm near the Hudson River. She received a good education in the schools of Albany and in 1846 was married to James Callanan. In 1863 they removed to Iowa, locating at Des Moines. Mrs. Callanan took a deep interest in the reform movements of the times and in 1870 was one of the organizers of the State Equal Suffrage Association, which was established at a convention held in Des Moines. She was always a liberal contributor to its finances and an earnest and faithful worker in the cause. For many years she was the editor and publisher of the WOMAN'S STANDARD and a constant contributor to its columns. She was a prominent member of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union and one of the founds and contributors of the Benedict Home for friendless girls. Mrs. Callanan was also one of the founders and generous supporters of the Home for the Aged which was erected at Des Moines. She was many times president of the Equal Suffrage Association and always one of its trusted counselors. Mrs. Callanan took a deep interest in missionary work and was a liberal contributor to the cause. Her whole life was filled with good deeds and her wealth was used liberally in aiding the worthy unfortunate and promoting good works. She died on the 16t h of August, 1901.
JAMES CALLANAN is a native of Albany County, New York, where in the town of New Scotland, he was born on the 12 th of November, 1818. He was educated in the common schools of his native town, and at Cazenovia Seminary, where he remained three years. Later he studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1845, at once entering upon practice at Albany. In 1863 Mr. Callanan was called to Iowa to look after real estate investments in and near Des Moines and has since made that city his home. He has been largely interested in many of the financial institutions of the Capital City, being one of the founders of the Hawkeye Insurance Company, president of the Capital City Bank, and a stockholder or director in the Citizens' National and State Savings Banks and in the Iowa Loan and Trust Company. He was one of the organizers and promoters of the Des Moines and Minneapolis Railroad Company and largely interested in mining properties. Mr. Callanan has been a life-long advocate of temperance and always been a large contributor to the cause. He has given liberal aid to a number of benevolent institutions of Des Moines, among which are the Home for the Aged, the Iowa Methodist Hospital and the Children's Home. He has been a liberal promoter of churches and education and was a large contributor in the establishment of Callanan College. He saved the closing of his Alma Mater at a critical period by buying the bonds of the institution. The aid that Mr. Callanan has rendered friendless boys and girls toward a start in the right direction, can never be known to the public. He has always been one of the chief promoters and a liberal contributor to the work of the Humane Society.
SAMUEL CALVIN is a native of Scotland, where he was born February 2, 1840. The first eleven years of his life were spent amid the scenes made famous by Walter Scott and later by Crockett. With his father's family he then came to America, remaining four years in Saratoga County, New York, then removing to Buchanan County, Iowa. Here he learned the trade of carpenter and joiner, devoting his summers to work and his winters to study and teaching. In 1862 he entered Lenox College, remaining until 1864 when he enlisted in the Forty-fourth Iowa Volunteers and served in southern Tennessee and northern Mississippi until the regiment was mustered out of service. Study was now resumed to which was added teaching, first as instructor and later as professor of mathematics and natural history. In 1869 Professor Calvin was made principal of the Fourth Ward School of Dubuque where he remained until 1874 when he was elected Professor of Natural Science at the State University, succeeding Dr. C. A. White. At that time the professor of natural science was required to teach geology, zoology, physiology and botany. This wide field has been gradually divided among other professors and instructors until Professor Calvin occupied the chair of geology alone. He has been a constant investigator and contributor to the literature of his chosen specialty. He was one of the founders and remains one of the editors of the AMERICAN GEOLOGIST, the oldest exclusively geological journal in America. He was one of the original fellows of the Geological Society of America and has long been a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. In 1890 he served as secretary of the geological section and in 1894 as vice-president of the association and presiding officer of the section. His address delivered in Brooklyn, attracted much favorable comment, both in this country and Europe. The degree of M. A. was conferred upon him by Cornell College and that of Ph.D. by Lenox College. In 1892 Professor Calvin was appointed State Geologist of Iowa, which position he has filled with marked ability as shown by the high standing the survey has attained at home and abroad.
"The economical results of the work are becoming more and more apparent and to Professor Calvin the State is mainly indebted for them. He will probably, however, be longest remembered and best known as the teacher of hundreds of men and women occupying important positions throughout the State."
EDWARD CAMPBELL, farmer, lawmaker and politician, was born in Washington County, Pennsylvania, January 1, 1820. From early boyhood he was obliged to rely upon his own resources but he procured a good education by reading without instruction. He was a Democrat from the time he was old enough to take an interest in politics and during his entire life retained that faith and was one of the trusted leaders of his party in Iowa. He was a warm supporter of Stephen A. Douglas in 1860, and served as sheriff and prothonotary for many years in Pennsylvania before coming to Iowa in 1865. Locating on a farm in Jefferson County, near Fairfield, he became a progressive farmer, intelligent and successful. For ten years he was chairman of the Democratic State Central Committee and one of the most trusted councilors of his party up to the time of William J. Bryan's nomination for President, when he affiliated with the ‘Gold Standard' wing which supported Palmer for President. He was elected to the House of the Fourteenth General Assembly in the fall of 1871, serving in the regular and extra session, which revised the code. When Cleveland was elected President, Mr. Campbell was appointed United States Marshal for the Southern District of Iowa. Death came to him on the 9 th of March, 1901.
FRANK T. CAMPBELL was born on the 8 th of May, 1836, in the State of Ohio. He received a good education and in 1856 moved to Newton, Iowa, where for several years he, with his brother A. K. Campbell, published the NEWTON JOURNAL. In 1869, Frank T. was elected on the Republican ticket member of the State Senate. In that body he was one of the leading advocates of legislation fixing by law a tariff for railroad freight charges. He had carefully prepared for the leadership in that first energetic attempt by the Iowa Legislature to regulate by law railroad charges, and was able to meet and successfully overcome objections raised by the attorneys of the corporations. Under his judicious management the famous legislation was successfully carried through which became known as the ‘Grange Laws.' He served in the Senate eight years and in the fall of 1877 was nominated by the Republican State Convention for the office of Lieutenant-Governor. He was elected serving with marked ability as President of the Senate for four years. In 1888 he was appointed by Governor Larrabee Railroad Commissioner for the term of three years. The Twenty-second General Assembly, having provided for the election of the Commissioners, Mr. Campbell was elected in November to served three years from January, 1889. He removed to Des Moines which has since been his residence.
MARGARET W. CAMPBELL was born in Hancock County, Maine, on the 16 th of January, 1827, and received her education in the district schools. As early as 1850 her attention was called to the subject of woman suffrage by reading the proceedings of the first Woman's Rights Convention held at Worcester, Massachusetts. She soon became a firm believer in the reform but did not enter the field as a worker until 1863. She came to Iowa in 1857, locating in Linn County. During the War of the Rebellion she was active in solders' aid societies and at this time made her first public speeches in the suffrage cause, writing also on the subject for the newspapers. In February, 1869, she attended an important suffrage convention at Springfield, Massachusetts, where a number of the national leaders were among the speakers. Here Mrs. Campbell made an eloquent address which attracted general attention. The same year she was sent as a delegate to the Convention of the American Woman Suffrage Association at Cleveland, Ohio, and in 1870 was a delegate to the State Convention of the Massachusetts Woman Suffrage Association. From this time Mrs. Campbell became one of the prominent public speakers in the cause, in New England and New York. For more than twenty years she was an officer of the American Woman Suffrage Association and for a long time was connected with the WOMAN'S JOURNAL. She was associated with Lucy Stone, Julia Ward Howe and other national leaders in the reform, often speaking with them at conventions in various States. In November, 1879, Mrs. Campbell again settled in Iowa and was ever active in the suffrage cause, taking part in all of the State campaigns, in which she has been one of the ablest and most widely sought of the public speakers. She was four years President of the State Suffrage Association and for two years Corresponding Secretary. In 1901 she removed to Joliet, Illinois.
CYRUS C. CARPENTER, eighth Governor of Iowa, was born at Hartford, Pennsylvania, on the 24 th of November, 1829. He was reared on a farm, educated in the common schools and at an academy in his native town. He taught school two years in Licking County, Ohio, and in the spring of 1854 came to Iowa, stopping a short time at Des Moines and then walking to Fort Dodge. He there engaged in surveying, school teaching and the study of law. In 1856 he was chosen county surveyor and in March, 1857, joined the relief expedition sent to Spirit Lake to aid the settlers driven from their homes by the Sioux Indians. In the fall of that year he was nominated by the Republicans of the District embracing seventeen counties of northwestern Iowa for Representative in the Seventh General Assembly. His Democratic competitor was the brilliant young lawyer John F. Duncombe. After a vigorous campaign of the District, Carpenter was elected. In that first Legislature under the new Constitution, made up of men of unusual ability, Mr. Carpenter laid the foundation of his long and honorable public career. At the beginning of the Rebellion he was appointed to a military position and during the war served on the staff of Generals Rosecrans, Dodge and Logan. In 1866 Colonel Carpenter was elected Register of the State Land Office, serving two terms. In 1871 he was nominated for Governor by the Republican State Convention and elected by a majority of more than 40,000. He was reelected in 1873 serving four years. At the expiration of his term he was appointed Second Comptroller of the Treasury of the United States, where he served two years. In 1878 he was appointed Railroad Commissioner and before the expiration of his term was nominated for Congress by the Republicans of the Ninth District. He was elected, serving two terms. In 1884 he served another term in the State Legislature. He was postmaster of Fort Dodge for several years. The last years of his life were given to the care of his fine farm. He died on the 29 th of May, 1898. At his funeral were assembled many of the prominent men of the State, including the Governor. No man ever served the public more faithfully, or brought to the performance of his official duties a more conscientious regard for the general welfare of the people than Governor C. C. Carpenter.
GEORGE T. CARPENTER was born in Nelson County, Kentucky, March 4, 1832. He graduated at Abdington College in 1859. Soon entering the ministry he preached two years at Winterset, Iowa. Later he became a member of the faculty of Oskaloosa College, where he remained for twenty years, serving a large portion of the time as president of the institution. For many years he was editor of the CHRISTIAN EVANGELIST. In 1873 he was one of the Iowa Commissioners to the World's Fair at Vienna. He was an active prohibitionist and in 1879 was nominated by that party for Governor but declined. In 1881 Professor Carpenter, General F. M. Drake and D. R. Lucas founded Drake University, of which Carpenter was chosen Chancellor. From this time he gave his best energies to the building up of that institution. It was a severe blow to the college when he died on the 29 th of July, 1893, in the midst of his devoted labors and great usefulness.
WILLIAM L. CARPENTER was born near Salem, Ohio, on the 5 th of October, 1841. His education was acquired in the public schools and at Epworth Academy. His father and family removed to Iowa in 1854, locating on a farm in Dubuque County where William remained until a few years before the Civil War when he went to Black Hawk County where he engaged in school teaching and farming. In August, 1862, he enlisted in Company G, Thirty-second Iowa Volunteers, in May, 1863, was promoted to second lieutenant and in 1864 became adjutant of the regiment in which position he served to the close of the war. His gallantry at the Battle of Nashville was commended by special mention in general orders. When the Grange movement began he took an active interest in the cause and in 1875 was elected secretary of the State Grange, holding the position several years. Removing to Des Moines, he engaged in manufaturing. When the barb wire trust of Washburn, Moen & Co. was organized and undertook to control the manufacture and fix the price of wire fencing, Captain Carpenter was one of the first to suggest to the farmers to unite in resisting the powerful monopoly in fixing prices. The fight continued for seven years in the courts during which time the ‘Farmers' Protective Association,' through the factory established by Carpenter and Given, continued to manufacture and fix a reasonable price for fence wire. Litigation of a formidable character was instituted against the managers of the free factory; intimidation and bribery were attempted, and finally when all efforts failed to suppress competition the trust was compelled to reduce prices to those fixed by the farmers' association. Through the struggle William L. Carpenter kept the free factory running, unawed by threats and scorning all attempts at bribery. The same nerve that won promotion on the field of battle was shown by Carpenter in his contest with powerful Washburn Syndicate. In 1886 he was nominated by the Democrats of the Seventh District for Congress but the District had too large a Republican majority to be overcome. He was elected mayor of Des Moines in 1888, serving two years. In 1890 he was appointed Custodian of the Public Buildings of the State, serving four years. He has been active in all humane works, serving on the commissions for aid to the Johnstown sufferers, the starving in India and the Cuban Relief Commission.
PHINEAL M. CASADY was born at Connersville in Indiana, December 3, 1818. He acquired a liberal education, studied law and was admitted to the bar. In 1846 he came to the new State of Iowa, traveling westward over its wild prairies to Fort Des Moines then on the Indian frontier. He was appointed by President Polk the first postmaster of the future Capital of Iowa. He opened a law office and soon procured his share of the legal business of the vicinity. In 1847 he was elected school fund commissioner with custody of the school money. In 1848 he was nominated by the Democrats for State Senator in an immense district embracing the counties of Polk, Dallas, Jasper, Marion and all of the unorganized region north and west to the Missouri River. He was elected and took his seat in the Second General Assembly. In looking over the map of the State he observed that nearly one-half of its territory was unnamed. He at once determined to prepare a bill providing for its divisions into counties. The bill was referred to the committee on new counties of which he was a member. He gave much time to this bill as there was a wide difference of opinion as to names. The differences were finally harmonized and forty new counties were created and named. It was by far the most important act of the Second General Assembly and the name of Senator P. M. Casady became imperishably associated with one of the most interesting events of Iowa history. A paper of great value was prepared in 1894 by Judge Casady for the Pioneer Lawmakers' Association giving an account of the incidents which led to the naming of these counties. In 1854 Mr. Casady was elected Judge of the Fifth District. Soon after he was appointed Receiver of the United States Land Office by President Pierce. In 1872 he was elected one of the regents of the State University, serving four years. He was one of the founders of the Pioneer Lawmakers' Association and has contributed many valuable historical articles for its publications. For nearly a quarter of a century he has been president of the Des Moines Savings Bank.
CARRIE LANE CHAPMAN CATT was born in Wisconsin and came with her parents to Floyd County, Iowa, when she was seven years of age. Her maiden name was Carrie Lane and her early education was acquired in the public schools of Charles City. She taught several terms and was elected principal of the High School of Mason City. Miss Lane pursued her studies for some time at the State Agricultural College. Later she was chosen superintendent of the public schools of Mason City, serving two years, when she married Leo Chapman, editor of the REPUBLICAN. His wife became a partner in the establishment, and associate editor of the paper. A few years later they removed to San Francisco where Mr. Chapman died. Mrs. Chapman secured a position on one of the city papers and is said to have been the first woman editor in San Francisco. While there she was deeply impressed with the wrongs of working women and gave lectures on women's rights and wrongs. She soon became warmly enlisted in the subject of equal suffrage and the advancement and social betterment of women. In 1891 she was married George W. Catt. She had become one of the most popular and eloquent advocates of the suffrage reform and when the office of National Organizer was created in 1893 Mrs. Catt was chosen to fill the position. She soon acquired national fame as one of the most successful advocates of the cause and her powerful logic and winning oratory brought her to the front rank of successful workers. When the venerable President of the National Association, Susan B. Anthony retires, Mrs. Catt was by common consent chosen to succeed her. For several years she has resided in the City of New York.
JONATHAN W. CATTELL was born in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, June 25, 1820. He acquired a liberal education and came to Iowa in 1846, locating on a farm near Springdale in Cedar County. In 1852 he was elected Clerk of the District Court, serving four years. In 1856 he was a delegate to the Convention which founded the Republican party of Iowa. The same year he was elected to the State Senate, serving four years. In 1858 he was elected Auditor of State and at the close of his term was reelected. He instituted many reforms in the management of the business of that important office and served three terms. Becoming a citizen of Polk County, he was, in 1865, again elected to the Senate for four years. In 1885 Mr. Cattell was appointed by Governor Sherman to fill a vacancy in the office of Auditor of State. He was for several years President of the State Insurance Company. During his twenty years of public life Mr. Cattell rendered valuable service to the State, originating many excellent laws and improved methods of transacting public business. In religion he was a Quaker and in the years of slavery a radical Abolitionist. He died on the 25 th of September, 1887.
JOHN CHAMBERS, second Territorial Governor of Iowa, was born October 6, 1780, in Somerset County, New Jersey. His father, Colonel Rowland Chambers, was a colonel in the War for American Independence. At the close of the war he removed to Mason County, Kentucky. His son after securing an education began the study of law. He was admitted to the bar and began practice in 1800. In 1812 he was elected to the Kentucky Legislature and at the close of his term received an appointment on the staff of General William H. Harrison with the rank of major. He did excellent service during the war with Great Britain then prevailing, especially distinguishing himself at the Battle of the Thames. In 1815 he was again elected to the Legislature. In 1828 he was elected to Congress where he served but one term, declining reelection. In 1835 he was again elected to Congress, serving four years. In 1841 he was appointed by President Harrison, his old commander, Governor of the Territory of Iowa. He was also appointed commissioner to negotiate treaties with the Sac and Fox Indians and interested himself in protecting several tribes of Indians from frauds of agents and traders. He made his home on a fine farm of 1,000 acres which he secured and improved six miles west of Burlington. His administration was wise and creditable but, as he was a Whig, and the Legislatures during his term were strongly Democratic, the relations existing between executive and legislative branches of the Territorial government were not harmonious. Soon after the inauguration of President Polk, Governor Chambers was removed from his office solely for political reasons. He earnestly opposed the adoption of the Constitution of 1846, under which Iowa became a State. In 1849 Governor Chambers was appointed by President Taylor to negotiate a treaty with the Sioux Indians. This was his last official position. Toward the close of his life he returned to Kentucky where he died on the 21 st of September, 1852.
JOHN W. CHAPMAN submitted by Mona Knight
John W. Chapman was born at Blairsville, Pennsylvania, July 19, 1835. In 1843 his father removed with his family to Iowa Territory, making his home near Burlington, where John W. was reared on a farm. In 1860, he removed to Nebraska and was soon after elected a member of the Territorial Council where he won distinction as a fluent speaker and acquired wide influence in that body. In 1867, Mr. Chapman returned to Iowa, locating at Council Bluffs, where he was one of the owners and editor of the daily Nonpareil. He was four years treasurer of Pottawattamie County, eight years United States Marshal of Iowa, and mayor of Council Bluffs. He died in that city in 1880. Spencer Smith says of Mr. Chapman: "He was a man of superior judgment, broad views and great strength of character, qualities that gave him prominence at all times and places. His genial nature gave him social popularity in the community in which he moved. His acquaintance was not confined alone to Iowa; he was fairly well known as a man of ability by many of the leading statesmen of the country. He was a strong, terse, vigorous writer, with positive convictions upon public questions and had much originality of expression. He sought to make the Nonpareil a moulder of public opinion, rather than a reflector of it."
WILLIAM W. CHAPMAN, the first Delegate in Congress from Iowa, was born in Marion County, Virginia, on the 11t h of August, 1808. He received but a common school education and read law while serving as clerk of the court. After his admission to the bar he opened an office at Middleton. In 1835 he removed to Burlington in the ‘Black Hawk Purchase' and was soon after appointed Prosecuting Attorney by the Governor of Michigan Territory. In 1836, when Wisconsin Territory was created, Mr. Chapman was appointed by the President United States Attorney for the Territory. In 1838, when the Territory of Iowa was established, there were four candidates at the September election for Delegate in Congress. Mr. Chapman was chosen by a plurality of thirty-six votes. While in Congress he secured for Iowa the land grant of 500,000 acres for the support of common schools. He also obtained a report from the committee on Territories which finally secured to the State a decision in its favor in the controversy with Missouri over the boundary. In 1844 Mr. Chapman was a member of the First Constitutional Convention and took a prominent part in its deliberations. As chairman of the committee on boundaries, he reported in favor of the boundaries as finally established. In 1847 he removed to Oregon and become one of the proprietors of the city of Portland. He was elected to the Oregon Legislature; was one of the founders of the first newspaper established in the Territory. In 1858 he was appointed Surveyor-General of Oregon. Mr. Chapman died October 9, 1892.
DANIEL D. CHASE of Hamilton County, was for mare than a quarter of a century one of the best known public men of northern Iowa. He was born near Canajoharie in the State of New York, July 4, 1830. Securing a good education for several years he taught school. He studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1856 and soon after came to Iowa and became a resident of Webster City where he entered upon the practice of his profession. In 1860 he was elected a member of the State Board of Education from the Eleventh Judicial District. In 1861 he was elected District Attorney for the same district serving more than four years. In 1866 he was appointed judge of the District Court to fill a vacancy. He was twice reelected, serving nine years and attaining rank among the ablest judges in the State. In 1867 he was the most prominent candidate for Congress in the old Sixth District which comprised more than a third of the counties of Iowa, but was defeated. He was at one time a prominent candidate for Supreme Judge, receiving almost the unanimous support of the delegates from northwestern Iowa. In 1864 Judge Chase was a delegate at large from Iowa to the Republican National Convention which renominated Lincoln for President. In 1877 he was elected State Senator from Hardin and Hamilton counties, serving four years. He died at Webster City on the 27 th of April, 1891.
GEORGE M. CHRISTIAN is a native of Chicago, where he was born June 19, 1847. He received his education in the public schools. When the Civil War began he was but fourteen years of age, yet he tried several times to enlist but was rejected on account of his youth. Having his own way to make he came to Davenport, Iowa, in 1865, and attended the commercial college. Five years later he removed to Grinnell which has since been his home. Mr. Christian early became an expert telegraph operator and later an hotel keeper. In 1888 he was a delegate to the National Republican Convention at Chicago, and chairman of the finance committee of the Iowa delegation. He also had charge of the Allison Presidential campaign during the sessions of the Convention. In 1889 he was appointed by J. S. Clarkson, assistant superintendent of the railway mail service and in July, 1890, became Post-office Inspector. This position he retained through changing administrations until he received the appointment of United States Marshal in 1898.
THOMAS W. CLAGETT was born in Prince George County, Maryland, August 30, 1815. He received a liberal education at Bladensburg Academy, studied law, was admitted to the bar and entered upon a practice of his profession. He served two terms in the House of the Maryland Legislature as a Whig. In 1850 he removed to Iowa, locating at Keokuk, where he practiced law and became editor of the KEOKUK CONSTITUTION. When the Whig party disappeared Mr. Clagett united with the Democrats and in 1857 was elected Judge of the First District. In 1859 he was elected to the House of the Eighth General Assembly and at once became one of the leading members. He served in the extra session of May, 1861, called to organize the military forces of the State for the Civil War. Judge Clagett took a deep interest in fine stock and general farming and was one of the founders of the Lee County Agricultural Society and in 1853 he also helped to organize the State Agricultural Society and was its president for four years. He was a man of generous impulses and fine social qualities. Judge Clagett died in Keokuk on the 15 th of April, 1876.
CHARLES A. CLARK, one of the great lawyers of the State, was born at Sangerville, in the State of Maine, January 26, 1841. He attended the common schools of his native town, with three terms at Foxcroft Academy. Later, while working on a farm, he walked three miles to Guilford several times each week to procure instruction in Greek and Latin. At the age of fifteen he began to teach school and in April, 1861, enlisted as a private in Company A, Sixth Maine Volunteers and as a soldier of great courage he received rapid promotion to corporal, sergeant, lieutenant and adjutant of the regiment, serving until he was severely wounded and discharged. As soon as he recovered he reentered the army with a commission as captain and assistant Adjutant-General, serving in General Burnside's Brigade until in November, 1864, failing health compelled him to resign. He received a special Congressional medal for gallantry and meritorious services in saving the regiment from capture at Brook's Ford, Virginia, on the night of May 4, 1863. Upon the personal recommendation of General Hancock he was brevetted major for gallantry at Marye's Heights, Fredericksburg, May 3, 1863, and lieutenant-colonel for conspicuous bravery at Rappahannock Station, November 7, 1863. Colonel Clark participated in the following engagements: Siege of Yorktown, battles at Williamsburg, Gaines Mills, Malvern Hill, Second Bull Run, South Mountain, Antietam, Fredericksburg, both at the first and second engagements, Salem Church, Gettysburg, Rappahannock Station, Cold Harbor, Petersburg and numerous others. Colonel Clark cast his first vote for Abraham Lincoln, later became a liberal Republican, serving as a delegate to the Cincinnati National Convention of 1872, affiliating with the Democrats until 1896. In 1888 he was president of the Democratic State Convention and a delegate to the National Convention the same year. He nominated Horace Boies for Governor at the Ottumwa Convention in 1891. Colonel Clark returned to the Republican party in 1896, assisting in the canvass for McKinley. He came to Iowa in 1866, becoming a resident of Webster City, where he practiced law for ten years, then removing to Cedar Rapids. For ten years he was a law partner with Judge Hubbard, practicing in the Supreme Court of many States and in the Supreme Court of the United States.
GEORGE W. CLARK was born in Johnson County, Indiana, on the 26 th of December, 1833. He was educated at Wabash College and in 1856 removed to Iowa, making his home at Indianola. He was engaged in the practice of law when the Civil War began and was the first man in that county to enlist as a volunteer, assisting in raising Company G of the Third Iowa Infantry. He was commissioned first lieutenant and on the organization of the regiment was appointed quartermaster, serving in that position until September 1, 1862, when he was appointed colonel of the Thirty-fourth Iowa Infantry. He commanded the regiment in the battles of Chickasaw Bayou and Arkansas Post. His regiment was also in the Red River campaign under General Banks. During the latter part of the was Colonel Clark commanded a brigade.
JAMES S. CLARK was born near Indianapolis, Indiana, October 17, 1841. After spending his early years on a farm, Mr. Clark came to Iowa and was a college student at Mount Pleasant when the Civil War began. In April, 1861, he enlisted as a private in Company F, First Iowa Volunteers, participating in the Battle of Wilson's Creek. Later he was promoted to lieutenant and captain of Company C, in the Thirty-fifth Infantry, which was engaged in seventeen battles and sieges during its term of service. On the day that General Lee surrendered Captain Clark led his regiment in a desperate charge on the forts of Mobile, Alabama. He is the historian of that gallant regiment, having gathered the events of its career in the Civil War which have been published, adding to the valuable literature of the deeds of Iowa soldiers in the great Rebellion. He is president of the Regimental Association of the First Iowa Regiment of volunteer soldiers in the Civil War and has published a sketch of General Lyon and ‘The Fight For Missouri.' Captain Clark is a graduate of the Ohio Wesleyan University and also of the Iowa State University. He engaged in the practice of law in Des Moines from 1879 to 1890, when he retired to accept the position of secretary of the Des Moines Insurance Company, as well as president of the Iowa Alliance of Insurance Men.
Lincoln Clark was born in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, June 6, 1800. His boyhood was spent on his father's farm where he attended district school during the winter months until he acquired sufficient education to teach in the common schools. He entered Amherst College and, taking the classical course, graduated. He then went to Virginia and engaged in teaching, earning money enough to support himself while pursuing his law studies. He was admitted to the bar in Pickens County, Alabama, where he had decided to locate. In 1834 he was elected to a seat in the House of the Alabama Legislature, serving three terms. He removed to Tuscaloosa, then the Capital of the State, in 1836, and in 1839 was appointed Attorney-General. In 1846 he was appointed judge of the United States Circuit Court. He came to Iowa in 1848, locating in Dubuque, where in 1852 he was chosen one of the presidential electors on the Democratic ticket, casting his vote for Franklin Pierce for President. In 1850 he received the nomination for Congress in the old Second District which at that time embraced more than half of the State. His competitor on the Whig ticket was John P. Cook of Davenport. The contest was close, but Clark was elected by the narrow margin of but one hundred fifty in a total vote of 15,696. At the close of his term the same candidates renewed the contest but Cook won the election. In 1857 Mr. Clark was elected to the House of the Seventh General Assembly and gave the State valuable service in adapting the laws to the new Constitution. He was a life-long Democrat.
Rush Clark was born at Shellsburg, Pennsylvania, on the 1st of October, 1834. He was a graduate of Jefferson College and studied medicine. But in 1853 he decided upon the study of law and at Iowa City entered the law office of his brother. For a time he had editorial charge of the Iowa City Republican in the campaign which resulted in the election of James W. Grimes for Governor. This was the first defeat of a Democratic State Ticket. In 1859 Mr. Clark was elected to the House of the Eighth General Assembly on the Republican ticket. He took high rank as a legislator, was reelected in 1861 and chosen Speaker of the House in 1862. In 1875 he was again elected to the House, and in 1876 was elected to Congress. He was reelected at the expiration of his first term and died during the first session of the nest Congress, in 1879.
Samuel M. Clark was born in Van Buren County, Iowa, on the 11th of October, 1842. He was educated at the Des Moines Valley College at West Point, in Lee County, and began to study of law when eighteen years of age in the office of Judge George G. Wright and was admitted to the bar at Keokuk in 1864. Immediately thereafter he became associate editor with J. B. Howell of the Gate City, the leading Republican daily of southeastern Iowa. This proved to be his life work for which he rapidly developed remarkable talent and in a few years became one of the ablest and most versatile editorial writers in the State. He was a studious reader of literary and scientific works, an independent and philosophic thinker, his editorials often ranking as finished essays on the subject treated. Few men in Iowa had a wider acquaintance with the notable people of his native State and no one warmer or more abiding friendships. It was one of the greatest pleasures of his busy life to serve his friends. He was a delegate to the Republican National Conventions of 1872, '76 and '80, was seldom absent from the State Conventions of his party and was the author of many of the platforms for a quarter of a century. For a period of fourteen years he was president of the school board of Keokuk and for eight years was postmaster of that city. In 1889 he was appointed by the President Commissioner of the Paris Exposition. In 1894 he was elected to the popular branch of Congress on the Republican ticket and at the close of his first term was reelected, serving four years. Death came to him in the meridian of his useful and noble life on the 11th of August, 1900.
Talton E. Clark was born in Nicholasville, Kentucky, October 18, 1845. He attended the Richmond High School, of which his father was principal, until 1854 when the family removed to Booneville, Missouri, where his education was continued in Shelby College. In 1867 the family came to Iowa, locating at Clarinda, where Mr. Clark studied law for three years with Hon. William P. Hepburn and was admitted to the bar. He became a well-known and successful lawyer in that section of the State and in 1881 was elected to the State Senate on the Republican ticket, serving by reelection in the Nineteenth, Twentieth, Twenty-first and Twenty-second General Assemblies. He was for six years chairman of the Senate committee for the suppression of intemperance and was the author of important amendments to the prohibitory liquor law rendering its enforcement much more effective. He died at Los Angeles, California, April 20, 1902.
James Clarke, third Governor of the Territory of Iowa, was born July 5, 1812, in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. When a boy he learned the printer's trade and worked in the State printing office in Harrisburg. In 1836 he went to St. Louis and found employment on the Missouri Republican. Upon the organization of Wisconsin Territory he went to Belmont, then the Capital, and in company with John B. Russell established the Belmont Gazette, a Democratic weekly newspaper. The first number was issued October 25, 1836. Its proprietors were chosen State Printers for the Territorial Legislature. The Capitol was soon after removed to Burlington on the west side of the Mississippi, and Mr. Clarke repaired to that place and established the Wisconsin Territorial Gazette in 1837. This was the first newspaper published at Burlington and the Daily Gazette of that city has grown from that establishment. The public printing was given to Mr. Clarke and he was appointed by Governor Dodge Territorial Librarian. James W. Grimes was his assistant in the library. Upon the death of William B. Conway, Secretary of the Territory of Iowa in November, 1839, Mr. Clarke was appointed by the President his successor. He was mayor of Burlington in 1844 and was chosen a delegate to the First Constitutional Convention which assembled in October, 1844. On the 18th of November, 1845, Mr. Clarke was appointed by President Polk Governor of the Territory of Iowa. The Constitution of 1844, having been rejected by the people, a second Constitution framed in 1846 was adopted and on the 28th of December Governor Clarke retired from office upon the inauguration of the new State government. In 1848 Governor Clarke resumed the management of the Burlington Gazette and served as a delegate to the National Democratic Convention which nominated Lewis Cass for President. In July, 1850, Burlington was visited by the cholera, from which Governor Clarke's wife and youngest son died. A few days later the Governor was seized with the disease and he, too, died on the 28th of the same month, at the early age of thirty-eight. The following General Assembly gave his name to the county adjoining Lucas and thus the names of the first and last Territorial Governors of Iowa were perpetuated side by side.
William Penn Clarke was born in Baltimore, Maryland, October 1, 1817. At the age of fourteen he went to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, and learned the printing business. In 1838 he came west on foot at the age of twenty-one and reaching Cincinnati established a daily newspaper, and later became editor of the Logan Gazette, in Ohio. In 1844 he went farther west and located at Iowa City where he was admitted to the bar in 1845. He was a ready writer and contributed frequently to the newspapers on the slavery issue, being a "free-soiler" in politics. He attended the Pittsburgh National Convention which took the preliminary steps toward the organization of the Republican party in 1856, acting as one of the secretaries. At the National Republican Convention in 1860, Mr. Clarke was one of the delegates from Iowa and was chosen chairman of the delegation. He soon after purchased the State Press at Iowa City and took an active part in the antislavery contest leading to the Kansas war. As a member of the National Kansas Committee he sent a company of men to aid the citizens of that Territory in expelling the "Border Ruffian" invaders. He was for many years the keeper of a station on the "underground railroad" and was fearless in aiding fugitive slaves to freedom, cooperating with John Brown during his operations in Iowa. Mr. Clarke prepared the original ordinances for the government of Iowa City. He was reporter of the decisions of the Iowa Supreme Court for five years. As an influential member of the Constitutional Convention of 1857 he acted as chairman of the committee on judiciary. Early in the Civil War Mr. Clarke was appointed paymaster in the army, serving until 1866. He was then chosen chief clerk in the Interior Department at Washington, resigning when Andrew Johnson began his war on the Republican party, and returning to the practice of law in Washington, he died February 7, 1903.
Coker F. Clarkson was a native of the State of Maine where he was born in the year 1810. His father removed with his family to Indiana in 1820 going by wagon. After assisting his father on the new farm until about seventeen, Coker learned the printing business. He secured a position in the office of the Lawrenceburg Statesman and after three years was placed in charge of the paper. In the course of four years he was able to buy the establishment and published the Brookville American until 1854 when he disposed of the property and, in 1855, located in Grundy County, Iowa. Here he lived until 1878. He was a close observer, an excellent writer and was one of the pioneers in agricultural writing in Iowa. In 1863 he was elected to the State Senate from the district consisting of the counties of Hardin, Grundy, Black Hawk and Franklin. He was appointed chairman of the committee on agriculture and helped to devise the system of disposing of the Agricultural College land grant by which a large revenue was derived from it while the government lands were obtainable for free homesteads. He served four years in the Senate and in 1868 was a prominent candidate for Congress in the old Sixth District which embraced more than a third of the counties of the entire State. In December, 1870 he, with his two sons, Richard P. and James S., purchased the Iowa State Register, of which he became agricultural editor. In the contest between the farmers and the Washburn Barb Wire Trust he gave the Farmers' Association continued and valuable aid, helping to break the oppressive monopoly. He continued his editorial work up to the time of his last sickness and died on the 7th of May, 1890. In early life Mr. Clarkson was a Whig in politics. When the Republican party was organized he united with it and was an influential member.
James S. Clarkson was born at Brookville, Indiana, May 17, 1842. His early education was obtained in the common schools and in his father's printing office. In 1855 his father removed with his family to Grundy County, Iowa, where James remained eleven years assisting in farm labor and management. In 1866 he began work as a compositor on the Iowa State Register at Des Moines. He was soon promoted to local editor, and upon the election of F. W. Palmer, its editor in chief, to Congress, James S. assumed editorial management. In 1870 the establishment was purchased by the father and two sons; Coker F. conducting as agricultural department, and the elder son, Richard P., assuming the business management. Each chief proved to be qualified to bring his department to the highest degree of excellence and the State Register, which had long been the leading journal of Iowa, soon attained national influence and fame. Its influence in the Republican party of the State soon became supreme and its brilliant editor-in-chief was chosen chairman of the Republican State Committee. In this position he developed remarkable executive ability. He was appointed by President Grant postmaster of Des Moines, serving six years. He was a delegate to several Republican National Conventions and in 1880 became a member of the National Republican Committee. He was an ardent supporter of James G. Blaine for President and a personal friend of that statesman. In the presidential campaign of 1884, Mr. Clarkson was one of the national managers for the Republicans and from 1890 to 1892 was chairman of the National Executive Committee. In 1891 he was president of the Republican League of the United States. Upon the election of President Harrison Mr. Clarkson was appointed First Assistant Postmaster-General and during his administration of that department appointed 38,000 postmasters. As an editor and writer during half a life-time as a journalist in Iowa, Mr. Clarkson had few equals and no superiors. He was repeatedly tendered important federal offices by Republican Presidents. At twenty-five he was offered the Swiss mission by President Grant, but preferred the field of journalism in which he had won more than State-wide fame. When Garfield became President Mr. Clarkson was again offered a post abroad, and in 1890 was tendered his choice of appointments as minister to China or Russia, but again declined. In 1891 he sold his interest in the State Register and removed to New York City which has since been his home. He has always taken a deep interest in education and served as trustee of the State College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts. He has written two works of fiction which have had large sales, but do not bear his name as author. In 1902 he was appointed by President Roosevelt Surveyor of Customs for the port of New York.Richard P. Clarkson, eldest son of Coker F. Clarkson, was born at Brookfield, Indiana, in 1840. He learned the printing business in his father's office at that place and after the family removed to Iowa in 1855 Richard worked for many years on the prairie farm which his father improved in Grundy County. He secured a position as compositor in the office of the State Register at Des Moines in the spring of 1861 and in October enlisted as a private in the Twelfth Iowa Infantry. At the Battle of Shiloh he was captured with the regiment after a gallant fight and for seven months was a prisoner. After being exchanged he returned to his regiment serving until the close of the war. In 1870 the father and two sons, Richard P. and James S. purchased the Iowa State Register establishment and for many years worked together in their several departments, making it the most influential Republican paper in the State. Richard P. was the business manager and in 1889 became the sole owner of the establishment and from that time forward assumed editorial management of the paper. In June, 1902, after thirty-two years of service in the exacting field of daily journalism he sold the establishment and was appointed by President Roosevelt United States Pension Agent for Iowa and Nebraska.
DAVID C. CLOUD was born in Champaign, Ohio, on the 22d of January, 1817. He received but a common school education and learned the carpenter's trade. In 1839 he came to Iowa making his home at Muscatine where he worked at his trade several years. His evenings were spent studying law and at the end of six years without instruction he was able to pass an examination which admitted his to the bar. In 1851 he was elected Prosecuting Attorney and rose to prominence in his new profession. The office of Attorney-General was created in 1853 and D. C. Cloud was nominated by the Democratic State Convention for the position. He was elected, serving four years. In 1856 he was elected to the House of the Sixth General Assembly and was made chairman of the committee of ways and means. When the Republican party was organized, Mr. Cloud, being strongly opposed to slavery, united with that party. He wrote and published several books on politician and industrial subjects. The chief among these were works on ‘THE WAR POWER OF THE PRESIDENT' and ‘MONOPOLIES AND THE PEOPLE.'
LORENZO S. COFFIN was born in Alton, New Hampshire, on the 9 th of April, 1823. He was reared on a farm with but little opportunity to secure an education. With two years' instruction in Oberlin College after leaving home he obtained a position as instructor in Geauga Seminary where James A. Garfield and the girl who afterwards became his wife, were pupils. In 1855 Mr. Coffin came to Iowa, taking a claim near Fort Dodge. Here he was elected superintendent of schools and made frequent addresses in the different parts of the county urging better methods of farming and improvement in the public schools. He was a frequent contributor to agricultural journals, and for several years conducted an agricultural department in the FORT DODGE MESSENGER. In 1883 he was appointed Railroad Commissioner, by Governor Sherman, serving five years. During his term it became his duty to investigate the cases of serious accidents and he became convinced that many of them might be avoided by the use of automatic couplers. From this time forward Mr. Coffin entered upon the formidable work of securing legislation to require the railroads of the country to equip their cars with automatic couplers. He has told the story of his successful work in the ANNALS OF IOWA. It is sufficient to say that he was instrumental I procuring acts of the Iowa Legislature and also an act of Congress requiring the railroads to use the safety couplers. It is estimated that the loss of life of railroad employees has been reduced by this reform more than sixty per cent. Mr. Coffin has also for years carried on a movement among railroad men against the use of intoxicating liquors. His latest benevolent work is in behalf of discharged convicts from the penitentiaries. He has built on his farm a temporary home for this class of people called ‘Hope Hall,' where ex-prisoners may live until employment can be found for them. For more than twenty years Mr. Coffin has given a large share of his time to reform work, chiefly in the causes here mentioned.
CHESTER C. COLE was born in Chenango County, New York, June 4, 1824. He prepared for college at Oxford Academy and at the age of eighteen entered the junior class of Union College, afterwards taking the law course at Harvard University. Going to Frankfort, Kentucky, he reported the legislative proceedings for a daily paper. He was admitted to the bar of Crittenden County and there entered upon the practice of his profession, in which he soon attained high rank. In May, 1857, he removed to Des Moines, and soon became one of the most successful lawyers of the Capital City. In 1859 he was the Democratic candidate for judge of the Supreme Court but was defeated. In 1860 he was nominated by the Democrats of the Second District, which then embraced the south half of the State, for Representative in Congress but was defeated by Samuel R. Curtis, Republican. When the attack was made by Rebels of South Carolina on Fort Sumter, Mr. Cole was one of the first of the prominent Democrats to declare for the Union and urge the cooperation of men of all parties in support of the Government. Failing to bring about such a patriotic stand on part of his Democratic associates he left his party with such men as Governor N. B. Baker, R. G. Kellogg, Cyrus Bussey and M. M. Crocker and united with the Republicans in support of the administration of Abraham Lincoln. In February, 1864, Mr. Cole was appointed by Governor Stone judge of the Supreme Court, to which position he was elected by the people in November for a full term of six years and was reelected, serving until January 13, 1876, when he resigned. He became Chief Justice in January, 1870. Judge Cole was one of the most active promoters of the Soldiers' Orphans' Home and in 1865 was associated with Judge Wright in establishing a law school at Des Moines which was afterwards moved to and became the Law Department of the State University at Iowa City. Judge Cole was for several years editor of the WESTERN JURIST. He was also editor of a new edition of Iowa Law Reports. As a lawyer he has long ranked among the ablest of the State.
EDWIN H. CONGER, soldier, banker and statesman, was born in Knox County, Illinois, March 7, 1843. He attended the public schools in boyhood and, entering Lombard University at Galesburg, graduated in 1862. Mr. Conger enlisted as a private in an Illinois regiment. He made a brave soldier and was promoted several times, finally becoming captain of his company and at the close of the war was brevetted major. Upon his return home he entered the Albany Law School, where he graduated in 1866 and entered upon practice at Galesburg, but two years later removed to Iowa, locating on a farm near Dexter. After five years he became a resident of the village and engaged in banking. In 1875 he established another bank at Stuart. He was for several years one of the trustees of Mitchellville Seminary. In 1878 he was elected treasurer of Dallas County and in 1880 was nominated by the Republican Convention for State Treasurer. He was elected, serving two terms with marked ability. Remaining in Des Moines, after he retired, in 1886 he was elected to Congress in the Seventh District. In 1888 he was reelected, serving until appointed by President Harrison minister to Brazil where he served with distinction for four years. Upon the election of McKinley, in 1897, Major Conger was restored to the Brazilian mission. But American interests in China requiring an experienced diplomat, the President transferred him to that empire. When the Boxer uprising took place and the massacres began, great anxiety was felt for the safety of all of the foreign ministers at Peking, who were soon isolated from all communication with their governments, the city being surrounded and in possession of the hostile armies of Boxers. For weeks Peking was cut off from any communication with the outside world and it was feared that all of the foreign ministers with their families had perished from the attacks of fanatical insurgents. The anxiety of the Iowa people was intense for the safety of Major Conger and his family and one morning the news came that all of the foreign ministers and their families had, after a long and heroic defense, been slaughtered. Finally the allied armies of America and Europe forced their way to the Chinese Capital and relieved the besieged ministers, who with their families and other Christians had been shut up for weeks in the British legation buildings fighting day and night for their lives, subsisting a part of the time on mule meat. All through the terrible ordeal Major Conger was one of the bravest of the defenders and his wise counsel in the dire extremity was acknowledged by all to have aided materially in saving the little garrison from extermination. Returning home for a few months' rest Major Conger and family met with a hearty reception. After consultation with the President he returned to his post in China.
JOHN CONNELL was born in Paisley, Scotland, on the 16 th of March, 1824. His parents emigrated to the United States in 1831, settling in Connecticut, where the son remained until 1852, when he came to Iowa and located in Tama County. He lived on a farm near Buckingham and later moved to Toledo, being one of the early settlers in the county which helped to organize it. In 1854 he was the Whig candidate for Representative in the Fifth General Assembly for the Twenty-third Representative District composed of the counties of Poweshiek, Jasper, Benton and Tama, was elected and, when the Whig party ceased to exist, Mr. Connell united with the new Republican party. In September, 1862, he was appointed lieutenant-colonel of the Twenty-eighth Iowa Volunteer Infantry. In March, 1863, he was promoted to colonel and took command of the regiment. He was in Bank's Red River campaign, and at the Battle of Sabine Cross Roads lost his left arm and was taken prisoner. He retired from the service in March, 1865. In 1867 he was appointed Assessor Internal Revenue for the Fourth District, serving until 1877, when he became collector of the same District.
JAMES P. CONNOR was born January 27, 1851, in Delaware County, Indiana. When a child the family moved to Black Hawk County, Iowa, where he grew to manhood. He worked in the fields and attended the district school until the age of sixteen when he entered Upper Iowa University where, for four years, he earned the means to pay his expenses. In 1872 he entered the Law Department of the State University, graduating in June, 1873, beginning to practice the same year at Denison, which has since been his home. In 1880 he was elected District Attorney for the Thirteenth District, holding the office for four years, when he was chosen circuit judge, retaining that position until the change in the judicial system. In 1886 he was elected judge of the Sixteenth Judicial District, serving four years, when he resumed the practice of law. In 1900 Judge Connor was elected Representative in Congress from the Tenth District, and in 1902 he was reelected, for a second term. He has been an active Republican and in 1892 was a delegate from Iowa to the National Republican Convention.
JOHN C. COOK was born in Seneca County, Ohio, December 26, 1846. He studied law and was admitted to the bar. He came to Iowa, taking up his residence at Newton in Jasper County, where he entered upon the practice of his profession. In 1878 he was chosen judge of the Sixth Judicial District. In 1880 he was nominated by the Democrats for Representative in Congress in the Sixth Congressional District. His competitor on the Republican ticket was M. E. Cutts. The returns in several precincts were disputed but the certificate was awarded by the canvassers to Mr. Cutts. Mr. Cook contested the seat before Congress and, after a long delay, during which time Mr. Cutts was acting as the member, the seat was awarded to Mr. Cook who served the remainder of the term. He removed from Newton to Webster City where he became the attorney for a railroad company.
JOHN P. COOK, one of the pioneers of Iowa, was born in Whiteside, Oneida County, New York, August 31, 1817. His education was acquired in the public schools and at an early age he began the study of law. In 1836 he went west first stopping at the frontier village of Davenport in the ‘Black Hawk Purchase.' He was admitted to the bar and began to practice in Tipton, Cedar County and in 1842 he was elected to the Council of the Territorial Assembly from the District composed of the counties of Cedar, Jones and Linn. He served through the term of four years, in two regular and one extra session. In 1848 he was elected to the State Senate and was one of the leading members of the Second and Third General Assemblies. Soon after the expiration of his term, Mr. Cook moved to Davenport and entered into partnership with his brother, Ebenezer, in the practice of law. Soon after he became a member of the banking firm of Cook and Sargent which established banks at Iowa City, Des Moines and Florence, Nebraska. In 1852 Mr. Cook was nominated by the Whigs of the Second District for Representative in Congress. The District then embraced the entire north half of the State and his Democratic competitor was Lincoln Clark then a member of Congress. Mr. Cook was elected by a majority of five hundred seventy-three and served but one term. When the Whig party disappeared Mr. Cook became a Democrat. He died in Davenport on the 16 th of April, 1872.
DATUS E. COON was one of the pioneer newspaper men of Iowa. He established the first newspaper in Mitchell County, at Osage, in 1856, called the DEMOCRAT and supported the administration of James Buchanan. In 1858 he established a paper called the CERRO GORDO PRESS, at Mason City, the first in the county. Two years later, in 1860, he moved to Ellington and there established the first paper published in Hancock County. When the Civil War began he received authority from Governor Kirkwood to raise a company for the Second Iowa Cavalry. It became Company I in the organization of the regiment. He was a gallant soldier and was promoted to major in September, 1861, to colonel in 1864 and brevetted Brigadier-General in March, 1865. He located in Alabama at the close of the war and was elected to the Legislature during the reconstruction period. Mr. Coon was appointed by President Hayes Consul to Babaca, Cuba. In 1875 he went to San Diego, California, as Superintendent of the Chinese Exclusion Law, where he was killed by the accidental discharge of a pistol on the 17 th of December, 1893.
GEORGE B. CORKHILL, lawyer, soldier and editor, was born in Harrison County, Ohio, in 1838. In 1847 the family removed to Iowa, locating at Mount Pleasant. He graduated from the Wesleyan University of Mount Pleasant, afterwards taking the law course at Harvard University. He was admitted to the bar at Mount Pleasant and began practice; but in 1862 entered the Union army, having been appointed by President Lincoln Commissary of Subsistence and assigned to the Army of the Potomac, where he served until the close of the war, having been promoted to the rank of lieutenant-colonel. After leaving the army he became a law partner of A. H. Bereman at St. Louis for a time but returned to Mount Pleasant and in 1869 was appointed District Attorney of the First District. He was later appointed clerk of the United States District Court for Iowa. Mr. Corkhill was for some time private secretary to Senator Harlan and was special agent of the Department of the Interior under him. He was editor-in-chief of the WASHINGTON CHRONICLE for some time. In 1880 he was appointed by President Hayes United States District Attorney for the District of Columbia and acquired national fame in conducting the prosecution of Guiteau, the assassin of President Garfield. He also prosecuted the suits against the famous ‘ Star Route ' officials. Colonel Corkhill was a life-long Republican. His first wife was Olive B. Miller, the eldest daughter of Judge Samuel F. Miller, Iowa member of the United States Supreme Court. Colonel Corkhill died at Mount Pleasant July 6, 1886, from disability contracted during the war.
JOHN M. CORSE was born April 27, 1835, at Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. In 1842 his father removed to the new Territory of Iowa, locating at Burlington. The son, John, after acquiring an education became a clerk in a drug and book store. In 1853 General A. C. Dodge, who was a friend of the father, secured the son an appointment in the Military Academy at West Point. After two years' instruction he left the Academy and engaged in business with his father at Burlington. Later he studied law with C. Ben Darwin, finally took the law course at Albany, New York, and was admitted to the bar. He was a ‘Douglas Democrat' and in 1860 received the nomination of that party for Secretary of State, but with his party was defeated. When the Civil War began he helped raise men for the First Battery of Light Artillery. Soon after he received the appointment of major of the Sixth Regiment of Infantry and was in the Battle of Shiloh. In May he was promoted to lieutenant-colonel and was in command of the regiment. In March, 1863, he was commissioned colonel and in August was promoted to Brigadier-General. In 1864 he was in Sherman '' great campaign through the Gulf States and greatly distinguished himself by an heroic defense of Allatoona against an assault by a greatly superior force. He served with distinction to the close of the war and was brevetted Major-General of volunteers in April, 1866. In 1867 he was appointed Collector of Internal Revenue in Chicago. He was one of the incorporators of the Texas Pacific Railroad Company. In 1871 he removed to Boston where in 1886 he was appointed postmaster. He died in that city on the 27 th of April, 1893.
AYLETT R. COTTON was born in Austintown, Ohio, November 29, 1826. He received a liberal education and first engaged in school teaching. In 1844 he came with his father's family to Iowa and located at De Witt in Clinton County, where he began to study law. After making a journey to California, he began the practice of his profession at De Witt in 1851. He was elected county judge serving two years and then became Prosecuting Attorney. Removing to Lyons he became mayor of the city in 1855. He was elected a member of the Constitutional Convention in 1856 and took an active part in framing the new Constitution. Mr. Cotton was elected to the House of the Twelfth General Assembly I 1867, was reelected at the close of his term and chosen Speaker of the House in the session of 1870. He was elected to Congress in the fall of 1870, serving two terms, having been a Republican from the time of the organization of that party. He removed to California.
ROBERT G. COUSINS was born in Cedar County, Iowa, in 1859, graduated from Cornell College, Mount Vernon, having finished his course in 1881 and was admitted to the bar the following year. In the fall of 1885 he was elected to the House of the Twenty-first General Assembly and at the session of the Senate held in 1887 to try the impeachment charges preferred against J. L. Brown, Auditor of State, Mr. Cousins was chosen by the House to act as one of the prosecutors. The Senate acquitted the auditor; but it was conceded that the prosecution was ably conducted and Mr. Cousins' argument was an eloquent presentation of the case and brought the young lawyer into prominence. In 1888 he was chosen Prosecuting Attorney and Presidential elector in the Fifth District. In 1892 he was nominated by the Republican of the Fifth District for Representative in Congress and elected by a plurality of 1,098. He has been repeatedly reelected, serving in the Fifty-fourth, Fifty-fifth, Fifty-sixth and Fifty-seventh Congresses and has won the reputation of being one of the most eloquent public speakers in the House of Representatives.
JOHN COWNIE was born in Alyth, Perthshire, Scotland, December 8, 1843. The family coming to America located in Scott County, Iowa, when the sone was but twelve years of age. His education began in Scotland and after coming to this country he, by hard study, qualified himself for teaching. He became deeply interested in farming and became an active and enterprising member of the Swine Breeders' Association, Iowa Draft and Coach Horse Association, the Improved Stock Breeders' Association, and in 1894 became one of the directors of the State Agricultural Society. In 1896 he was chosen one of the presidential electors on the Republican ticket, and in 1898 was elected President of the State Agricultural Society. When the State Board of Control was established, Mr. Cownie was appointed one of its members by Governor Shaw.
PHILIP M. CRAPO is a native of Freetown, near New Bedford, Massachusetts, where he was born June 30, 1844. In youth he enjoyed excellent educational advantages, but chose to forego a college career that he might enlist in the Thrid Massachusetts Infantry, serving in the eastern department. After the war he became a civil engineer in Michigan and was engaged in the State offices at Detroit in the preparation of the Military History of Michigan. In 1868 Mr. Crapo came to Iowa as the representative of the Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance Company which he served in various capacities for more than twenty-one years. He has always been a public spirited citizen and aided materially in numerous important enterprises in Burlington. He assured the establishment of the Burlington Free Public Library and has recently made possible the erection of a permanent home for it by subscribing half the cost of a beautiful building. He was also chiefly instrumental in providing a public park for Burlington which bears his name. Mr. Crapo assured the success of the Semi-Centennial Celebration of the admission of the State into the Union, which was held in Burlington in 1896, serving as President of the Board of Commissioners which had charge of the enterprise. He was largely instrumental in securing the establishment of the Soldiers' Home at Marshalltown and delivered the address on behalf of the soldiers at the dedication of the building.
SAMUEL A. CRAVATH, physician and journalist, was born at Conneaut, Pennsylvania, September 27, 1836. He entered the preparatory department of Oberlin College in 1852, graduating in 1858. On account of his high standing as a classical student he was chosen to teach Greek and Latin while pursuing his studies and also taught district school during vacations to defray his expenses. After graduating he became principal of Madison Seminary and later superintendent of the schools of Madison, studying medicine in the meantime. In 1864 he received the degree of M. D. from the Cincinnati College of Medicine and Surgery. He began the practice of medicine at Springfield, Ohio, but removed to Iowa in 1865, locating at Mitchell, where he established the MITCHELL COUNTY NEWS in 1869. In January, 1872, he purchased a half interest in the GRINNELL HERALD, where for a time he was associated with Albert Shaw, the founder of the REVIEW OF REVIEWS. Dr. Cravath retained editorial management of the HERALD until 1890. He has held large business interests in Grinnell and has served as one of the trustees of Iowa College.
MARCELLUS M. CROCKER, lawyer and soldier, was born in Johnson County, Indiana, February 6, 1830. With his father's family he came to Jefferson County, Iowa, in 1844, where he attracted the notice of Shepherd Leffler, who was a member of Congress living at Burlington. When Crocker was sixteen years of age he had acquired an education. Leffler and General A. C. Dodge, who was a United States Senator, joined in securing him the appointment of cadet in the Military Academy at West Point. He entered upon his military education, but the death of his father made it necessary for him to leave the Academy before he could graduate. It was in the fall of 1849 when he returned home to look after the affairs of his father's estate that he entered the office of Judge Olney and took up the study of law. In the course of two years he was admitted to the bar and began practice at Lancaster, in Keokuk County. In the spring of 1854 he removed to Des Moines and entered into partnership with D. O. Finch. In 1857 he and P. M. Casady became partners in the practice of law and soon after J. S. Polk became a member of the firm. Mr. Crocker became in a few years one of the most prominent and successful lawyers in central Iowa. He was attending court at Adel when the news of the firing on Fort Sumter was received. He returned to Des Moines and made a thrilling address at a war meeting. From this time forward he was an uncompromising Union man, supporting Lincoln 's administration, although he had been a firm Democrat from boyhood. He at once began to raise a company for the war, which became Company D of the Second Volunteer Infantry, of which he was commissioned captain. He won rapid promotion and in October, 1862, was commissioned Colonel of the Thirteenth Infantry. In the winter following he was promoted to a Brigadier-General. He took an active part in the battles of Shiloh and Corinth, and in the latter commanded a brigade which was composed of the Eleventh, Thirteenth, Fifteenth and Sixteenth Iowa regiments and became on eof the most famous of the Army of the Tennessee. He was promoted to Major-General and placed in command of the Seventh Division of the Seventeenth Army Corps, which fought most gallantly with heavy loss at the battles of Jackson and Champion's Hill. In this campaign under the eye of General Grant, that great chieftain pronounced Crocker ‘competent to command an army.' In 1863 he came home on sick leave. While in Des Moines the Republican State Convention was in session, and there was a movement inaugurated to nominate him for Governor. But he declined the honor with the remark: ‘If a soldier is worth anything he cannot be spared from the field; if he is worthless, he will not make a good Governor.' His last active service in the Civil War was with Sherman in the march to the sea, where his health began to fail. Early in the summer he was transferred to a command in New Mexico where it was hoped the climate would be beneficial to him. But he was already stricken with a fatal malady and in June, 1865, he went to Washington where he was prostrated with sickness, but lingered until August 26, when he passed away at the early age of thirty-five.
HENRY J. B. CUMMINGS was born at Newton, New Jersey, May 31, 1831. He was educated in the public schools of Pennsylvania and at the age of nineteen became editor of a newspaper in Schuylkill County. He studied law, was admitted to the bar at Williamsport, Pennsylvania; but I 1856 removed to Iowa, locating at Winterset. He was elected Prosecuting Attorney. When the war of the Rebellion began Mr. Cummings helped raise Company F of the Fourth Infantry and was elected captain. In September, 1862, he was appointed by Governor Kirkwood colonel of the Thirty-ninth Volunteer Infantry, serving until 1865. Upon his return home he became the editor of the WINTERSET MADISONIAN. In 1876 he was nominated by the Republicans of the Seventh District for Representative in Congress and elected, serving one term.
ALBERT B. CUMMINS, seventeenth Governor of Iowa, was born in Greene County, Pennsylvania, February 15, 1850. He acquired a good education, attending Waynesburg College. In 1869 he came to Iowa and secured a position in the recorder's office of Clayton County at Elkader. Later he became a civil engineer and was engaged in the location and construction of the Richmond & Fort Wayne Railroad in Indiana. He studied law and in 1875 was admitted to the bar and began practice in Chicago. In January, 1878, he located at Des Moines, and in 1881 entered into partnership with Judge George G. Wright and his son Thomas S. Wright. Soon after he entered the firm he was placed in charge of the litigation known as the barb wire conflict. The farmers of Iowa had organized the Protective Association to resist the exorbitant demands of the Washburn and Moen syndicate which had purchased many patents and sought to control the manufacture and fix the price of all wire fencing. Mr. Cummins was employed by the Farmers' Protective Association to fight the monopoly in the courts. The contest lasted several years. Mr. Cummins was obliged to meet the ablest patent lawyers in the country and equipped himself by a thorough study of patent law and decisions. To the surprise of the syndicate, its lawyers found the young Des Moines attorney a match for them on every point raised. In the end the monopoly was broken and Mr. Cummins had acquired State wide reputation as one of its ablest lawyers. In 1887 he was an independent candidate for Representative in the Twenty-second General Assembly and was elected over the Republican candidate. In 1892 he presided over the Republican State Convention and was chosen as one of the Presidential Electors on the Republican ticket. He was twice a candidate for United States Senator against Ex-Governor John H. Gear but was not successful. In 1896 he was President of the Republican State Convention and one of the Delegates to the National Convention. He served in the Presidential campaign as a member of the National Republican Committee. In 1901 he was nominated, after a notable contest, as the Republican candidate for Governor of the State and elected by a large majority.
CHARLES F. CURTISS was born near Galena, Illinois, December 12, 1863. About a year later the family removed to Story County, Iowa, and the son received his education in the public schools and at the State College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts, graduating as president of the class. For three years Mr. Curtiss managed the home farm of a thousand acres and was engaged in importing and breeding fine stock. During President Harrison's administration he was appointed State Statistical Agent, and in 1891 became assistant director of the Experimental Station of the Iowa State College. Professor Curtiss succeeded Secretary James Wilson as Director of the Experimental Station and Professor of Agriculture in 1897. He has a wide acquaintance among the agriculturists of the country and is a member of numerous organizations in which he has held the following positions: President of the Stock Breeders' Association, member of the executive committee of the International Live Stock Exposition, member of the executive committee of the American Association of Agricultural Colleges and Experimental Stations. He has served as judge of stock at a large number of State Fairs, the Pan-American, Trans-Mississippi and International Expositions. He is a frequent contributor to American and foreign agricultural publication, and the results of his investigations have been translated and republished in foreign countries.
GEORGE M. CURTIS was born in Oxford, Chenango County, New York, April 1, 1844. He was reared on a farm and in 1856 came with his parents to Ogle County, Illinois, and completed his education at Rock River Seminary, Mount Morris. He located at Clinton, Iowa, in 1867 and engaged in the lumber business. In the fall of 1887 he was nominated by the Republicans of Clinton County for Representative in the Twenty-second General Assembly. He was a delegate to the National Republican Convention of 1892 and in 1894 was nominated for Representative in Congress for the Second District. It had long been represented by a Democrat but Mr. Curtis overcame the Democratic majority and was elected by a plurality of 3,320. He was reelected and at the close of his second term declined a third.
SAMUEL R. CURTIS was born in Ohio on the 3d of February, 1807. He entered the Military Academy at West Point and graduated in 1831. At the beginning of the War with Mexico he was appointed Adjutant General of Ohio and soon after was commissioned Colonel of the Third Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He served with distinction through the war and was military governor of several of the captured cities. In 1847 he removed to Keokuk, Iowa and was for several years chief engineer of the Des Moines River improvement. He became civil engineer for several railroads constructed in Iowa, Indiana and Illinois. In 1856 he was nominated by the Republicans of the First District for Representative in Congress and elected, serving until 1861, when he resigned his seat to enter the military service. He was the first colonel of the Second Iowa Infantry and was soon promoted to Brigadier-General. He commanded the Union army in the Battle of Pea Ridge where he won a brilliant victory over superior numbers. General G. M. Dodge, one of the ablest of the higher officers from Iowa writes of that battle:
‘Probably no one had a better opportunity than I to judge of the battle. My command opened the battle, and I think was the last to fire a gun. General Curtis, the commander of that army, was entitled to the full credit of that great victory. The battle virtually cleared up the southwest and allowed all our forces to concentrate on or east of the Mississippi. General Curtis had under him as the division commanders several experienced, educated soldiers, who performed their duties with great ability, but it was General Curtis who met and defeated on their own ground, three hundred miles away from any base, twice his number. He was attacked in the rear and on the flank with great force, the fighting lasting three days, and he defeated, yes, virtually destroyed, Van Dorn's army.'
General Curtis was promptly promoted to Major-General in recognition of his great victory and given command of the Department of Missouri. After a vigorous campaign a clique of unscrupulous politicians of Missouri secured his removal and he was transferred to the Department of Kansas where he won additional honors. He was the first Major-General from Iowa, the only one who commanded an independent army. He was never defeated in battle and it was not creditable to the administration that a commander so able and successful should have been displaced from a Department where he had won enduring fame.
MARSENA E. CUTTS was born at Orwell, Addison County, Vermont, May 22, 1833. He received a liberal education and came to Iowa in June, 1855, settling in Poweshiek County. He studied law, was admitted to the bar and in 1858 was elected Prosecuting Attorney of that county and served as Representative in the Legislature for the extra session of 1861. In 1863 he was elected Senator for the Twenty-sixth District, composed of the counties of Iowa and Poweshiek, serving in the Tenth and Eleventh General Assemblies. In 1872 he was appointed by Governor Carpenter Attorney-General of the State to fill a vacancy. In November of the same year he was elected to a full term of two years and reelected in 1874. In 1880 he was nominated by the Republicans of the Sixth District for Representative in Congress and in a very close vote was awarded the certificate of election. He served a part of the term but his election being contested by John C. Cook his Democratic competitor, the seat was finally awarded to him. In 1882 Mr. Cutts was again nominated for Representative in Congress in the Fifth District and was elected by a plurality over each of his competitors. He died before the expiration of his term in the prime of life. He was a lawyer, legislator and public speaker of marked ability and for many years one of the leaders of the Republican party of Iowa.