1903 Index

History of Iowa From the Earliest Times To The Beginning of the Twentieth Century
Volume IV, Iowa Biography, B. F. Gue, 1903.

B

Unless otherwise noted, biographies submitted by Becke Dawson.

WASHINGTON I. BABB was born in Des Moines County, Iowa, October 2, 1844. His education was begun in the public schools and continued in the Wesleyan University at Mount Pleasant. Early in 1863 he enlisted in the Eighth Iowa Cavalry, serving with his regiment in the Army of the Cumberland until the close of the war. He took part in the Atlanta campaign, the battles of Franklin and Nashville and the Wilson expedition through Alabama and Georgia. Upon his return to Mount Pleasant, Mr. Babb reentered the University, graduating in 1866. He studied law, was admitted to the bar and entered upon practice in 1868. He was a member of the law firm of Woolson & Babb, which for eighteen years was regarded as one of the ablest in that section of the State. Although originally a Republican, Mr. Babb differed with party on reconstruction policy and united with the Democrats after the war. In 1883 he was elected to the House of the Twentieth General Assembly in a strong Republican county, serving as a member of the committees on judiciary and railroads. In 1890 he was chosen judge of the Second Judicial District, resuming practice upon leaving the bench in 1895. When the free silver issue became prominent Judge Babb was largely instrumental in securing the adoption of a sound money platform at the Democratic State Convention of 1895, which nominated him for Governor. In 1896 he received the Democratic vote in the General Assembly for United States Senator. He adhered to the sound money wing of the party in the campaign of 1896. Judge Babb has taken a deep interest in education, serving for more than twenty years as a trustee of the Iowa Wesleyan University, and several years as regent of the State University. The former institution has conferred upon him the degree of LL. D.

LYSANDER W. BABBITT was one of the pioneers of Iowa. He was born in Seneca County, New York, January 31, 1812, and came to the Mississippi valley in 1836, locating at Burlington, which was then in Michigan Territory. In 1838 he was appointed by General Henry Dodge adjutant of a regiment organized to protect the frontier. In 1842 he explored the upper valley of the Des Moines River and while camped at the mouth of the Raccoon, predicted that the future capital of the State would be located in that vicinity. In 1844 he journeyed with an ox team to Knoxville where he built a mill and opened a store. In 1848 he was elected on the Democratic ticket, Representative in the Legislature for the district composed of Marion, Jasper, Polk and Dallas, and all of the counties in that tier to the Missouri River. He served two terms in the House. While a member he introduced and urged the passage of a bill to remove the capital from Iowa City to Des Moines, then a new town laid out upon the spot where he had camped six years before. In 1853 he was appointed Register of the United States Land Office at Council Bluffs and removed to that place. In 1857 he purchased the COUNCIL BLUFFS BUGLE, one of the leading journals of his party in the State. In 1859 he was the Democratic candidate for Lieutenant-Governor but was defeated. In 1867 he was again elected to the Legislature. He removed to Arkansas in 1881 where he died October 4, 1885. He had been one of the influential leaders of the Democratic party of Iowa for half a century.

A. K. BAILEY was born in Wales, Erie County, New York, November 18, 1835. After attending school until he was thirteen, he entered his father's office and learned the printer's trade. In 1860 Mr. Bailey came to Iowa, locating in Winneshiek County and with his father, WESLEY BAILEY, founded the DECORAH REPUBLICAN. For more than forty years he has remained with that journal as one of the editors and publishers. It has long ranked among the best weekly newspapers in the State. He has, during that period, in addition to conducting the REPUBLICAN, held the office of treasurer and recorder of the county, served sixteen years as postmaster of Decorah and for four years, from 1890 to 1894, represented his county in the State Senate. While a member of the Senate he was an earnest advocate of the Australian ballot law and one of the zealous supporters of the establishment of the State Historical Department. He and his father were among the pioneer journalists of northern Iowa and widely known throughout the State as among the ablest editors.

GIDEON S. BAILEY was born in the State of Kentucky in 1810 and came to the �Black Hawk Purchase' in 1837, locating on the west bank of the Des Moines River in Van Buren County. He was a physician but from boyhood had taken a deep interest in public affairs. When the Territory of Iowa was established in 1838, Dr. Bailey, then a young man of twenty-eight was chosen one of the members of the First Legislative Assembly. He was the author of the first school system established in the Territory. As chairman of the committee on schools he framed a bill, which became a law on the 24 th of December, 1838, providing for public schools in each county free to all children between the ages of four and twenty-one. The bill also provided for the building of schoolhouses. Dr. Bailey was reelected to the House of the Second Legislative Assembly and in 1840 was elected a member of the Council where he served two terms. In 1844 he was a member of the First Constitutional Convention. In 1845 he was appointed by the President United States Marshal for Iowa. In 1857 he was elected to the State Senate, serving in the Seventh and Eighth General Assemblies. This honored pioneer lawmaker, who helped to frame the first statutes and first Constitution, has long been the only survivor of the earliest legislators and has lived to witness the marvelous development of the educational system he helped to found in the First Territorial Legislature of Iowa. He was for forty years one of the trusted leaders of the Democratic party of the State.

JAMES BAKER was born in Gallatin County, Kentucky, December 25, 1823. His father removed to Shelbyville, Indiana, where the son received his education. In 1852 he came to Iowa, locating at Bloomfield in Davis County, where he studied law and entered into partnership with his brother-in-law, H. H. TRIMBLE. At the beginning of the Civil War Mr. Baker entered the volunteer service and received a commission as captain of Company G, Second Infantry. In November he was promoted to lieutenant-colonel and eight months later became colonel of that famous regiment. He was mortally wounded while gallantly leading his regiment at the Battle of Corinth on the 3d of October, 1862. He lived until the 7 th of October, when death ended his sufferings.

NATHANIEL B. BAKER is a name which will for all time be intimately associated with Iowa 's war history. He was born at Hillsborough, New Hampshire, September 20, 1818. A graduate of Harvard, he entered the law office of Franklin Pierce in 1839 and began practice in 1842. He was for three years editor of the NEW HAMPSHIRE PATRIOT and in 1846 became Clerk of the Supreme Court. In 1851 he was elected to the Legislature and chosen Speaker of the House of Representative, serving two terms. In 1852 he was one of the presidential electors and voted for his old preceptor for President. In 1854 he was elected Governor of New Hampshire and was the last Democrat who held that office before the political revolution which left his party in the minority. In 1856 Governor Baker became a resident of Iowa, locating at Clinton. In 1859 he was elected to the Iowa Legislature and when the War of the Rebellion began he led the war wing of his party to give cordial support to Governor Kirkwood's administration. The Governor appointed him Adjutant-General of the State and all through the Rebellion his superb executive ability was given to the work of organizing the fifty-seven regiments of volunteers which Iowa furnished to the President. He organized a system that has preserved a permanent record of the service of every Iowa soldier who entered the army. As the was progressed the duties of Inspector-General, Quartermaster, Paymaster and Commissary-General were imposed upon him, and the duties discharged with promptness unsurpassed. He was untiring in caring for the comfort of Iowa soldiers, and as the regiments were discharged he gathered at the State Arsenal all of the battle flags which were brought home for careful preservation. He planned and superintended the great reunion of Iowa soldiers in 1870, where every one of the 20,000 veterans was eager to take him by the hand. He held the office of Adjutant-General to the day of his death, which occurred on the 13 th of September, 1876. Governor Kirkwood issued a proclamation announcing his death and enumerating his great services to the State. The national flag was displayed from the public buildings at half-mast and minute guns were fired the day of his funeral, which was one of the most imposing ever seen in the State. A monument was erected to his memory over his grave in Woodland Cemetery, Des Moines, by voluntary contributions of Iowa soldiers.

THOMAS BAKER, a notable pioneer of Iowa, was born in Muskingum County, Ohio, in 1810 and was appointed colonel of a regiment of militia when but nineteen years of age. He studied law, was admitted to the bar and, in 1836, came to the �Black Hawk Purchase' and made a claim many miles beyond the nearest settlement in Slaughter County. He was driven out by the Indians and his cabin burned. He returned to his claim in 1838. In August, 1841, he was elected to the House of the Fourth Legislative Assembly and reelected to the Sixth, serving through one extra and two regular sessions. He moved to Polk County in 1845 and the following year was elected to the Senate of the First General Assembly of the State from the district composed of the counties of Polk, Dallas, Jasper and Marion. Upon the organization of the Senate Mr. Baker was chosen President, becoming the first presiding officer of that body. He was a stanch Democrat and his party had a majority in the Senate, while the Whigs controlled the House. Party feeling was intense as the first United States Senators were to be chosen. Neither party had a clear majority on joint ballot, as there were several independent members. After one ballot without a choice, the Senate refused to meet the House in joint convention and the session ended without electing Senators. During all of the bitter contest Mr. Baker presided with such fairness as to win the respect and confidence of every member of the Senate, which gave him a unanimous vote of approval just before adjournment. He was a Democratic candidate for judge of the Fifth District in 1849, but was defeated. In 1850 Mr. Baker removed to California where he served in the Legislature and was for many years Receiver of the United States Land Office. He died in November, 1872.

CALEB BALDWIN was born in Washington County, Pennsylvania, 3d of April, 1824. He graduated at Washington College in 1842 and immediately began the study of law. In 1846 he came to Iowa, taking up his residence at Fairfield where he entered upon the practice of his profession. He served two terms as prosecuting attorney and in 1855 was appointed by Governor Grimes Judge of the Third Judicial District. In 1857 he removed to Council Bluffs. In 1859 he was elected Judge of the Supreme Court and became Chief Justice in 1862. In 1865 he was appointed by President Lincoln United States District Attorney for Iowa. In 1874 he was appointed by President Grant, Judge of the Court of Commissioners to settle the Alabama claims. He died in the winter of 1876.

JOHN N. BALDWIN is a native of Council Bluffs, and the son of JUDGE CALEB BALDWIN. He was born July 9, 1857, and received a thorough education in the public schools of his native city. He entered the Law Department of the State University and graduated with high honors at the age of twenty, in the class of 1877. Mr. Baldwin began the practice of his profession in Council Bluffs and has become one of the most successful corporation attorneys west of Chicago. In 1894 Mr. Baldwin was President of the Republican State Convention and delivered an able and eloquent address. He was chosen by the friends of Senator Allison to present his name for President before the National Republican Convention at St. Louis in 1896, by which he became known as a public speaker of unusual ability. In 1890 he was one of the presidential electors at large on the Republican ticket.

JABEZ BANBURY was a native of England but came to America when quite young. He was a mechanic and located at Marshalltown, Iowa. Before the Rebellion he had some military experience as a member of an independent company. In June, 1861, he helped raise a company which was attached to the Fifth Iowa Infantry, as Company D, of which Banbury was elected first lieutenant. He won rapid promotion, becoming captain in February, 1862, major in July following and colonel in April, 1863. After the fall of Vicksburg, he was for a time in command of a brigade. He was mustered out of the service in August, 1864, and removed to California in 1870, where he died on the 11 th of December, 1900.

WILLIS H. BARRIS, clergyman and scientist, was a native of Beaver County, Pennsylvania, where he was born July 9, 1821. He entered Alleghany College at Meadville in 1835 and graduating, took a course of civil engineering, which he completed in 1841. From his youth Mr. Barris was a student of natural science, especially geology, in which later he prosecuted original studies. At the age of twenty-one he entered the General Theological Seminary in New York City from which he was graduated in 1850, being ordained in 1852. Upon the advice of Bishop Lee, Mr. Barris came to Iowa in 1855, becoming rector of Trinity church at Iowa City. While there he continued his work in geology and became a member of the Board of Regents of the University in 1858. The following year he became rector of Christ's church at Burlington and �contributed largely to the creation of that scientific interest with which Burlington limestone is now regarded.' Portions of his collection went to the British Museum, but a larger part went to the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Cambridge, and a large number of crinoid forms described by Wachsmuth, Springer and others were first discovered by Dr. Barris. In 1866 he became professor of ecclesiastical history (including Greek and Hebrew) in the Theological Department of Griswold College at Davenport, the chair having been created and endowed for his occupancy. Dr. Barris occupied the chair for twenty-five years, being above all else a churchman. He was, however, a leading spirit in all scientific research and while at Davenport published many valuable articles, mainly in the GEOLOGICAL REPORTS OF ILLINOIS. He was largely instrumental in founding the Davenport Academy of Sciences, served on its board of trustees and was its president, 1876, and later was curator and corresponding secretary for many years. He was a member of many scientific societies and in 1869 Griswold College conferred upon him the degree of Doctor of Divinity. Dr. Barris died at his home in Davenport June 10, 1901, having been a citizen of Iowa for forty-six years.

WILLARD BARROWS was one of the first Government surveyors of the public lands of Iowa. He was born at Munson, Massachusetts, in veying the lands of the Choctaw Purchase and later the swamp lands of the Yazoo River. In 1837 he came to Iowa and was employed in the first surveys of the �Black Hawk Purchase,' along the Wapsipinicon River. In 1838 he located with his family at the new town of Rockingham on the Iowa side of the Mississippi River, five miles below Rock Island. In 1840 he surveyed the islands in the Mississippi between the Rock River and Quincy. In 1853 he made a careful examination of northern Iowa and published an excellent map of the State, with descriptive notes. It was by far the best map of Iowa that had been made and was adopted as the official map of the State, when published in 1854. Mr. Barrows was an extensive traveler over the American continent and an accomplished writer. He was the author of the first history of Scott County, which was published in the old ANNALS OF IOWA.

GEORGE W. BASSETT was born in Canada in 1827. He received his education in Wabash College, Indiana, and the Cincinnati Law School. He came to Iowa in 1856, studying law with JOHN A. KASSON in Des Moines. He located at Fort Dodge in 1858 where he practiced his profession. In 1861 he was a lieutenant in a company of cavalry raised at Fort Dodge which was attached to the Army of the Potomac. He was disabled by wounds in battles and had to resign in consequence. Upon his return to Fort Dodge in 1863 Lieutenant Bassett was elected to the State Senate for the northwestern district consisting of twenty-eight counties and represented more than one-third of the territory of the State in the Tenth and Eleventh General Assemblies. For nearly twenty years Mr. Bassett was the general agent for the leasing and sale of the lands embraced in the Agricultural College grant, disposing of nearly 200,000 acres of lands. He died in California on the 6 th of February, 1896.

JOHN F. BATES was the first colonel of the first regiment furnished by Iowa to the War of the Rebellion. He was born on the 3d of January, 1831, at Utica, New York. He paid his expenses at school for six years by performing the labors of janitor. From 1852 to 1855 he was an insurance agent in New York City and then removed to Iowa locating at Dubuque. There he was elected Clerk of the District Court in 1858. When Governor Kirkwood issued his proclamation on the 17 th of April, 1861, calling for volunteers for a regiment to serve for three months, thousands of citizens responded. But one thousand could be accepted and when they were organized into the First Iowa Infantry in May, John F. Bates was chosen colonel. He commanded the regiment in the battles of Booneville and Dug Springs under General Lyon, but at the greater Battle of Wilson's Creek he was not present. His military career closed at the end of three months when the First Iowa was mustered out.

WILLIAM M. BEARDSHEAR was of Scotch Ancestry and was born Nov ember 7, 1850, at Dayton, Ohio. He was reared on a farm and attended the public schools until fourteen years of age when he enlisted in the Union army and was accepted because of his unusual size and strength. He served through the entire was in the Army of the Cumberland and returning, entered Otterbein University from which he graduated. In 1876 he entered the ministry in the United Brethren church, preaching at Arcanum and Dayton, Ohio. Meanwhile he attended Yale Theological Seminary for two years. In 1881 he came to Iowa, accepting the presidency of Western College at Toledo, being one of the youngest college presidents in the country. In 1889 he was elected principal of the Des Moines public schools, but in 1891 resigned to accept the presidency of the State College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts. For fifteen years Dr. Beardshear took an active interest in education, attending every session of the Iowa State Teachers' Association, of which he was president in 1894. In the National Educational Association he served as manager and delegate from Iowa, as president of the industrial department and in 1901 was unanimously chosen president. In 1897 Dr. Beardshear was appointed by President McKinley a member of the United States Indian Commission. He died at Ames, August 5, 1902.

CHARLES BEARDSLEY was born near Mount Vernon, Knox County, Ohio, on the 18 th of February, 1830. He prepared for college at Granville Academy and Wesleyan University, Delaware, entering the Ohio Medical College at Cincinnati and was graduated from that institution. In 1855 he came to Iowa and began the practice of medicine at Muscatine, but soon removed to Oskaloosa, where in 1861 he became editor of the WEEKLY HERALD. He was an accomplished writer and his paper attained wide influence in that section of the State. He was appointed postmaster of Oskaloosa, by President Lincoln. In 1865 he removed to Burlington becoming one of the owners and the chief editor of the HAWKEYE. In 1869 he was elected by the Republicans to the State Senate, serving four years with marked ability. He was an earnest advocate of the taxation of corporate property on the same basis as other property and the taxation of the railroad bridges across the Mississippi and Missouri rivers. He favored the employment of women in the public service and the extension to them of the right of suffrage. In 1874 he was appointed Librarian of the War Department at Washington, with charge of the records of the Rebellion. In 1879 he was appointed by President Hayes Fourth Auditor of the Treasury, which position he held until 1885. He was a member of the council called by Plymouth Congregational church at Brooklyn, New York, which tried the charges preferred against Rev. Henry Ward Beecher in 1876. He was a life-long and prominent member of the Congregational church and moderator of its fifty-second annual meeting at Sioux City in 1891. At the celebration of the Semi-Centennial Anniversary of the admission of Iowa as a State held at Burlington in 1896, Dr. Beardsley was one of the chief managers. His great ardor in the work assigned to him led to overexertion bringing on nervous prostration from which he never rallied. He died at his home December 29, 1896.

JOSEPH M. BECK was born in Clearmont County, Ohio, April 21 st, 1823, of English-Welsh descent, of best ancestry on maternal and paternal side � in some respects distinguished families. He was educated in Indiana schools and at Hanover College, Madison, Indiana, where he read law with Judge MILES C. EGGLESTON. He taught in Kentucky � characteristically advocating anti-slavery views at that perilous time. (As a nephew of THOMAS MORRIS, U.S. senator for Ohio, who as early as 1832 was a fearless abolitionist, this was quite natural.) He came to Montrose, Iowa, in 1847. Two years later he went to Fort Madison, his home until his death. In 1850 he was elected mayor of Fort Madison. The same year he was elected prosecuting attorney. In 1867 he was elected to the Iowa Supreme bench and re-elected three times, serving continuously twenty-four years � � the peer of any member of the bench, old or new.'

�He was always a leader in the affairs of his state, devotedly attached to the party and church of his choice, to education and everything tending to the upbuilding of our commonwealth. As a lawyer he was fearless in all he undertook, safe and discreet in counsel, honorable and gentlemanly at the trial table, an admitted power in every stage of a prosecution, or defense. He was an able judge, of spotless integrity, most industrious and faithful to the highest trusts, laboring with a fidelity seldom equalled, to know and declare the law, utterly regardless of who might be helped, or injured, pleased, or offended. He believed that men should live honestly and soberly, so to work as to insure integrity, morality, temperance and all that tends to make us better citizens. He was naturally and logically apt to solve every issue in favor of all that led this way'... �in such matters his mind was a very Gibraltar of conviction, a constant menace to evil doing and all violation of law.'

During these twenty-four years the procedure of courts, questions concerning land grants to settlers, railways, etc.; constitutional questions, for example the right of the people to tax and govern themselves � these, and other matters of vital importance, were adjudicated. Laws as to property rights, domestic relations, common carriers, protection of life and property, etc., were made and interpreted. By inclination and necessity Judge Beck became an authority on these subjects. His work appears in 88 vols. Of Iowa Reports � his opinions as justice in 62 of these volumes.

He had few superiors as a conversationalist, for he had great mental power, a fine memory, knew history and literature, appreciated the best in the arts, had been an observant traveller and was in sympathy with current affairs. �As trustee of the State library during his long term he was largely insturmental in building it up in law, literature and all departments.'

A marked characteristic was his devotion to his children, to his beloved wife � a woman of rare charm, culture and spirituality � and to his home, where he died May 30, 1903.

BYRON A. BEESON was born in Columbiana County, Ohio, February 26, 1838. His education was obtained in the public schools, and in 1854 he removed to Iowa, locating on a farm in Marshall County. When the Civil War began he enlisted in a company raised by WILLIAM P. HEPBURN which became a part of the Second Iowa Cavalry. Mr. Beeson served in that famous regiment three years and then reenlisted as veteran in 1864 and was promoted to first lieutenant of Company B, serving to the close of the war. He was elected treasurer of Marshall County, serving until 1882. In July, 1878, he was commissioned adjutant in the Iowa National Guards and was repeatedly promoted holding the position of captain; lieutenant-colonel; colonel and Brigadier-General. In 1889 he was appointed Adjutant-General of the State, and in 1890 he was elected on the Republican ticket, State Treasurer, serving four years. In 1897 he was appointed quartermaster of the Iowa Soldiers' Home at Marshalltown where he served until 1903, when he was appointed Treasurer of the National Soldiers' Home at Norfolk, Virginia.

WILLIAM W. BELKNAP was born in Newburg, New York, in 1829. He graduated at Princeton College in 1848, studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1851. He came to Iowa in 1853, locating at Keokuk where he entered upon the practice of law in partnership with Ralph P. Lowe, afterwards Governor of the State. He was elected to the House of the Seventh General Assembly in 1857 on the Democratic ticket. When the War of the Rebellion began he was commissioned major of the Fifteenth Iowa Infantry. He was in command of the regiment at the Battle of Corinth and was soon after placed on the staff of General McPherson. After the Battle of Atlanta he was promoted to Brigadier-General and at the close of the war was brevetted Major-General. He was offered a commission in the regular army but preferred to return to civil life. General Belknap had become a Republican, supporting Lincoln for President in 1864 and in 1866 was appointed Collector or Internal Revenue for the First District. When General Grant became President, General Belknap was invited into his Cabinet as Secretary of War, where he served seven years, resigning in March, 1876. Charges of official misconduct had been preferred against him by the House of Representatives in a time of great political bitterness, but in the trial by the Senate he was acquitted. Judge George G. Wright, who was a member of the Senate from Iowa, pronounced his acquittal just and his opinion was heartily indorsed by the people of Iowa who never lost confidence in the gallant officer. General Belknap died at Washington, October 13, 1890, and was buried in the National Cemetery at Arlington. Hugh J., a son of General Belknap, became a member of Congress from Chicago.

GEORGE W. BEMIS was born in Spencer, Massachusetts, on the 13 th of October 1826. His father removed with his family to Genesee County, New York, in 1837, where George, who was the only son, remained on his father's farm until the age of twenty-one. He received a good education and taught school for several years. In 1854 he came to Iowa, taking up his residence at Independence, Buchanan County, which became his permanent home. Mr. Bemis served several years as county surveyor. In 1859 he was elected on the Republican ticket to the House of the Eighth General Assembly, serving through the regular and extra sessions. He was for seven years in the postal service. In 1871 he was elected to the State Senate, serving four years. He was for many years Commissioner of the Hospital for the Insane at Independence of which he was treasurer. In 1876 he was elected State Treasurer on the Republican ticket and at the expiration of the term was reelected, serving four years. The State has never had a more competent and faithful public official than George W. Bemis.

NARCISSA T. BEMIS was born in Alabama, Genesee County, New York, May 8, 1829. She came to Iowa and on the 11 th of April, 1855, married George W. Bemis, who became a prominent public official of the State. Their home was at Independence, in Buchanan County. During the Civil War Mrs. Bemis was one of the most efficient and devoted workers on the Sanitary Commission and untiring in her labor to aid the soldiers in camp, hospital and field. She was an active worker in the Children's Aid Society, the Woman's Christian Temperance Union and many other good works. Mrs. Bemis was especially interested in the Political Equality Club and was a life-long worker for the enfranchisement of women, giving her time, work and means liberally for the advancement of this cause before the State Legislatures. She was a valued worker in the Iowa Unitarian Association. She died on the 9 th of August, 1899.

THOMAS H. BENTON, JR., was a nephew of the great Missouri statesman whose name he bore. He was born in Williamson County, Tennessee, on the 5 th of September, 1816. His education was acquired at Huntington Academy and he graduated from Marion College, Missouri. In 1839 he located at Dubuque, Iowa, where he taught school and afterwards became a merchant. In 1846 he was elected to the Senate of the First General Assembly, two years later elected on the Democratic ticket Superintendent of Public Instruction and was reelected, serving six years. Mr. Benton became a resident of Council Bluffs and was chosen Secretary of the State Board of Education in 1858, serving four years. In 1862 he was appointed colonel of the Twenty-ninth Iowa Volunteer Infantry, served during the war and in 1865 was brevetted Brigadier-General. In 1865 he was the Democratic and anti-negro suffrage candidate for Governor but was defeated. In 1866 he became a supporter of President Johnson after the latter left the Republican party and in August was appointed by the President Assessor of Internal Revenue in place of the Republican incumbent removed. He died in St. Louis on the 10 th of April, 1879.

WILLIAM H. BERRY was born in Cass County, Illinois, October 23, 1849. Coming to Iowa in 1867, he located in Warren County, completing his education at Simpson College, Indianola, from which he graduated in 1872. He studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1873, entering into partnership with Judge J. H. Henderson, remaining a member of the firm until 1885. Mr. Berry has for a long time been one of the influential trustees of Simpson College. He is an active Republican and in 1895 was elected to the State Senate from the district composed of the counties of Clarke and Warren, serving in the Twenty-sixth and Twenty-seventh General Assemblies. He took a prominent part in codifying the laws of the State and was one of the leading advocates of the law providing for the collateral inheritance tax. In the Twenty-seventh General Assembly Senator Berry was an active promoter of the legislation which established the State Board of Control.

JAMES G. BERRYHILL, was born in Iowa City on the 5 th of November, 1852. His father, Charles H. Berryhill, became a resident of Johnson County in 1838, before Iowa City had an existence, Iowa Territory having been organized that year. The son attended the public schools and took the collegiate course in the State University, graduating in 1873. He then entered the Law Department from which he graduated in 1876. Removing to Des Moines in 1877, Mr. Berryhill engaged in the practice of his profession. In 1885 Mr. Berryhill was elected a Representative in the Twenty-first General Assembly, and became chairman of the committee on appropriations in which position he did excellent service. He was reelected at the close of his term and in the Twenty-seventh General Assembly organized and led the movement which resulted in the enactment of law exercising control over railroad corporations in the interest of the people. A full account of this legislation will be found in Volume III of this history. Mr. Berryhill is a man of affairs, having large business enterprises under his management. In politics he is an active Republican and at one time was strongly supported for Representative in Congress in the Seventh District.

CHARLES E. BESSEY was born at Milton, Ohio, May 21, 1845. His education was obtained in the public schools, Seville and Canaan Academies in Ohio, Michigan Agricultural College and Harvard University. He has received the degrees of B. Sc., Ph.D., LL. D. He taught school from 1863 to 1869 and in 1870 was appointed instuctor in Botany and Horticulture in the Iowa Agricultural College, in 1872 he was promoted to professor of the two departments, and from 1873 to 1880 was professor of Botany and Zoology. From 1880 to 1884 the chair of Botany occupied his entire time, save in 1882 when he was acting president of the college during the absence of President Welch. In 1884 he was elected to the chairs of Botany and Horticulture in the University of Nebraska and removed to that State. During Professor Bessey's term of service in the Iowa Agricultural College he aided in giving form to the general work of the institution, and assisted in formulating the plan and purpose of the Agricultural Experimental Stations established by act of Congress. He helped to draft the section of the law defining the work of the stations. In 1875 he began to advocate the laboratory method in the study of Botany, soon beginning its practice which has since been adopted in all colleges. The botanical laboratory at the Iowa Agricultural College was the second in the country, Harvard only preceding it. In Nebraska, Professor Bessey has successfully advocated the setting aside of two forest reserves in the sandhill region of the State, which were established by proclamation of the President of the United States early in 1902. Professor Bessey has occupied the chair of Botany in the University of Nebraska since 1891. He is the author of Bessey's Botany, widely used throughout the country as a text book in high schools and colleges.

SAMUEL L. BESTOW was born in Erie County, New York, on the 8 th of March, 1823, and in boyhood attended the schools of that county later receiving instruction at Professor Dewey's Academy in Rochester. He was reared on a farm and followed that business for many years in New York but for a time was engaged in manufacturing. He served as superintendent of public schools and county supervisor before leaving that State. In 1870 he removed to Iowa, making his home on a new farm in Lucas County. At the beginning of the Civil War he volunteered but was rejected by the examining surgeon because of physical disability. In the early years of the slavery agitation he was a member of the Republican party but of late has become a prominent Democrat. In 1875 he was nominated by the Democrats of the Sixth District for State Senator, to represent the counties of Lucas and Clarke and was elected for four years, serving in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth General Assemblies. He was the author of the resolutions passed by the latter providing for an investigation of the affairs and management of the Fort Madison Penitentiary and was made a member of the commission. In 1891 he was nominated by the Democratic State Convention for Lieutenant-Governor on the ticket with Governor Boies and was elected over George Van Houten, the Republican candidate, by a plurality of 3,098, being the only Democrat ever elected to that office in Iowa.

BENJAMIN P. BIRDSALL was born at Weyamwega, Wisconsin, October 26, 1858. Coming to Iowa in 1870, he located at Alden, in Hardin County. He was educated in the public schools of Wisconsin and Iowa and the State University. He studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1878 and was a successful practitioner until 1893 when he was elected judge of the Eleventh Judicial District, serving five years. In 1898 he was reelected, but resigned after two years, returning to the practice of law. In 1902 he was elected Representative in Congress for the Third District to succeed Hon. David B. Henderson.

CHARLES A. BISHOP was born at Eagle, Waukesha County, Wisconsin, May 22, 1854. He was educated in the district schools, applying himself to the more advanced studies at home. He read law while working on the farm and teaching school winters; was admitted to the bar in 1875. The following year he removed to La Port City, Iowa, where he began the practice of law. Removing to Des Moines, he entered the office of Baker and Kavanaugh; he served as assistant Attorney-General for several years. In 1889 he was appointed judge of the District Court, and in 1897 was again appointed to the same position. In the following year he was elected to a full term. In 1902 Judge Bishop was appointed by Governor Cummins Judge of the Supreme Court to fill a vacancy, and at the following election was chosen for a full term.

FREDERICK E. BISSELL, a pioneer teacher and lawyer of Iowa, was born in St. Lawrence County, New York, December 8, 1819. He was educated in the common schools and at Potsdam Academy. Coming to Iowa in 1845, while it was a Territory, he located at Dubuque, then a frontier town. He there taught school two years and then studied law with James Crawford, afterwards becoming his partner. During his practice he was the partner of Timothy Davis and Lincoln Clark, both of whom represented the Second District in Congress. He was later a law partner of Judge Shiras, Judge of the United States District Court of Northern Iowa. He was for many years a member of the Dubuque Board of Education and also of the city council. He was at one time president of the Dubuque, St. Paul and St. Peter Railway Company, and was later a member of the Dubuque Improvement Company. In January, 1866, he was appointed by Governor Stone, Attorney-General of Iowa, to fill a vacancy, and at the following general election was chosen for a full term on the Republican ticket. He was called upon during his first term to give an opinion to the Board of Trustees of the State College of Agriculture, as to whether the lands granted by Congress for the support of that institution, were the lands granted by Congress for the support of that institution, were taxable. He decided that they were not, and under his decision the trustees were able to lease them for a term of years and thus derive a revenue that enabled them to open the college many years before it could otherwise have been supported. He died at Dubuque June 12, 1867, before the expiration of his term.

LUCIAN C. BLANCHARD is a native of Diana, Lewis County, New York, where he was born April 15, 1839. Not satisfied with the meager education available in the district school of that period, he attended Carthage Academy, coming west in 1858. He entered Rock River Seminary at Mount Morris, Illinois, teaching school a portion of the time. Coming to Iowa, at Newton he taught school and studied law. When the Civil War came he enlisted in Company K, Twenty-eighth Iowa Volunteers and participated in the battles of Port Gibson, Champion's Hill and the siege of Vicksburg. In 1864 he entered the Law Department of the University of Michigan from which he graduated in 1866. He began the practice of law at Montezuma and soon after was elected county judge of Poweshiek, serving in that position until 1868 when he was chosen Circuit Judge of the Sixth Judicial District, filling the position for twelve years. In 1890 Judge Blanchard was chosen senior vice-commander of the Grand Army of the Republic. In 1893 he was elected on the Republican ticket Representative in the Legislature for Mahaska County, and in 1895 was elected Senator, serving in the Twenty-sixth, Twenty-seventh, Twenty-eighth and Twenty-ninth General Assemblies. With the assistance of Judge Wilson he prepared the Masonic Digest published by the Grand Lodge.

AMELIA JENKS BLOOMER was born in Cortland County, New York, May 27, 1818. Her education was obtained in the common schools and at the age of seventeen she began to teach at Clyde. Mrs. Bloomer was one of the pioneers in the movement to secure increased rights and privileges for women and was associated with Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth C. Stanton and Abby Kelley in the inauguration of the Woman Suffrage movement. In 1849 Mrs. Bloomer established a paper hich was the special advocate of temperance and woman suffrage. She was an accomplished writer and an able public speaker and for many years lectured upon the two reforms. In 1851 a friend, Elizabeth Smith Miller, a daughter of Gerrit Smith, invented a new style of costume consisting of a skirt reaching a little below the knees with wide Turkish trousers gathered at the ankle. Elizabeth C. Stanton was the second woman to appear in the new style of dress, and Mrs. Bloomer was the third. Mrs. Bloomer began to advocate the dress reform in her paper and the public obtained the impression that she was the originator of the new costume and it became known as the �Bloomer dress.' The notoriety of the "Bloomer Costume" brought to her paper thousands of new subscribers and greatly enlarged her constituency to whom she urged the reforms in which she was deeply interested and she soon acquired national fame. In 1855 Mr. and Mrs. Bloomer removed to Iowa, settling at Council Bluffs, where Mrs. Bloomer continued to advocate woman suffrage and prohibition as a lecturer. In October, 1871, she was chosen president of the Iowa Woman's Suffrage Association at its second annual session. Mrs. Bloomer died at Council Bluffs on the 30 th of December, 1894.

DEXTER C. BLOOMER was born at Aurora, New York, on the 4 th of July, 1816. He studied law and was admitted to the bar but soon after entered upon journalism, serving as an editor both in New York and Ohio. In 1855 he moved to Council Bluffs, Iowa, where he practiced law. He was elected mayor of the city and for several years Receiver of the United States Land Office. He was one of the promoters of the public library of that city and for many years one of the trustees. He was a frequent contributor to historical publications, and in 1895 wrote and published the "Life and Times of Amelia Bloomer," his wife, who was a noted reformer in New York and Iowa. He was also the author of a "History of Pottawattamie County." Mr. Bloomer died on the 24 th of February, 1900.

NORMAN BOARDMAN was born at Morristown, Vermont, April 30, 1813. During boyhood he worked on his father's farm, attending district school in the winter. He earned his way through Johnstown Academy before he was twenty-one years of age, studied law and was admitted to the bar and in 1853 came to Iowa, locating at Lyons, in Clinton County. Here he engaged in the real estate business with great success. In the spring of 1854 he, in company with three associates, laid out a town in Mitchell County which they named Osage in honor of Dr. Oren Sage. In early life Mr. Boardman was a Democrat but upon the organization of the Republican party he united with it. In 1861 he was nominated by the Republicans for the State Senate and was elected by a large majority. He became an influential member of the Senate, was made chairman of the committee on schools, was a member of the committee of ways and means and the author of some of the most important legislation for the protection and safe keeping of the school funds of the State. He was a firm friend of the State University and Agricultural College. In 1869 Mr. Boardman was appointed by President Grant to the office of Collector of Internal Revenue for the Second District. During his term he discovered secret and fraudulent methods practiced by distillers to cheat the Government which led to the exposure of the gigantic whiskey frauds of 1874. In 1886 Mr. Boardman first suggested a reunion of the pioneer lawmakers of the State at Des Moines, resulting in the organization of the �Pioneer Lawmakers' Association,' which holds biennial sessions devoted largely to the collection and preservation of the early history of the State. Mr. Boardman died at his home in Lyons on the 30 th of April, 1894.

HORACE BOIES, thirteen Governor of Iowa, was born on a farm in Erie County, New York, on the 7 th of December, 1827. He received but a common school education and when sixteen years of age removed to Wisconsin and worked some time on a farm; returning to his old home he decided to study law. He opened an office in Hamburg, near Buffalo, and practiced there some years. In 1855 he was elected to the New York Legislature on the Republican ticket, serving but one session. He afterwards removed to Buffalo where he practiced law until 1856 when he came west and located at Waterloo. In 1880 Mr Boies left the Republican party on the ground of its adoption of the policy of a protective tariff and the prohibition of the liquor traffic. Becoming a Democrat in 1889 he was nominated by that party for Governor. After a vigorous campaign in which Mr. Boies made powerful assaults upon the prohibitory liquor law, advocating license, he was elected by a plurality of 6,573 in a vote of 360,623. In 1891 he was renominated and reelected upon the same issue receiving the votes of several thousand license Republicans. At the close of his second term he was again a candidate but the Republican party having abandoned prohibition and declared for a law permitting the establishment of saloons upon petition of a majority of the voters of cities, the saloon Republicans returned to the party and defeated Governor Boies by a plurality of 32, 161. In 1896 Governor Boies was a candidate before the Democratic National Convention for President and upon one ballot received a very complimentary vote. During his four years' administration as Governor he used his influence to secure the repeal of the prohibitory liquor law but was unable to accomplish it.

LEMUEL R. BOLTER was born in Richland County, Ohio, July 27, 1834. He received a college education and taught for a short time. In 1852 he made the overland trip to California, remaining there two years. He returned to the States in 1854, taught in Michigan and studied law. Mr. Bolter became a resident of Iowa in 1863, locating on a farm in Harrison County. In 1866 he was admitted to the bar and the same year was elected Representative in the House of the Eleventh General Assembly. He was a member of the House in the Fifteenth, Sixteenth, Nineteenth and Twentieth General Assemblies and a member of the Senate in the Twenty-first, Twenty-second, Twenty-third, Twenty-fourth, Twenty-seventh and Twenty-Eighth General Assemblies. He enjoyed the distinction of having served more terms in the Iowa Legislature than any other citizen, having been a member twenty-two years in the aggregate. Mr. Bolter was nominated by the Democrats of the Eighth District for Congress in 1876 but was defeated. He was a life-long Democrat and one of the leaders of his party in the State for a quarter of a century. He died on the 29 th of April, 1901.

NATHAN BOONE, the famous pioneer of Iowa in whose honor Boone River, Boonesboro, Boone and Booneville were named, was a son of the noted Indian fighter of Kentucky, Colonel Daniel Boone. He was born in Kentucky in 1782 and lived with his father until he reached manhood when he removed to Missouri. In March, 1812, he was commissioned captain in a regiment of mounted �Rangers,' raised to protect the frontier against the British and their Indian allies. He was promoted to major of the regiment in 1813 and served to the close of the war. He served in the Black Hawk War under Major Henry Dodge and at its close became captain of a company of United States Dragoons. While stationed at old Fort Des Moines Captain Boone was sent in command of an exploring expedition up the Des Moines valley and from thence eastward. Lieutenant Albert M. Lea was under his command and wrote an account of the country through which they passed. They named the Boone River and Lieutenant Lea had his description of the region published in which it was called the �Iowa District.' This is believed to have been the first time that the name of � Iowa ' was given to the country which became the Territory and later the State of Iowa. Captain Boone served on the Indian frontier and in the War with Mexico and became Lieutenant of the Second United States Dragoons. He died in 1857.

CALEB H. BOOTH, one of the pioneers of Dubuque, was born in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, on the 25 th of December, 1814. At the age of seventeen he began to study law and was admitted to the bar in 1836. In July of that year he came west and located in the frontier village of Dubuque, then in Michigan Territory, of which he was the first mayor. In 1841 he was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Iowa Territory. In 1849 he was appointed Surveyor General for Iowa, Wisconsin and Minnesota. In 1857 he was chosen treasurer of the Dubuque & Sioux City Railroad Company in which he was largely interested. He built the first flouring mill in Dubuque in 1848 and was extensively engaged in lead mining. As one of the Iowa State Bank Commissioners he helped to establish the branches. In 1872 he was elected to the State Legislature. He died at his home in Dubuque on the 19 th of June, 1898, after a residence in the city of sixty-two years.

EDMUND BOOTH, pioneer journalist, came to the Territory of Iowa in 1839, locating in Jones County, where he built the first frame house. It was he who gave to his home town the beautiful Indian name, Anamosa, which signifies �White Fawn,' and belonged to a bright Indian girl of that section of the country. Mr. Booth was born in Springfield, Massachusetts, August 24, 1810. At the age of four he lost his hearing through illness and was educated at the American School for the Deaf at Hartford, Connecticut, where he served several years as a teacher. He received no college education, but the honorary degree of A. M. has been conferred upon him by the Gallaudet College of the Deaf at Washington, D. C. In 1855 Mr. Booth became editor of the ANAMOSA EUREKA which was a radical antislavery journal and one of the most ably conducted in the State. When the Republican party was organized the EUREKA became an advocate of its principles. Mr. Booth was the originator of the movement to secure the education of the deaf children of Iowa at Jacksonville, Illinois, before our State provided an institution for their accommodation. He was chairman of the National Convention of Deaf Mutes at Cincinnati in 1880. During all of the years that Mr. Booth has lived in Iowa he has been a positive force in the community and in the field of journalism has been an influential factor in politics.

DANIEL H. BOWEN was born in Decatur, Wisconsin, September 6, 1850. He was reared on a farm and received a liberal education, teaching school for several years. At twenty-two years of age he began the study of medicine in Broadhead, Wisconsin, and soon after entered Rush Medical College from which he graduated in the class of 1876. He removed to Iowa, locating at Waukon in Allamakee County, where he has practiced medicine for more than twenty-five years. He was an active Republican and in 1895 was elected Representative in the House of the Twenty-sixth General Assembly, and has been twice reelected, serving in the Twenty-seventh and Twenty-eighth General Assemblies. He was chosen speaker of the House of the latter session, having been selected by the supporters of Senator John H. Gear. For seven years Dr. Bowen was a surgeon of the Fourth Regiment of the Iowa National Guard and has held many official positions in his home city and county.

THOMAS BOWMAN was born at Wiscasset, Lincoln County, Maine, May 25, 1848. He came to Iowa in 1868, making his home at Council Bluffs, where he engaged in commercial business. In 1875 he was elected treasurer of Pottawattamie County and was twice reelected, serving six years. He was chosen mayor of Council Bluffs in 1882 and in 1885 was appointed postmaster, serving until 1889. In 1883 he acquired a controlling interest in the COUNCIL BLUFFS GLOBE, a Democratic daily of which he assumed the editorial management. He was nominated by the Democrats of the Ninth District for representative in Congress in 1890 and was elected over Judge J. R. Reed, the Republican candidate, by a plurality of 1,285. He was not a candidate for reelection, serving but one term.

PHILIP B. BRADLEY was born in Ridgefield, Connecticut, January 5, 1809. He was a graduate of Union College, New York, and studied law. In 1834 he located at Galena, Illinois, in 1836, was appointed Prosecuting Attorney and a year later, postmaster of Galena. In 1839 he removed to Iowa, making his home in Jackson County, where he became Clerk of the District Court in 1843. In 1845 he was elected a member of the Council of the Legislative Assembly. The following year Iowa became a State and Mr. Bradley was largely instrumental in securing the nomination of his friend and neighbor Ansel Briggs for Governor, by the Democratic State Convention. Mr. Bradley was at the same time elected to the State Senate from Jones and Jackson counties. He was the trusted adviser of Governor Briggs during his four years' term. Mr. Bradley was Secretary of the Senate in 1850 and again in 1852. He was chairman of the Iowa delegation in the National Democratic Convention in 1852 which nominated Franklin Pierce for President. In 1858 he was a member of the House of the Seventh General Assembly and again in 1877 he served a term. For more than thirty years he was one of the trusted leaders of his party and through his long legislative career helped to shape the laws of the Territory and State. He died at his home in Andrew, March 27, 1890.

JOHN M. BRAINARD was born at Blairsville, Pennsylvania, on the 30 th of March, 1836. He was educated in the common schools, Eldersridge Academy and at Beloit College, Wisconsin. In 1856 he came to Iowa, locating at Charles City where he engaged in school teaching. For the two following years he taught at Mason City and Clear Lake in Cerro Gordo County. In the spring of 1860, he founded the CLEAR LAKE INDEPENDENT in company with Silan Noyes and entered upon his career as a journalist which he followed in Iowa for forty-two years. In 1879 he became the editor of the COUNCIL BLUFFS DAILY NONPARIEL. In 1879 he became the editor and publisher of the BOONE STANDARD, conducting that journal until 1902. Mr. Brainard was an accomplished writer, but found time during his busy life to served as superintendent of schools in Cerro Gordo County, clerk of the court in Story, member of the city council and postmaster in Boone. In 1860-61 he was a member of the State Board of Education when that body had entire legislative control of the school system of the State. He was one of the promoters of the railroad from Boone to Des Moines in company with L. W. Reynolds, which was built in 1880-81. He secured the employment of the late Colonel George E. Waring by the city of Boone to plan and direct the construction of its twenty-five miles of sewers. He has taken a deep interest in the schools of that city, serving on the board, and is secretary of the Ericson Free Public Library.

NATHAN H. BRAINARD, pioneer journalist, was born in Bridgewater, New Hampshire, January 11, 1818. After acquiring an elementary education he was employed in an ax factory. He came to Iowa in 1856, taking up his residence at Iowa City. In 1861 he was appointed military secretary to Governor Kirkwood. He purchased the IOWA CITY REPUBLICAN in 1863 which he conducted until 1874. He was an able and independent editor and was a trusted and confidential friend and advisor of Governor Kirkwood. He died in Iowa City, July 31, 1901.

ISAAC BRANDT was born near Lancaster, Ohio, April 7, 1827. He was reared on a farm, receiving only a common school education. He came to Iowa in 1856, locating in Des Moines, where for several years he was engaged in selling dry goods. During antislavery days he was a friend of John Brown and cooperated with him in aiding slaves to freedom by the �underground railroad.' In 1867 Mr. Brandt was appointed deputy State Treasurer, serving six years. In 1873 he was elected a Representative in the House of the Fifteenth General Assembly, serving on the committees of ways and means and cities and towns. In 1883 he was appointed by the President one of the commissioners to inspect fifty miles of the North Pacific Railroad, and was chairman of the commission. In 1890 Mr. Brandt was appointed postmaster of Des Moines and during his term of four years he has been one of the influential working members of the Republican party, exercising large influence in State and congressional conventions. It was through his untiring personal efforts that the permanent State Fair grounds were secured in Des Moines. He has long been an officer of the Pioneer Lawmakers' Association.

JOHN BRENNAN, a notable Irish-American orator, rose from a lowly position to a national reputation. He was born at Elphin, county of Roscommon in Ireland, on the 14 th of July, 1845, and was educated in the schools of his native town. While a boy he imbibed a strong aversion to the English Government for the wrongs it had inflicted upon his countrymen and, seeing no hope for escape from oppression, he determined to emigrate to America where he arrived in 1865, without money or friends and was employed as a railroad grader, teamster, porter and farm hand, for the first four years, and while thus earning a living he determined to study law. In 1867 he was employed by A. J. Poppleton, a prominent lawyer of Omaha, and found time evenings to begin his studies. He persevered until he was admitted to the bar and entering upon the practice he soon developed a remarkable power as advocate before a jury and was on the way to great success in the profession when he became afflicted with deafness to a degree that rendered it necessary for him to seek some other occupation. In 1869 he became a writer on the SIOUX CITY TIMES, where he was employed five years. He became a member of the city council and was chosen city attorney where he developed wonderful eloquence as a public speaker. He took a deep interest in public affairs and was one of the most effective stump speakers in the State. Mr. Brennan never forgot the wrongs of his native land at the hands of the English oppressors and no one could recount them with more fervid eloquence. His fame had become national and, in 1884, when James G. Blaine was the Republican candidate for President, John Brennan received an invitation from �the plumed knight' to accompany him on his remarkable speaking campaign through the east. During the agitation in America in behalf of Home Rule in Ireland Mr. Brennan was closely allied with Patrick Egan and John P. Finnerty, taking a conspicuous part in the national gatherings of the Irish leaders. He was a devout Catholic and during the later years of his life, gave most of his time to editorial work on THE NORTHWESTERN CATHOLIC, published at Sioux City. He died suddenly on the 5 th of October, 1900.

ANSEL BRIGGS, first Governor of the State of Iowa, was born in Vermont on the 3d of February, 1806. He attended the common schools when a boy with but one term at an academy. In 1830 his father removed with his family to Cambridge, Ohio, where the son established various stage lines. In 1836 he came to Iowa, locating at Andrew in Jackson County, where he established several stage routes and took contracts for carrying the mails. He had been a Whig in early life but after coming to Iowa became a Democrat. In 1842 he was elected to represent Jackson County in the Territorial Legislature. He was chosen sheriff of the county at a later period. At the Democratic State Convention held at Iowa City on the 24 th of September, 1846, there were three candidates for Governor, Ansel Briggs, Jesse Williams and William Thompson. On the first ballot the vote stood sixty-two for Briggs, thirty-two for Williams and thirty-one for Thompson. The other candidates then withdrew and Briggs was nominated by acclamation. At the election he was chosen over the Whig candidate, Thomas McKnight, by the small majority of two hundred forty-seven. His political adviser was Philip B. Bradley, a shrewd politician who had successfully conducted his campaign. Governor Briggs served his term of four years in a quiet manner in harmony with his party, retiring to private life at its close with many warm friendships. In 1870 Governor Briggs removed to Council Bluffs and the last six years of his life were spent with his son, John S., in Omaha, Nebraska, where he died on the 5 th of May, 1881. Governor Gear issued a proclamation reciting his services as the first Governor of the State and the national flag was floated at half-mast from the State House on the day of his funeral.

JOHNSON BRIGHAM was born at Cherry Valley, New York, in 1846. His early education was acquired in the public schools of Elmira and Watkins, while later he attended Hamilton College and Cornell University. When the Civil War began Mr. Brigham enlised in the One Hundred Fifty-third New York Volunteers, but was rejected by reason of being under age. He then applied for a position in the service of the United States Sanitary Commission, was accepted, remaining in Washington for a year. He was promoted to chief clerk, first assistant in the central office at the National Capital for services rendered during and following the exchange of prisoners near Savannah in the autumn of 1864. Nine years later he was appointed canal collector at Brockport, New York. In 1881 Mr. Brigham came to Iowa, locating at Cedar Rapids where for twelve years he was editor-in-chief of the DAILY REPUBLICAN. While there he served as chairman of the Fifth District Congressional Committee and in 1892 was president of the Republican League of Iowa and prominently mentioned for Congress. Later he was appointed United States Consul to Aix la Chapelle, which position he resigned and, coming to Des Moines, founded the MIDLAND MONTHLY, a periodical devoted to the development of the literary interests of the middle west. In 1899 he was appointed State Librarian by Governor Shaw, and sold his magazine which was moved to St. Louis. He has been chosen president of the State Library Commission. Mr. Brigham is a man of wide culture and unusual literary ability. Articles from his pen are sought by such periodicals as the CENTURY MAGAZINE, YOUTH'S COMPANION, CHAUTAUQUAN, FORUM, REVIEW OF REVIEWS, INTERNATIONAL MONTHLY, LIBRARY JOURNAL, as well as the ANNALS OF IOWA and the IOWA JOURNAL OF HISTORY AND POLITICS.

AARON BROWN was a native of Mississippi, where he was born in 1822. Detesting human slavery he came north and settled in Fayette County, Iowa. He was one of the pioneers in organizing movement against the extension of slavery in the new Territories which resulted in the establishment of the Republican party. In the fall of 1856 he was nominated for State Senator by the Republicans of the Third District composed of the counties of Fayette, Bremer, Butler, Franklin, Grundy, Hardin, Wright, Webster, Boone, Story, Greene and Humboldt and made a vigorous canvass of that large, sparsely settled territory, traveling on horseback, then the only mode of conveyance practicable, and holding meetings in rude log cabins. He was elected and served four years with marked ability. When the Civil War began he was commissioned first lieutenant of Company A, Third Volunteer Infantry. He was soon promoted to captain and when Major W. M. Stone resigned Captain Brown succeeded to that rank. He was in the battles of Shiloh and Corinth, Hatchie and Jackson. In Lauman's disastrous charge at Jackson, Colonel Brown was wounded. In July, 1864, he resigned his commission and returned home. In 1870 he was elected Register of the State Land Office, serving four years.

JOHN L. BROWN was born in Essex County, New Jersey, October 31, 1838. He first came to Iowa in 1856 but returned to Indiana where his father had located and attended and taught school. When the Civil War began, he enlisted in Company A, Seventeenth Indiana Volunteers, and at the Battle of Resaca received a gunshot wound which caused the amputation of his arm. Upon the clost of the was he attended a Methodist Academy at Danville, and in 1870 moved to Chariton in Lucas County, Iowa, which became his permanent home. He has held many offices in the county, serving seven years as auditor, and resigning to become Auditor of State in 1883. He inaugurated many reforms in the insurance department which arrayed against him powerful corporations which sought to have him impeached for official misconduct. After a lengthy trial he was acquitted of all serious charges and a subsequent General Assembly reimbursed him for expenses incurred in the trial. The reforms which he accomplished placed the insurance companies of the State on a sound basis requiring them to make good impaired capital. Upon the retirement of Mr. Brown from official life he returned to Chariton and purchased the HEARLD, of which he became the editor and publisher.

TIMOTHY BROWN is an attorney who has practiced law in Marshalltown for a period of nearly fifty years. He was born in Otsego County, New York, December 27, 1827. Mr. Brown was reared on a farm, acquiring his education in the district schools with two years at an academy and read law before coming to Iowa in 1855. He first stopped at Toledo, but soon changed his residence to Marshalltown. He is a lawyer of ability and aside from practice has found time to compile and publish a standard work on �Jurisdiction of Courts.' He has literary and scientific tastes, is a thorough believer in evolution as taught by Huxley, Darwin and Spencer, holding that man is a part of created life, simply higher in development than other animal life. He is the author of a volume called �Biogeny' setting forth his ideas of animate nature. He is independent in politics and opposed to the recent policy of wars of conquest by our Republic. He is an earnest advocate of compulsory education and the establishment of public libraries.

JESSE B. BROWNE, one of the earliest lawmakers of Iowa, was born in Christian County, Kentucky, early in the Nineteenth Century. He removed to Illinois when a young man and commanded a company of Rangers in the Black Hawk War. In August 1833, he was appointed captain in the First Dragoons in the regular army and was stationed at a military post at Montrose in the �Black Hawk Purchase.' In 1837 Captain Browne resigned his commission and settled at Fort Madison. When the Territory of Iowa was established in 1838, he was elected member of the Legislative Council on the Whig ticket and upon its organization was chosen President. He served in the Council four terms and was a member of the House of the Eighth and last Territorial Legislature. After Iowa became a State, Captain Browne was elected to the First General Assembly and was chosen Speaker of the House, serving at a regular and extra session. In 1847 he was nominated for Congress by the Whigs of the First District but was defeated in the election by William Thompson. He became a Brigadier-General of the State militia and was appointed by the President one of the visitors to West Point Military Academy. He was a man six feet inches tall, of commanding presence, polished manners and popular. He was the only Iowa legislator ever elected to preside over both branches of the General Assembly. He died in Kentucky in 1864.

J. L. BUDD was born near West Point, New York, in 1837. He was educated in the common schools and normal institutes and taught school several years in Illinois. In 1858 he removed to Iowa, locating on a farm in Benton County, where he engaged in fruit tree propagation and experimental work in fruit growing. In 1873 he was elected secretary of the Iowa State Horticultural Society, a position which he held for twenty years, editing the annual report of the society. In 1876 he was chosen Professor of Horticulture and Forestry in the Iowa Agricultural College serving until 1899. During this time he engaged in experimental work in the propagation of trees and plants to demonstrate which varieties were best adapted to Iowa climate and soils. He imported varieties from Europe and Asia, for many years testing them in the college grounds and reporting upon success and failure of different varieties. He was for many years horticultural editor of the IOWA STATE REGISTER and contributed to other publications. He has been engaged in preparing a Handbook of Horticulture and the American Horticultural Manual.

HENRY C. BULIS was born in Clinton County, New York, November 7, 1830. His father removed to Vermont and settled on a farm where Henry lived until twenty-one years of age, assisting at farm work during the summers and attending district school during the winter months. He taught school several terms and attended medical lectures, taking a degree at a medical college in Philadelphia in 1854. In October of that year he came to Iowa, locating at Decorah, where he entered upon the practice of medicine. In 1858 he was elected superintendent of schools. In the fall of 1865 he was nominated by the Republicans for the State Senate and elected for four years. In that body he served as chairman of the committee on schools and State University. In 1871 he became the Republican candidate for Lieutenant-Governor and was elected, serving one term. In 1876 he was appointed a member of the Sioux Indian Commission for the purpose of purchasing the Black Hills reservation. In 1878 he was appointed a special Indian agent but resigned after nine months' service. He served in 1883 as a special agent of the Land Department. Mr. Bulis was a prominent candidate before the Republican Convention in 1889 for Representative in Congress in the Fourth District but after sixty ballots withdrew in favor of J. H. Sweeney, who was nominated. He served as a regent of the State University many years and was curator of the State Historical Society, mayor and postmaster of Decorah. Dr. Bulis died at Decorah on the 7 th of September, 1897.

SAMUEL S. BURDETT was born in England, in 1835, and emigrated to America in 1856. After graduating at Oberlin College he located at De Witt in Clinton County, where he engaged in the practice of law with Judge Graham. He was a radical Abolitionist and an active agent of the �underground railroad', a warm friend of John Brown, assisting many fugitive slaves on their way to Canada. He was a prominent Republican speaker in the Lincoln campaign of 1860. When the Rebellion began he helped raise a company for the First Iowa Cavalry, was commissioned lieutenant of Company B, and was soon promoted to captain. He was appointed Provost Marshal at St. Louis and organized the plans for the arrest of Mulligan and his gang of so-called �Sons of Liberty,' in Indiana. In 1868 he was one of the Presidential electors in Iowa, casting the vote of the State for General Grant. He removed to Osceola, Missouri, where he served two terms in Congress. In 1877 he was appointed by President Hayes Commissioner of the United States Land Department at Washington, where he served eight years. In 1885 he was chosen Grand Commander of the Grand Army of the Republic.

ROBERT J. BURDETTE, journalist, lecturer and author, was born July 30, 1844, in Greensborough, Pennsylvania. He removed to Peoria, Illinois, and when the Civil War began enlisted as a private and served until peace was established, when he returned to a position as a clerk in the Peoria post-office. He afterwards became a proofreader on the PEORIA TRANSCRIPT, and later night editor of the same paper. Here he began to develop a remarkable talent which attracted the attention of the newspaper fraternity and was offered a position on the BURLINGTON HAWKEYE. In a few years he gave that paper a national reputation and corresponding circulation outside of the State. As a humorous writer he had few equals and his fame extended wherever the English language was read. He remained on the editorial staff of the HAWKEYE for more than ten years, when his ever growing fame brought him tempting offers from the great metropolitan journals and he accepted a position on the BROOKLYN EAGLE. He entered the lecture field and was in great demand over the entire country, winning additional reputation. He wrote several books which had large sales, among which were �HAWKEYES,' �RISE AND FALL OF THE MUSTACHE' �INNACH GARDEN AND OTHER COMIC SKETCHES,' and �LIFE OF WILLIAM PENN.'

THEODORE W. BURDICK was born at Evansburg, Crawford County, Pennsylvania, October 7, 1836. He received a liberal education and came with his father to Iowa in 1853, taking up his residence at Decorah. In 1854 he was appointed deputy treasurer of the county and later was elected recorder and treasurer, serving until 1862 when he resigned to raise a company for the Union Army. He was appointed Captain of Company D, Sixth Iowa Cavalry, where he served three years in the Department of the Northwest against the Indians. At the close of the war he returned to Decorah and became cashier of the First National Bank. In 1876 he was elected to Congress from the Third District on the Republican ticket, serving but one term.

HOWARD A. BURRELL of the WASHINGTON PRESS has won a State-wide reputation as a journalist. Independent in action and fearless in criticism, he possesses a style peculiar to himself. He is an enthusiastic lover of nature and sees beauties in the woods, fields, animals and sky, that find poetic expression in words of deep appreciation. Mr. Burrell was born in Sheffield, Ohio, January 4, 1838, was educated in the common schools and at Oberlin College. He came to Iowa in 1866, making his home at Washington, in Washington County. He first taught school, then worked on a newspaper, finding congenial occupation in the latter. He has been editor of the WASHINGTON PRESS long enough to rank with the veteran journalists of Iowa, and his paper is among the brightest and most widely known in the State. He is a Republican who has never sought office but has done good service for twelve years as one of the Regents of the State University.

CYRUS BUSSEY was born October 5, 1833, in Trumbull County, Ohio, and was educated at various places where his father was stationed as a Methodist minister. When eighteen years of age he began the study of medicine. In July, 1855, he removed to Iowa, locating at Bloomfield in Davis County where he opened a store. In 1859 he was nominated by the Democrats of Davis County for State Senator and elected. He was a delegate to the National Democratic Convention in 1860 which met at Baltimore and nominated Stephen A. Douglas for President. At the extra session of the Legislature in May, 1861, called by Governor Kirkwood to place the State on a war footing, Cyrus Bussey was among the Democrats who gave a warm support to the war measures. At the close of the session he helped raise the Third Iowa Cavalry Regiment of which he was commissioned colonel. He was a gallant officer and in 1864 was promoted to Brigadier-General. After the war he located at New Orleans and became President of the Chamber of Commerce. In 1868 he was a delegate to the Republican National Convention which nominated General Grant for President. In 1880 he was again a delegate to the Republican Convention and was one of the famous three hundred six delegates who voted for Grant for a third term. In 1889 General Bussey was appointed by President Harrison Assistant Secretary of the Interior where he served until 1893. General Bussey left the Democratic party early in the Civil War and became a Republican, often taking an active part in the national campaigns as a public speaker.

WALTER H. BUTLER was born in Springboro, Crawford County, Pennsylvania, on the 13 th of February, 1852. He came to Iowa in 1875, making his home at West Union in Fayette County. In 1890 he was nominated for Representative in Congress by the Democrats of the Fourth District and was elected over J. H. Sweeney, Republican, by a plurality of 1,949. He served but one term, being defeated for reelection, in 1892.

EBER C. BYAM was born in Canada in 1826. He came to Iowa, locating in Linn County. He was for many years a minister of the Methodist church and at one time presiding elder. In the organization of the Twenty-fourth Iowa Infantry, he was appointed by Governor Kirkwood its colonel. He did not proved adapted to military command and resigned his commission on the 30 th of June, 1863. In 1871 he was appointed Register of the United States Land Office at Fort Dodge and remained in that city several years in the real estate business. He finally moved to Rochester, New York, where he died many years ago.

HOWARD W. BYERS was born in Woodstock, Wisconsin, on Christmas Day, 1856. His education was acquired in the public schools of Wisconsin. In 1873 he came to Iowa, first locating on a farm near Garner, in Hancock County. Subsequently he studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1888. He removed to Shelby County, where in 1893 he was elected Representative in the Twenty-fifth General Assembly, on the Republican ticket. He was reelected in 1895 and chosen Speaker of the House of the Twenty-sixth General Assembly. In 1899 Mr. Byers was again elected Representative, serving in the Twenty-eighth General Assembly. In the political contest for Governor in 1901, Mr. Byers was a warm supporter of Mr. Cummins for that position.

MELVIN H. BYERS was born in Noble County, Ohio, January 12, 1846. When seven years of age his father came to Iowa, locating at Glenwood, Mills County, later removing to a farm where the son worked summers, attending the public schools winters. In January, 1864, Melvin enlisted in Company B, Twenty-ninth Iowa Volunteer Infantry, serving until the close of the Civil War. He served as recorder of Mills County and mayor of Glenwood. In 1879 he enlisted in the Iowa National Guard and has been promoted from private to major. In 1898 he was appointed by Governor Shaw Adjutant General of the State. Upon him devolved the responsibility of organizing the quota of troops which Iowa was called upon to furnish for the Spanish War. This duty was performed with a degree of energy and ability that placed the Iowa troops in the field with thorough drill and equipment unsurpassed by those of any State in the Union. During his administration General Byers has brought the National Guard of Iowa to a high degree of efficiency in all soldierly qualities.

SAMUEL H. M. BYERS was born in Pulaski, Pennsylvania, in 1838. Coming to Iowa in 1851 with his father he was educated in the schools of Oskaloosa, where his father located. He enlisted in the Fifth Iowa Infantry and served in the army until March, 1865, was promoted to adjutant in April, 1863. He was in many battles and in a charge at Missionary Ridge was taken prisoner and for fifteen months suffered the horrors of Libby and other Confederate prisons. He finally escaped and returned to the army, where for a time he was on General Sherman's staff. At the close of the war he was brevetted major. While in prison at Columbia, South Carolina, he wrote the well-known song, �The March to the Sea,' which brought him into national notice. It gave the name to Sherman 's famous march and thousands of copies were sold immediately after the war. Major Byers was sent by General Sherman to General Grant and President Lincoln as a bearer of dispatches announcing his great victories. He served fifteen years as American Consul General for Italy. Under President Harrison he served as Consul to St. Gall and later as Consul General for Switzerland. Major Byers has been a contributor to the leading magazines of the country. He is the author of � IOWA IN WAR TIMES,' �SWITZERLAND AND THE SWISS,' �TWENTY YEARS IN EUROPE ' and several volumes of poetry.