<![CDATA[Iowa Heritage Digital Collections]]> http://www.iowaheritage.org/items/browse/1?collection=43&sort_field=Dublin+Core%2CTitle&output=rss2 Thu, 28 Mar 2024 18:02:25 +0000 publications@silo.lib.ia.us (Iowa Heritage Digital Collections) Zend_Feed http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss <![CDATA[1838-1840, Robert Lucas]]> http://www.iowaheritage.org/items/show/49790

Title

1838-1840, Robert Lucas

Subject

Description

Robert Lucas, 1st governor of the Iowa Territory, was born April 1, 1781 in Shepherdstown, West Virginia, the son of William and Susannah (Barnes) Lucas. He was educated in mathematics and surveying by private tutor. Around 1800 Robert Lucas settled with his family in what in south-central Ohio and began working as a surveyor. He joined the Ohio militia in 1803 and the U.S. Army in 1812, eventually attaining the ranks of major general in the militia and lieutenant colonel in the army. During the War of 1812, he served in campaigns under Generals William Hull and William Henry Harrison. In 1810 Lucas married Elizabeth Brown. They had one daughter, Minerva, before Elizabeth died of tuberculosis in 1812. In 1816 Lucas married Friendly Sumner. He and Friendly had seven children, five of whom survived into adulthood. Lucas began his political career as an Ohio Democrat. Between 1808 and 1832 he was elected twice to the Ohio House and seven times to the Ohio Senate. He was elected governor of Ohio in 1832 and again in 1834. In 1832 he presided over the first Democratic National Convention in Baltimore. When an act of Congress created the Iowa Territory in 1838, Lucas saw an opportunity to influence the formation of a territory and eventually, he hoped, a state. In July 1838 President Martin Van Buren appointed him as Iowa Territorial Governor and Superintendent of Indian Affairs. Lucas's vision for the territory included establishing a system of free public schools, building territorial roads, and organizing a well-equipped militia to ""defend ourselves against any Indian force that could be brought against us.""He chose books for a territorial library and asked the legislature to hire a librarian and provide for additions to the library. He entreated the legislature to establish a strict criminal code, including laws against intemperance and gambling, vices he termed ""the fountains from which almost every other crime proceeds."" Although there was ongoing strife between Lucas and the legislature over spending and his use of executive power, the assembly did pass laws that realized part of Lucas's vision. Lucas also asked the legislature to appoint commissioners to determine a permanent site for a capital (what would become Iowa City was chosen in 1839) and suggested that they bring the matter of statehood to the people, which they did. The populace voted against the measure. Lucas also had to contend with a conflict with Missouri over Iowa's southern boundary. The dispute, caused by differing interpretations of border descriptions by Missouri and Iowa surveyors, erupted when Missouri officials tried to collect taxes in the disputed area. Lucas sent representatives to Washington to appeal for Iowa but also called out the militia. In 1850 the U.S. Supreme Court resolved the conflict in favor of Iowa. After the Whigs won the 1840 presidential election, President Harrison appointed a Whig as Iowa's governor. Lucas was disappointed at being replaced. When a Democrat was again elected to the White House in 1844, he hoped to be reinstated but was not. After leaving the governor's office, Lucas remained in Iowa and eventually settled with his family near Iowa City. Arguably, Lucas's postgubernatorial contributions are as significant to Iowa's development as those he made as governor. As a delegate to the first state constitutional convention in 1844, he served on the committee to define the powers of the executive and on the Committee on State Revenue. He was also a member of the Committee on State Boundaries and advocated for boundaries from the Mississippi to the Missouri rivers and to the St. Peter River in the north. Those boundaries were sent to Congress with the state constitution. Although Congress wanted a smaller Iowa, Iowa's final boundaries were close to those Lucas had proposed. In Ohio, Lucas had advocated the building of canals. As Iowa governor, he pushed for the establishment of roads. Finally, his interest turned to railroads, and he participated in two railroad conventions in 1850. He had not completely given up politics, though. In 1846 he put himself forward unsuccessfully as a Democratic candidate to become the first governor of the new state. His last venture into politics is probably the most surprising. After being a Democrat his entire political career, he put his support behind the Whig candidate in the 1852 presidential election and became active in the local Whig Party. Soon afterwards, Lucas and his wife, Friendly, decided to spend the remainder of their lives in Iowa City. In 1844 they purchased 80 acres just south of town, and built a house reminiscent of their home in Ohio. Nestled among a grove of plum trees, the house was dubbed Plum Grove. Robert Lucas died February 7, 1853.

Publisher

State Library of Iowa and State Historical Society of Iowa

Date

1838; 1839; 1840;

Contributor

Leigh Ann Randak - Iowa Biographical Dictionary

Rights

This digital image may be used for educational purposes, as long as it is not altered in any way. No commercial reproduction or distribution of this file is permitted without written permission of the State Historical Society of Iowa. www.iowahistory.org/libraries/services-and-fees/copyright-notice.html

Type

Still Image
http://cdm.statelibraryofiowa.org/archive/iagov-230.jpg
]]>
Wed, 23 Jan 2013 09:40:08 +0000
<![CDATA[1841-1845, John Chambers]]> http://www.iowaheritage.org/items/show/49783

Title

1841-1845, John Chambers

Subject

Description

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 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 the executive and legislative branches of the Territorial government were not harmonious. Soon after the inauguration of President Polk, Governor Chambers was removed from 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. He died near Paris, Bourbon County, Kentucky, September 21, 1852 and was interred in the family burial ground at Washington, in Mason County, Kentucky. He married Margaret Taylor (b. May 22, 1781), daughter of Major Ignatius Taylor (1742-1807), on June 16, 1803. She died on March 4, 1807. They had no surviving children. He married secondly, on October 29, 1807, to Hannah Lee Taylor (January 9, 1791-November 11, 1832), daughter of Major Ignatius Taylor with his second wife, Barbara Bowie (1756-1805). Hannah was a half sister to John's first wife Margaret. John and Hannah had twelve children.

Publisher

State Library of Iowa and State Historical Society of Iowa

Date

1841; 1842; 1843; 1844; 1845;

Contributor

Biographical Directory of the United States, Wikipedia, History of Iowa From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century / Volume 4 by Benjamin F. Gue

Rights

This digital image may be used for educational purposes, as long as it is not altered in any way. No commercial reproduction or distribution of this file is permitted without written permission of the State Historical Society of Iowa. www.iowahistory.org/libraries/services-and-fees/copyright-notice.html

Type

Still Image
http://cdm.statelibraryofiowa.org/archive/iagov-223.jpg
]]>
Wed, 23 Jan 2013 09:39:31 +0000
<![CDATA[1845-1846, James Clark]]> http://www.iowaheritage.org/items/show/49776

Title

1845-1846, James Clark

Subject

Description

James Clark (July 5, 1812 July 28, 1850) was the third Governor of Iowa Territory from November 18, 1845 until December 3, 1846, being appointed to the office, as a Democrat, by President James Polk. Born in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, Clarke was secretary of Iowa Territory from 1839-1841 and mayor of Burlington, Iowa from 1844-1845. Clarke was the son-in-law of Henry Dodge. Clarke County, Iowa was named after him. He died in Burlington. Iowa's statehood was still a year away when Clarke was appointed the third governor of the Iowa Territory in 1845. Clarke already was well known in political circles since he had been territorial secretary to Iowa's first territorial governor, Robert Lucas. Clarke was a printer by trade when in 1836 he moved to Belmont, the new capital of the Wisconsin Territory.[4] He married Christiana Dodge, the daughter of territorial governor Henry Dodge, and became territorial librarian. When the territorial capital moved from Belmont to Burlington (now Iowa) Clarke and his family followed, and he founded the Wisconsin Territorial Gazette and Burlington Advertiser, a newspaper, on July 10, 1837. When the Iowa Territory was established, President Van Buren appointed Clarke ""Secretary in and for the Territory of Iowa, "" as shown in two of the donated documents, dated November 27, 1839, and February 19, 1840. By 1842, the territorial capital had moved from Burlington to Iowa City, where Clarke assisted Governor Lucas with government and political business. Some people opposed Clarke's appointment because of his close personal ties to the Dodge family, but as the mayor of Burlington and editor of the Burlington Gazette, Clarke had gained a reputation as one of the leading advocates for statehood. President Polk appointed Clarke governor of the Iowa Territory on November 8, 1845. Clarke played a pivotal role in the development of Iowa, helping to define the state's boundaries and forming the first constitutional conventions. Only four weeks after Clarke delivered his last official message as governor in December 1846, Iowa became the 29th state to join the union. Clarke resumed his work as a newspaper editor in Burlington. He became the first president of the Burlington School Board and remained active in local political affairs until tragedy struck in July 1850. His wife and infant son succumbed to a cholera epidemic that swept through Burlington and other Mississippi River towns. Just two weeks later, Clarke, just 38, also died of cholera. The Clarks are buried in Aspen Grove Cemetery, Burlington.

Publisher

State Library of Iowa and State Historical Society of Iowa

Date

1845; 1846;

Contributor

Wikipedia

Rights

This digital image may be used for educational purposes, as long as it is not altered in any way. No commercial reproduction or distribution of this file is permitted without written permission of the State Historical Society of Iowa. www.iowahistory.org/libraries/services-and-fees/copyright-notice.html

Type

Still Image
http://cdm.statelibraryofiowa.org/archive/iagov-216.jpg
]]>
Wed, 23 Jan 2013 09:38:54 +0000
<![CDATA[1846-1850, Ansel Briggs]]> http://www.iowaheritage.org/items/show/49795

Title

1846-1850, Ansel Briggs

Subject

Description

Ansel Briggs was the first Iowa Governor. He was born in Vermont on February 3, 1806. His education was attained in the common schools of Vermont and at the Norwich Academy in Connecticut. After moving to Ohio and then Iowa, Briggs established successful careers as a mail carrier and stagecoach driver. He entered politics in 1842, serving as a member of the Iowa Territorial House of Representatives, a position he held until 1846. He also served one term as sheriff of Jackson County. In 1846, Briggs won the Democratic gubernatorial nomination, and subsequently was elected governor of Iowa. During his tenure, the formation of the state government was initiated, a state school system was organized, and the Missouri-Iowa boundary dispute was resolved in 1848. When his term ended on December 4, 1850, Briggs retired from public service and returned to his various business interests. He later was instrumental in the development and the founding of Florence, Nebraska. Governor Ansel Briggs died in Omaha, Nebraska, on May 5, 1881. He was buried in Omaha, and was later re-interred at the Andrew Cemetery in Andrew, Iowa.

Publisher

State Library of Iowa and State Historical Society of Iowa

Date

1846; 1847; 1848; 1849; 1850;

Contributor

National Governor's Association

Rights

This digital image may be used for educational purposes, as long as it is not altered in any way. No commercial reproduction or distribution of this file is permitted without written permission of the State Historical Society of Iowa. www.iowahistory.org/libraries/services-and-fees/copyright-notice.html

Type

Still Image
http://cdm.statelibraryofiowa.org/archive/iagov-235.jpg
]]>
Wed, 23 Jan 2013 09:40:27 +0000
<![CDATA[1850-1854, Stephen Hempstead]]> http://www.iowaheritage.org/items/show/49782

Title

1850-1854, Stephen Hempstead

Subject

Description

Stephen Hempstead, Iowa's second governor, was born in New London, Connecticut. on October 1, 1812, the eighth son of Joseph and Celinda (Hutchinson) Hempstead. When he was 13, his father, who was in the boot and shoe business, was for some months imprisoned for debt, as a result of the machinations of a crooked partner. During that period, Hempstead worked in a woolen mill. On his father's release, the family settled on a farm near St. Louis. Hempstead disliked farm life, so in 1830 he went to work in a store in Galena, Illinois. In 1832, during the Black Hawk War, he enlisted in an artillery company. After the war, he studied law at Illinois College, Jacksonville; then in St. Louis; and finally with an uncle who was a lawyer in Galena. Admitted to the bar in 1836, he became the first lawyer to practice in Dubuque. In 1837 he married Lavinia Moore Lackland of Baltimore. They had three sons and three daughters. In 1838 Hempstead was elected to the Legislative Council (the upper house) of the First Legislative Assembly of Territorial Iowa. He held this position until 1848 and served as president for many years. He also served on the commission that revised Iowa's state laws, which were enacted after minor changes in 1851. In 1850, Hempstead won the Democratic gubernatorial nomination and on December 4, 1850 he was sworn into office. During his tenure, fifty-two new counties were created, fiscal conservation was practiced, the Iowa Constitution of 1846 was endorsed, and the influx of new settlers to the state was encouraged. His recommendation to establish the Office of Attorney General was adopted by the legislature. Temperance was a major issue while Hempstead was governor. The only restriction on the sale of liquor was that it could not be consumed on the premises where it was sold. In 1852-1853 advocates of prohibition flooded the General Assembly with petitions favoring prohibition. But the governor apparently neutralized them by advocating ""a judicious license system placed under the control of local authorities, "" and the legislature took no action. Hempstead hated banks because he thought that they swindled people. The Iowa Constitution of 1846 prohibited banking, and twice the governor vetoed bills to summon a convention to amend the state constitution so as to permit banking. He was more farsighted when he advocated ""an asylum for lunatics.""During his governorship, the Sioux Indians in 1851 signed a treaty giving up the last of their land in Iowa. In 1854 Hempstead ran for the U.S. Congress but lostaccording to editorial opinion, his opponent's support of prohibition decided the election. Back in Dubuque from 1855 on, Hempstead was repeatedly elected county judge until that office was abolished in 1869. Under his administration, the jail, poorhouse, and important bridges were built. Then he was county auditor from 1869-1873 until retiring due to ill health in 1873. In 1882 Hempsteadthe grand old man of Dubuquewas honored by being elected justice of the peace on both party tickets. The following year he died at his daughter's home on February 16th. Five years earlier, he had fallen on an icy sidewalk, which resulted in the amputation of his right leg. His wife died in 1871, and his daughter Olivia Richmond became his mainstay. He was never separated from her in his last years and often referred to her as his ""aide-de-camp. Stephen Hempstead, Iowa's second governor, was born in New London, Connecticut. on October 1, 1812, the eighth son of Joseph and Celinda (Hutchinson) Hempstead. When he was 13, his father, who was in the boot and shoe business, was for some months imprisoned for debt, as a result of the machinations of a crooked partner. During that period, Hempstead worked in a woolen mill. On his father's release, the family settled on a farm near St. Louis. Hempstead disliked farm life, so in 1830 he went to work in a store in Galena, Illinois. In 1832, during the Black Hawk War, he enlisted in an artillery company. After the war, he studied law at Illinois College, Jacksonville; then in St. Louis; and finally with an uncle who was a lawyer in Galena. Admitted to the bar in 1836, he became the first lawyer to practice in Dubuque. In 1837 he married Lavinia Moore Lackland of Baltimore. They had three sons and three daughters. In 1838 Hempstead was elected to the Legislative Council (the upper house) of the First Legislative Assembly of Territorial Iowa. He held this position until 1848 and served as president for many years. He also served on the commission that revised Iowa's state laws, which were enacted after minor changes in 1851. In 1850, Hempstead won the Democratic gubernatorial nomination and on December 4, 1850 he was sworn into office. During his tenure, fifty-two new counties were created, fiscal conservation was practiced, the Iowa Constitution of 1846 was endorsed, and the influx of new settlers to the state was encouraged. His recommendation to establish the Office of Attorney General was adopted by the legislature. Temperance was a major issue while Hempstead was governor. The only restriction on the sale of liquor was that it could not be consumed on the premises where it was sold. In 1852-1853 advocates of prohibition flooded the General Assembly with petitions favoring prohibition. But the governor apparently neutralized them by advocating ""a judicious license system placed under the control of local authorities, "" and the legislature took no action. Hempstead hated banks because he thought that they swindled people. The Iowa Constitution of 1846 prohibited banking, and twice the governor vetoed bills to summon a convention to amend the state constitution so as to permit banking. He was more farsighted when he advocated ""an asylum for lunatics.""During his governorship, the Sioux Indians in 1851 signed a treaty giving up the last of their land in Iowa. In 1854 Hempstead ran for the U.S. Congress but lostaccording to editorial opinion, his opponent's support of prohibition decided the election. Back in Dubuque from 1855 on, Hempstead was repeatedly elected county judge until that office was abolished in 1869. Under his administration, the jail, poorhouse, and important bridges were built. Then he was county auditor from 1869-1873 until retiring due to ill health in 1873. In 1882 Hempsteadthe grand old man of Dubuquewas honored by being elected justice of the peace on both party tickets. The following year he died at his daughter's home on February 16th. Five years earlier, he had fallen on an icy sidewalk, which resulted in the amputation of his right leg. His wife died in 1871, and his daughter Olivia Richmond became his mainstay. He was never separated from her in his last years and often referred to her as his ""aide-de-camp. Stephen Hempstead, Iowa's second governor, was born in New London, Connecticut. on October 1, 1812, the eighth son of Joseph and Celinda (Hutchinson) Hempstead. When he was 13, his father, who was in the boot and shoe business, was for some months imprisoned for debt, as a result of the machinations of a crooked partner. During that period, Hempstead worked in a woolen mill. On his father's release, the family settled on a farm near St. Louis. Hempstead disliked farm life, so in 1830 he went to work in a store in Galena, Illinois. In 1832, during the Black Hawk War, he enlisted in an artillery company. After the war, he studied law at Illinois College, Jacksonville; then in St. Louis; and finally with an uncle who was a lawyer in Galena. Admitted to the bar in 1836, he became the first lawyer to practice in Dubuque. In 1837 he married Lavinia Moore Lackland of Baltimore. They had three sons and three daughters. In 1838 Hempstead was elected to the Legislative Council (the upper house) of the First Legislative Assembly of Territorial Iowa. He held this position until 1848 and served as president for many years. He also served on the commission that revised Iowa's state laws, which were enacted after minor changes in 1851. In 1850, Hempstead won the Democratic gubernatorial nomination and on December 4, 1850 he was sworn into office. During his tenure, fifty-two new counties were created, fiscal conservation was practiced, the Iowa Constitution of 1846 was endorsed, and the influx of new settlers to the state was encouraged. His recommendation to establish the Office of Attorney General was adopted by the legislature. Temperance was a major issue while Hempstead was governor. The only restriction on the sale of liquor was that it could not be consumed on the premises where it was sold. In 1852-1853 advocates of prohibition flooded the General Assembly with petitions favoring prohibition. But the governor apparently neutralized them by advocating ""a judicious license system placed under the control of local authorities, "" and the legislature took no action. Hempstead hated banks because he thought that they swindled people. The Iowa Constitution of 1846 prohibited banking, and twice the governor vetoed bills to summon a convention to amend the state constitution so as to permit banking. He was more farsighted when he advocated ""an asylum for lunatics.""During his governorship, the Sioux Indians in 1851 signed a treaty giving up the last of their land in Iowa. In 1854 Hempstead ran for the U.S. Congress but lostaccording to editorial opinion, his opponent's support of prohibition decided the election. Back in Dubuque from 1855 on, Hempstead was repeatedly elected county judge until that office was abolished in 1869. Under his administration, the jail, poorhouse, and important bridges were built. Then he was county auditor from 1869-1873 until retiring due to ill health in 1873. In 1882 Hempsteadthe grand old man of Dubuquewas honored by being elected justice of the peace on both party tickets. The following year he died at his daughter's home on February 16th. Five years earlier, he had fallen on an icy sidewalk, which resulted in the amputation of his right leg. His wife died in 1871, and his daughter Olivia Richmond became his mainstay. He was never separated from her in his last years and often referred to her as his ""aide-de-camp. Stephen Hempstead, Iowa's second governor, was born in New London, Connecticut. on October 1, 1812, the eighth son of Joseph and Celinda (Hutchinson) Hempstead. When he was 13, his father, who was in the boot and shoe business, was for some months imprisoned for debt, as a result of the machinations of a crooked partner. During that period, Hempstead worked in a woolen mill. On his father's release, the family settled on a farm near St. Louis. Hempstead disliked farm life, so in 1830 he went to work in a store in Galena, Illinois. In 1832, during the Black Hawk War, he enlisted in an artillery company. After the war, he studied law at Illinois College, Jacksonville; then in St. Louis; and finally with an uncle who was a lawyer in Galena. Admitted to the bar in 1836, he became the first lawyer to practice in Dubuque. In 1837 he married Lavinia Moore Lackland of Baltimore. They had three sons and three daughters. In 1838 Hempstead was elected to the Legislative Council (the upper house) of the First Legislative Assembly of Territorial Iowa. He held this position until 1848 and served as president for many years. He also served on the commission that revised Iowa's state laws, which were enacted after minor changes in 1851. In 1850, Hempstead won the Democratic gubernatorial nomination and on December 4, 1850 he was sworn into office. During his tenure, fifty-two new counties were created, fiscal conservation was practiced, the Iowa Constitution of 1846 was endorsed, and the influx of new settlers to the state was encouraged. His recommendation to establish the Office of Attorney General was adopted by the legislature. Temperance was a major issue while Hempstead was governor. The only restriction on the sale of liquor was that it could not be consumed on the premises where it was sold. In 1852-1853 advocates of prohibition flooded the General Assembly with petitions favoring prohibition. But the governor apparently neutralized them by advocating ""a judicious license system placed under the control of local authorities, "" and the legislature took no action. Hempstead hated banks because he thought that they swindled people. The Iowa Constitution of 1846 prohibited banking, and twice the governor vetoed bills to summon a convention to amend the state constitution so as to permit banking. He was more farsighted when he advocated ""an asylum for lunatics.""During his governorship, the Sioux Indians in 1851 signed a treaty giving up the last of their land in Iowa. In 1854 Hempstead ran for the U.S. Congress but lostaccording to editorial opinion, his opponent's support of prohibition decided the election. Back in Dubuque from 1855 on, Hempstead was repeatedly elected county judge until that office was abolished in 1869. Under his administration, the jail, poorhouse, and important bridges were built. Then he was county auditor from 1869-1873 until retiring due to ill health in 1873. In 1882 Hempsteadthe grand old man of Dubuquewas honored by being elected justice of the peace on both party tickets. The following year he died at his daughter's home on February 16th. Five years earlier, he had fallen on an icy sidewalk, which resulted in the amputation of his right leg. His wife died in 1871, and his daughter Olivia Richmond became his mainstay. He was never separated from her in his last years and often referred to her as his ""aide-de-camp. Stephen Hempstead, Iowa's second governor, was born in New London, Connecticut. on October 1, 1812, the eighth son of Joseph and Celinda (Hutchinson) Hempstead. When he was 13, his father, who was in the boot and shoe business, was for some months imprisoned for debt, as a result of the machinations of a crooked partner. During that period, Hempstead worked in a woolen mill. On his father's release, the family settled on a farm near St. Louis. Hempstead disliked farm life, so in 1830 he went to work in a store in Galena, Illinois. In 1832, during the Black Hawk War, he enlisted in an artillery company. After the war, he studied law at Illinois College, Jacksonville; then in St. Louis; and finally with an uncle who was a lawyer in Galena. Admitted to the bar in 1836, he became the first lawyer to practice in Dubuque. In 1837 he married Lavinia Moore Lackland of Baltimore. They had three sons and three daughters. In 1838 Hempstead was elected to the Legislative Council (the upper house) of the First Legislative Assembly of Territorial Iowa. He held this position until 1848 and served as president for many years. He also served on the commission that revised Iowa's state laws, which were enacted after minor changes in 1851. In 1850, Hempstead won the Democratic gubernatorial nomination and on December 4, 1850 he was sworn into office. During his tenure, fifty-two new counties were created, fiscal conservation was practiced, the Iowa Constitution of 1846 was endorsed, and the influx of new settlers to the state was encouraged. His recommendation to establish the Office of Attorney General was adopted by the legislature. Temperance was a major issue while Hempstead was governor. The only restriction on the sale of liquor was that it could not be consumed on the premises where it was sold. In 1852-1853 advocates of prohibition flooded the General Assembly with petitions favoring prohibition. But the governor apparently neutralized them by advocating ""a judicious license system placed under the control of local authorities, "" and the legislature took no action. Hempstead hated banks because he thought that they swindled people. The Iowa Constitution of 1846 prohibited banking, and twice the governor vetoed bills to summon a convention to amend the state constitution so as to permit banking. He was more farsighted when he advocated ""an asylum for lunatics.""During his governorship, the Sioux Indians in 1851 signed a treaty giving up the last of their land in Iowa. In 1854 Hempstead ran for the U.S. Congress but lostaccording to editorial opinion, his opponent's support of prohibition decided the election. Back in Dubuque from 1855 on, Hempstead was repeatedly elected county judge until that office was abolished in 1869. Under his administration, the jail, poorhouse, and important bridges were built. Then he was county auditor from 1869-1873 until retiring due to ill health in 1873. In 1882 Hempsteadthe grand old man of Dubuquewas honored by being elected justice of the peace on both party tickets. The following year he died at his daughter's home on February 16th. Five years earlier, he had fallen on an icy sidewalk, which resulted in the amputation of his right leg. His wife died in 1871, and his daughter Olivia Richmond became his mainstay. He was never separated from her in his last years and often referred to her as his ""aide-de-camp.

Publisher

State Library of Iowa and State Historical Society of Iowa

Date

1850; 1851; 1852; 1853; 1854;

Contributor

Biographical Dictionary of Iowa

Rights

This digital image may be used for educational purposes, as long as it is not altered in any way. No commercial reproduction or distribution of this file is permitted without written permission of the State Historical Society of Iowa. www.iowahistory.org/libraries/services-and-fees/copyright-notice.html

Type

Still Image
http://cdm.statelibraryofiowa.org/archive/iagov-222.jpg
]]>
Wed, 23 Jan 2013 09:39:25 +0000
<![CDATA[1854-1858, James Grimes]]> http://www.iowaheritage.org/items/show/49771

Title

1854-1858, James Grimes

Subject

Description

James W. Grimes, 3rd Iowa Governor was born October 20, 1816 in Deering, New Hampshire. He attended Dartmouth College, but left in 1835 without graduating. He went west and settled in Burlington, Iowa. Equipped with a critical mind, a retentive memory, and an innate self-confidence, he established a reputation for himself as a talented and sagacious lawyer, entering into partnership with Henry W. Starr in 1841. As the local economy began to expand, the practice proved to be a lucrative one. Along with heavy speculative investments in land and tax liens, it provided the imposing young man with a sound financial base on which to build a successful political career in the new state of Iowa. At the beginning of 1854, he found his career prospects transformed by the introduction into Congress of the Kansas-Nebraska Bill, a deeply controversial measure that threatened to spread slavery into new territories on Iowa's western border. Grimes was a member of the Whig Party of Henry Clay and Daniel Webster. His stalwart opposition to slavery persuaded independent political abolitionists to support his candidacy in the 1854 gubernatorial contest. In the ensuing campaign, he issued a potent rallying call, ""To the People of Iowa, "" in which he outlined the paralyzing consequences of having slave states to the west as well as south and underscored his determination to prevent further expansion of the South's peculiar institution. A combination of antislavery Whigs, Free-Soilers, and new voters mobilized by the Kansas-Nebraska Act voted him into office by a majority of 2, 500. The new governor's second contribution to the ongoing process of political realignment in Iowa was to help convert the Whig-led anti-Nebraska coalition into a state Republican organization. His efforts to solidify the anti-Democratic forces in Iowa were aided by an outbreak of guerrilla warfare in neighboring Kansas during the winter of 1855-1856. Grimes used his office to harangue the federal government for its failure to protect free-state settlers from proslavery violence. He gave protection to armed abolitionists bound for Kansas, and at one stage informed President Franklin Pierce that a situation might arise when Northern states would have to ""interpose"" their power to defend the rights of free staters. He was not present at the founding convention of Iowa's Republican Party in February 1856, but the new organization was spawned by a sectional conflict that Grimeshad done nothing to discourage. Sensing that the state's outmoded Jacksonian constitution was an obstacle to healthy economic growth, he was a strong advocate of fundamental legal reform and welcomed the advent in 1857 of a new constitution, one that made the state a more attractive place for investors. He also backed the development of certain public institutions among them public schools, an insane asylum, and a state universitythat he believed were essential to the general welfare. During his term in office, the Iowa State Capitol was moved to Des Moines. After stepping down as governor, Grimes represented Iowa in the U.S. Senate between 1859 and 1869. Refusing to yield to what most Republicans saw as proslavery blustering, he opposed any compromise likely to satisfy secessionists in the wake of his party's fateful election victory in November 1860, and during the ensuing Civil War he cooperated with fellow Republican senators to fashion a systematic attack on slavery as part of a broad-based effort to crush Confederate resistance. Although the necessity of preserving the fruits of Northern victory impelled him to support most landmark Reconstruction measures, he controversially voted with the Democratic minority to defeat the impeachment of President Andrew Johnson in May 1868. Widely denigrated for that action and burdened with deteriorating health, Grimes resigned his Senate seat in August 1869 while touring Europe. Visibly aged and increasingly irritable, he was cooperating with dissident Liberal Republicans at the time of his death from heart disease on February 7, 1872.

Publisher

State Library of Iowa and State Historical Society of Iowa

Date

1854; 1855; 1856; 1857; 1858;

Contributor

Biographical Dictionary of Iowa

Rights

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<![CDATA[1858-1860, Ralph Lowe]]> http://www.iowaheritage.org/items/show/49774

Title

1858-1860, Ralph Lowe

Subject

Description

Ralph Phillips Lowe, fourth governor of Iowa, was born on November 27, 1805 in Warren County, Ohio, the fifth son of Jacob Derrick Lowe and Maria (Perlee) Lowe. As he grew up, he had to work hard on the family farm, which was also a stagecoach stop and an inn for travelers. His mother died when he was just five. His father remarried two more times, moving the family to Miami County, Ohio, then to Cincinnati, and finally to Dayton, where he died in 1839. Of Jacob's five sons, three, including Ralph, became lawyers. Ralph attended Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, graduating in 1829 at the age of 24. His father offered to give him a farm on the outskirts of Chicago, but Ralph had other plans. With two friends, he headed south to Alabama on horseback, hoping to get a job teaching while studying law. After passing the bar in Alabama, Lowe became a successful lawyer. He returned to Ohio in 1834 and formed a partnership in Dayton with his brother Peter. He also met Phoebe Carleton, who was attending college in Dayton, and they were married in 1837. In 1840 Ralph, Phoebe, and their infant son, Carleton, moved west to Iowa in a six-week trek over the prairies. They had two saddle horses, a spring bed in a covered wagon, and a chest of provisions. At first they settled in Muscatine, cleared some land, and built a small log cabin. Within a year Ralph was practicing law while enjoying farm life. Ralph and Phoebe had seven more boys and two girls. Ralph often spoke of the 10 years in Muscatine as the happiest years of his life. It was there that his career in politics began. He served as a member of the 1844 Iowa State Constitutional Convention. About 1850 he moved the family to Keokuk, and became district judge in the First Judicial District where he served from 1852-1857. In 1857 he accepted the Republican nomination for governor and became Iowa's fourth governor, serving from 1858 to 1860. Due to an amendment in the constitution, Lowe's term in office was reduced from four years to a two. During his tenure, a state census was authorized, the state agricultural college act was established, the state bank of Iowa was incorporated, and an educational institution for the blind was initiated. His first year as governor was also the first year that the state legislature met in the ""old brick capitol"" in Des Moines, having moved the state offices the previous fall from Iowa City. After serving as governor, Lowe was elected as one of three Iowa Supreme Court judges (1860-1867) and was chief justice for two years. As a judge on the Iowa Supreme Court, associates said he considered every person to be honest and true until convinced otherwise. Honest and just, he was occasionally misled by a plausible argument. He never took much time to hear a case, but quickly decided the question and seldom ventured upon much elaboration. He felt that common sense was worth more to a judge than referring to cases or textbooks. He had a keen sense of what was right and was ready to brush aside all technicalities. In 1868 Lowe left the Supreme Court bench to practice law in Washington, D.C., on Iowa's behalf. He devoted his time to prosecuting Iowa's claim against the federal government for the sum of $800, 000, which had accrued during his time as governor. The federal government had promised to compensate states for not taxing land purchases until five years after their sale. The states kept their promise, but the federal government did not. For nearly 15 years Lowe lived in Washington, D.C., and labored to influence Congress to pay the bill. It never did. Ralph Lowe died at the age of 78 on December 22, 1883 and was buried in Glenwood Cemetery in Washington, D.C.

Publisher

State Library of Iowa and State Historical Society of Iowa

Date

1858; 1859; 1860;

Contributor

Iowa Biographical Dictionary, National Governor's Association

Rights

This digital image may be used for educational purposes, as long as it is not altered in any way. No commercial reproduction or distribution of this file is permitted without written permission of the State Historical Society of Iowa. www.iowahistory.org/libraries/services-and-fees/copyright-notice.html

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Wed, 23 Jan 2013 09:38:49 +0000
<![CDATA[1860-1864, Samuel Kirkwood, 1876-1877 second term]]> http://www.iowaheritage.org/items/show/49757

Title

1860-1864, Samuel Kirkwood, 1876-1877 second term

Subject

Description

Samuel J. Kirkwood, Governor of Iowa 1876-1877, was forn in Harford County, Maryland on December 20, 1813. He attended country schools and the academy of John McLeod in Washington, D.C. He clerked in a drug store and taught school. He moved to Mansfield, Richmond County, Ohio, in 1835 and continued teaching until 1840. He then studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1843. He practiced in Mansfield and then served as prosecuting attorney of Richland County from 1845-1849. He served as a member of the State constitutional convention in 1850 and 1851. He moved to Coralville, Johnson County, Iowa in 1855 and engaged in the milling business. He served in the Iowa Senate from 1856-1859 and was Governor of Iowa from 1860-1864. He was appointed by President jAbraham Linclon as Minister to Denmark in 1863, but declined the position. He was elected as a Republican to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of James Harlan and served from January 13, 1866 to March 3, 1867. He resumed the practice of law and also served as president of the Iowa & Southwestern Railroad Company. He served as Governor of Iowa again from 1876-1877 when he resigned to accept a Cabinet position - Secretary of the Interior in the Cabinet of of President James Garfield from 1881-1882. Upon the death of President Garfield, he resigned. He was an unsuccessful candidate for election in 1886 to the Fiftieth Congress.. He resumed the practice of law and became president of the Iowa City National Bank. He died died in Iowa City, Johnson County, Iowa, September 1, 1894. He was interred in Oakland Cemetary

Publisher

State Library of Iowa and State Historical Society of Iowa

Date

1860; 1861; 1862; 1863; 1864; 1876; 1877;

Contributor

Dictionary of American Biography; Clark, Dan E. Samuel Jordan Kirkwood. Iowa City: State Historical Society of Iowa, 1917; Hake, Herbert. ""The Political Firecracker: Samuel J. Kirkwood."" Palimpsest 56 (January/February 1975): 2-14.

Rights

This digital image may be used for educational purposes, as long as it is not altered in any way. No commercial reproduction or distribution of this file is permitted without written permission of the State Historical Society of Iowa. www.iowahistory.org/libraries/services-and-fees/copyright-notice.html

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Wed, 23 Jan 2013 09:37:42 +0000
<![CDATA[1864-1868, William Stone]]> http://www.iowaheritage.org/items/show/49773

Title

1864-1868, William Stone

Subject

Description

William M. Stone, sixth Governor of Iowa, was born in Jefferson County, New York, but moved with his parents, Truman and Lavinia (North) Stone, to Coshocton County, Ohio, when he was six years old. Stone had little formal education. After working in his teens as a farmhand and as a team driver on the Ohio Canal, at age 18 he apprenticed as a chair maker and also studied law under James Mathews, his future father-in-law. He was admitted to the Coshocton bar in 1851 and entered into partnership with Mathews. Stone practiced law in Ohio until 1854, when he moved with his parents and brothers and sisters and the Mathews family to Knoxville, Iowa. He married Caroline Mathews in 1857, and they had one child, William A. Stone. The Mathews and Stone law practice proved successful, but Stone earned his Iowa reputation as the owner and editor of the Knoxville Journal. The newspaper represented the emerging Republican Party voice in Iowa, and Stone rose rapidly in Iowa politics. He was the first editor to call for a founding convention of the Republican Party in Iowa. He served as a delegate to that convention and was an elector for the party's first presidential candidate, John C. Frmont, in 1856. Stone was elected judge of the Eleventh Judicial District and served until 1861. He had just finished seating a jury for the latest case when he received a telegram informing him that Fort Sumter had been fired on. He immediately gave the order for the sheriff to adjourn the court and announced that he was going to raise a company of volunteers to help fill Iowa's share of the Union army. Stone's company was accepted as part of the Third Iowa Infantry, and Governor Samuel J. Kirkwood appointed him major of the regiment. Stone was second in command when the Third Iowa went into its first battle at Blue Mills, Missouri, in September 1861, where he was wounded. Stone commanded the regiment at the Battle of Shiloh in April 1862. The Third Iowa anchored the left of the famous Hornet's Nest at the Peach Orchard. When the line finally collapsed, Stone and about 30 of his men were captured. Months later, while in Confederate prison, Stone was selected to represent Union prisoners in negotiations on prisoner exchange held in Washington, D.C. He was released on a 40-day furlough. When the negotiations broke down, Stone held to the terms of his parole; he willingly left the capital, surrendered to Confederate authorities in Virginia, and was taken to Libby Prison in Richmond. When Confederate president Jefferson Davis was informed of Stone's honorable act, he ordered his release. Stone returned to Washington, the negotiations were reopened, successfully, and prisoner exchanges began in the fall. Stone's story as a prisoner/diplomat made him famous across Iowa. Governor Kirkwood rewarded him with command of the 22nd Iowa Infantry. Stone led his regiment into battle at Vicksburg, where he was again wounded. He returned to Iowa and at the Republican State Convention in August 1863 was nominated for governor. Stone defeated the Democratic candidate, James M. Tuttle, another war hero, and took office in January 1864. Not surprisingly, his first term as governor was dominated by war-related issues, especially the need to respond to federal military draft calls and the threat of guerrilla raids in southern Iowa. Stone was especially diligent in acting against suspected Iowa Copperheads. Stone was a delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1864 and gave the nominating speech for Andrew Johnson as vice president. Stone was in the nation's capital again in April 1865 when President Lincoln was assassinated, and he represented Iowa in the funeral train that took Lincoln's casket back to Springfield, Illinois, for burial. Stone was re-elected and served until 1868. Under his leadership, Iowa, by popular vote, became one of the first states outside New England to amend its constitution to give African American men the right to vote. In 1877 Stone was elected to the Iowa House. A year later he was chosen as a presidential elector. President Benjamin Harrison appointed him assistant commissioner of the U.S. Land Office, and he was later promoted to commissioner. Stone died in Oklahoma Territory at age 65 on July 18, 1893.

Publisher

State Library of Iowa and State Historical Society of Iowa

Date

1864; 1865; 1866; 1867; 1868;

Contributor

Biographical Dictionary of Iowa

Rights

This digital image may be used for educational purposes, as long as it is not altered in any way. No commercial reproduction or distribution of this file is permitted without written permission of the State Historical Society of Iowa. www.iowahistory.org/libraries/services-and-fees/copyright-notice.html

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Wed, 23 Jan 2013 09:38:46 +0000
<![CDATA[1868-1872, Samuel Merrill]]> http://www.iowaheritage.org/items/show/49793

Title

1868-1872, Samuel Merrill

Subject

Description

Samuel Merrill, Iowa's seventh governor, was born on August 7, 1822 in Turner, Maine. He was the son of a New England farmer, Abel Merrill, and his wife, Abigail. After receiving a limited education in the local country schools, he taught briefly in the slave state of Maryland before returning to New Hampshire to engage initially in farming and subsequently in merchandising with his older brother, Jeremiah. A committed Whig and churchgoing Protestant, he was a strong supporter of prohibition and an equally vigorous opponent of the expansion of slavery. He spent one term in the legislature at Concord in 1854-1855 before migrating west to the Mississippi River town of McGregor, Iowa. There he quickly established himself as a highly capable merchant and banker, prominent civic leader, and committed Republican. He was elected to the Iowa House of Representatives in 1859 and, after the outbreak of the Civil War, assisted Governor Samuel Kirkwood's efforts to lend Iowa's support to the Union cause in the face of serious economic constraints. At six feet tall, the bearded, square-jawed Yankee cut an imposing figure, and in 1862 he was elected colonel of the 21st Iowa Infantry. He led his men effectively in Grant's campaign to release the Confederates' grip on the Mississippi River, but on May 17, 1863, he was seriously wounded at the Battle of Black River Bridge on the road to Vicksburg. Although he later tried to return to soldiering, his wounds were too serious to allow for further campaigning, and he was mustered out of the army in 1864. Merrill's impressive record as a demonstrably civic-minded legislator and patriotic army officer gave him significant political capital in postwar Iowa. In 1867 the state's Republican Party nominated him for governor ahead of the outspoken radical Congressman Josiah B. Grinnell (who had not fought for the Union). Merrill easily won the general election on a platform that pledged support for congressional Reconstruction, local economic development, and the enfranchisement of Iowa's small population of African Americans. He proved to be a capable governor during his two terms in office (1868-1872). He labored hard to boost the state's material prosperity by fostering railroad construction and immigration, but also acknowledged the growth of antimonopoly concerns among farmer (particularly in the eastern counties) by publicly opposing discriminatory freight rates and passenger fares. Merrill's Whig roots made him a strong friend of the state's embryonic public institutions, notably the school system, which he bolstered personally by demanding the sale of school lands at proper market prices. However, he urged the adoption of modern business methods by those institutions to reduce the possibilities of corruption and to promote more efficient and economical delivery of services. In spite of his reputation as a pragmatic, moderate Republican, he was not averse to taking actions that reflected his Protestant upbringing. For example, he prohibited flogging in the state penitentiary and urged that a Sunday school should be located in the same building. Merrill, moreover, did not hesitate to use his war record to solidify the loyalty of Iowa's veterans to the ruling Republican Party. In the summer of 1868 he hosted a large gathering of bluecoats in Des Moines, many of them hard-bitten veterans of Sherman's western army deeply concerned that any resurgence of the Democratic Party would undermine the fruits of Northern victory. Merrill secured a majority of nearly 40, 000 votes when he stood for reelection in 1870, a crushing victory that was built in part on the votes cast by his former comrades in arms. After stepping down as governor at the beginning of 1872, Merrill returned to his business interests, serving as president of the Citizens National Bank of Des Moines and the Iowa Loan and Trust Company. Toward the end of his life, he moved to California. There he married for a third time (having survived his first and second wives) and engaged in large real estate and banking projects. In 1897 he was injured in a streetcar accident in Los Angeles and never recovered. He died August 31, 1899 at age 77 and was buried in Des Moines.

Publisher

State Library of Iowa and State Historical Society of Iowa

Date

1868; 1869; 1870; 1871; 1872;

Contributor

Iowa Biographical Dictionary

Rights

This digital image may be used for educational purposes, as long as it is not altered in any way. No commercial reproduction or distribution of this file is permitted without written permission of the State Historical Society of Iowa. www.iowahistory.org/libraries/services-and-fees/copyright-notice.html

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Wed, 23 Jan 2013 09:40:17 +0000