Born in Lingonier Valley, Pennsylvania on July 5, 1812, James Clarke grew up with youthful optimism and idealism. He became a printer in a newspaper office in Harrisburg and in 1836 moved west to work as an editor at the Missouri Republican…
Theodore Sutton Parvin was born in Cumberland County, New Jersey, Jan. 15, 1817. He graduated from Woodworth College, Ohio in 1833, and from the Cincinnati Law School in 1837. Between these dates, he made for himself a reputation in Ohio as a…
Charles Weston was born in Washington County, New York in May of 1811. His father was Judge Roswell Weston, of the Court of Common Pleas. Charles graduated from Renssalaer Institute and practiced law with his father. He then came west, arriving in…
Samuel Morgan Reno was born in Mercer County Pennsylvania on July 19, 1816, the son of Charles Reno and Frances Laughlin. Morgan moved to Iowa in 1839 and married Margaret A. Hammer on Feb. 23, 1843. They had two children: Charles M. and Flora. …
Lemuel B. Patterson was the first State Librarian when Iowa became a state. He was born in Rushville, Indiana, Sept. 12, 1824. He came to Iowa City in the spring of 1841, and was admitted to the State bar in 1846. It is reported that while holding…
Israel Kister was born in York County, Pennsylvania on Feb. 4,1810. His parents moved to Wooster County, Ohio when he was fifteen and that is where Israel received his education. Kister moved to Van Buren County, Iowa in 1839 with his wife Susan,…
Martin Luther Morris was born in Fayette County, Pennsylvania on Jan. 20, 1816. He married Sarah Jane Wood in Uniontown, Pennsylvania on Jan 22, 1838. They had nine children: William W., Priscilla L., Martha A., William C., Emma D., Martin L., Ella…
John Pattee was born in Canada on July 23, 1820. His father was a Methodist missionary and preached in Canada. He came to Iowa around 1850 and was a carpenter in Bremer County. John married Lidia Lanning on Aug. 23, 1855. That same year he was…
John P. Coulter was born about 1803 in Pennsylvania. He became a physician, moved to Wooster, Ohio and married Elizabeth. John and Elizabeth had four children in Ohio: Lewis, Edward, Elnora, and Flora. The family moved to Cedar Rapids, Linn County,…
Lewis I. Coulter was born in Ohio in 1836, the son of John P. Coulter and Elizabeth. He married Kate K. Thurston in Des Moines, Iowa on April 26, 1860 and had two children, a son, Edward and daughter, Jessie F. in Des Moines. Lewis Coulter was a…
