USA > Iowa > An illustrated history of the state of Iowa, being a complete civil, political, and military history of the state, from its first exploration down to 1875; > Part 79
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"Wc, whose names are hereto sub- scribed, recognizing the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of Man, associate ourselves for the purpose of encouraging liberal education by the establishment and maintenance at Springvale, Humboldt county, Iowa, of an institution for the education of youth in literature, science and en- lightened Christian morality, without regard to sex, race, or religious sect. The fundamental object of this asso- ciation is to establish and maintain an educational institution which shall be forever free from sectarian control, and no change shall ever be made in its character in this respect without the expressed consent of all its donors and the return to all contributors, their heirs, executors, or assigns, who shall request the same, of all funds by them contributed, together with legal interest on the same." Mr Taft was elected president of the college, and lias devoted himself to its interests with an energy that knows no decline, and a faith that forbids the thought of failure. In the genial work of build- ing up the town, and advancing the interests of society, he has been nobly seconded by his western friends and associates. Mr. Taft was an active abolitionist, and spoke and did much in the advocacy of freedom. He at- tended many abolition conventions, among others the Pittsburg conven- tion of '52, which put in nomination Hale and Julien. In this work he became acquainted with many promi- nent abolitionists, among them Gerrit Smith, John R. Giddings, Henry Wil- son, and others. Among his published discourses which have attracted con- siderable attention, are " A Discourse on the Character and Death of John
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Brown," delivered on the occasion of his execution in 1859, and "A Dis- course on the National Crisis," de- livered in August of 1861. In the Grant and Colfax campaign of 1868, he was the republican elector of the sixth district, and as this was the " banner district," at the meeting of the electors in Des Moines, upon be- ing presented with the banner for his district, he was called upon for a speech, which was afterwards printed in the State Register. Although pre- vious to entering upon his college work in 1869, he had been an active political worker, he has never sought or held any public office. Being still in the vigor of middle life, and de- scended from a long-lived ancestry, he has good reason to hope for yet many years of active career, in which to carry forward his chosen and bene- ficent life work.
Hon. B. F. Gue. The subject of this sketch, oldest son of John and Catherine Gue, was born in Greene county, N. Y., Dec. 25, 1828. In 1834, his father removed to Farmington, Ontario county, and settled down on a farm, about a mile from the Friends' meeting house, where the family lived until the autumn of 1851. When Benjamin was ten years old, his father died, leaving six children, all but one of whom were younger than Benja- min. With a family of small children to support, on a farm rented, and with no other resources, the mother, Catha- rine Gue, by the most untiring work and rigid economy, managed to pro- vide for the wants and give what was then considered a libera. education to her six children. In the fall of 1851, the farm was sold, and the family left the old homestead, separated, and went out into the world to provide each for himself and herself. Benja- min went with some members of the family back to their native county on the banks of the Hudson river, to visit relatives and find some opening for business. Nothing better turning up, Benjamin took a school and taught one term. Early in the spring of 1852, he determined to go west, and as Iowa was then beginning to attract some attention, he, with his brother next younger, packed up their carpet bags and started for lowa. There were then no lines of railroad
completed between the far west and the eastern cities, and they were near- ly three weeks making the trip from Albany, N. Y., to Davenport, Iowa, where they first stopped, on the 22d of March, 1852. After inquiring for cheap lands, and getting some infor- mation that led them to the northwest corner of Scott county, they purchased a quarter section near what is now called Big Rock. Paying out their last dollar for a team, wagon and plow, they had notbing remaining to pay for board until they could raise a crop, and no resource was left but to " keep bach," as it was termed. Fixing up an old log cabin that stood on their claim, they got a cook stove and lived in the cabin, cooking and doing their own housework, raising corn, wheat, sheep, cattle and hogs for several sea- sons. In a few years they had saved enough to enable them to buy more land, when they divided up the pro- ceeds of their years of toil, Benjamin taking the Scott county farm, and his brother moving on to the Cedar coun- ty land. In the autumn of 1855, Ben- jamin married Miss Elizabeth R. Parker, who was a young lady school teacher in that vicinity, and also a New Yorker. They began married life in the old log cabin containing but two rooms, and furnished chiefly with articles of their own manufac- ture. As the years went on, Benja- min, whose father and mother were " Quaker abolitionists," became deep- ly interested in the anti-slavery move- ment that was then beginning to as- sume considerable magnitude in the politics of the country. Identifying himself, from a boy, with the most radical of the " abolitionists," Benja- min took a deep interest in the organi- zation of the Republican party, and was chosen a delegate to the state con- vention that met at Iowa City on the 22d of Feb., 1866, which organized the Republican party of Iowa.
In the fall of 1857, he was nomin- ated and elected by the republicans of Scott county, one of the representa- tives for the lower house of the state legislature, and was one of the young- est members of the seventh general assembly. He was one of the authors of a bill to establish a state agricul- tural college, a measure which en- countered strong opposition, and it was reported back from the committeel
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of ways and means, recommending | zation, and in that capacity visited that " it do not pass." At a council and examined into the plan and work- ings of all the industrial colleges and and universities in the country, gath- ering the information upon which an elaborate report was made, proposing a plan, which was subsequently adopt- ed, for the organization of the Iowa agricultural college. He also recom- mended the selection of Hon. A. S. Welch, then a United States senator from Florida, for president of the col- lege, a choice that has proved most fortunate for the young institution. In 1871, he sold The Northwest, and moving to Des Moines, the capital of the state he assumed editorial control of the Iowa Homestead. He was after- wards chief editor of the Daily State Journal for several months, but having been appointed by President Grant, United States pension agent, he re- tired from newspaper work and has since given his entire time to the du- ties of that office. of the friends of the bill, Benjamin F. Gue was chosen to lead in the fight which had to be made against the ways and means committee. When the adverse report came up, the bill was warmly contested by J. F. Wilson and Judge Seevern against, and B. F. Gue and Ed. Wright for it. Upon calling the roll it received a majority of the votes, and in a few days after passed the senate, and became a law, under which one of the most success- ful agricultural colleges in the country has since been organized. In 1859, Mr. Gue was reelected to the house by an increased majority, and was made chairman of the committee on agricul- ture. In 1861, he was elected to the senate, serving in that body one extra and two regular sessions, during the ensuing four years. While a member of the senate, he, with Senator Clark- son and Gov. Kirkwood, devised and procured the adoption of the plan for disposing of the college land grant, Capt. E. Cummins. Moravia, Ap- panoose county, Iowa, was settled by a German colony of Moravians, from Salem, N. C., in the year 1850, eighty acres of land being purchased for a town site and parsonage. They have a beautiful church and parsonage in a prosperous condition. Among Mo- ravia's first settlers was Capt. E. Cum- mins, who was born in Spencer coun- ty, Ind., in the year 1832; he came to Iowa in 1848, and moved to Appa- noose county, with his father, Daniel Cummins, in July, 1849, and settled on the land he now occupies when he was 17 years old, and for a time was engaged in farming pursuits. Having no extra advantages of school, he only received a common school education, and in 1854, he engaged in the mer- cantile business, and followed it until the spring of 1863, when he raised a company for the 8th Iowa cavalry, and was commissioned captain of company F, in said regiment. He served in all the engagements from Dalton, Ga., to the close of the war, and was severely wounded near the Kinesaw mountain, in Georgia. At the close of the war he again engaged in the mercantile busi- ness, and is now one of the heaviest merchants of the county; in fact, in southern Iowa, having accumulated a small fortune and commenced business on less than $100. He can say more than which has since brought to that insti- tution the munificent annual income of $35,000. He was also largely in- strumental in procuring appropria- tions for the erection of the college buildings. At the close of his term in the senate, he moved to Fort Dodge, having purchased the newspaper es- tablishment of the Fort Dodge Repub- lican. Under his administration the paper was soon enlarged, and the name changed to The Northwest. It rapidly acquired a large circulation, and for many years was the leading advocate of republicanism, temper- ance and womens' suffrage in north- western Iowa. In 1864, its editor was appointed postmaster of Fort Dodge by President Lincoln, and in 1865, he was nominated for lieutenant governor by the republican state convention, and elected by about 22,000 majority. He presided over the senate during the session of 1866, and was chosen one of the trustees of the agricultural college by the general assembly at the same session. Upon the organization of the board of trustees of the college, he was elected president, and chair- man of the executive committee, which positions he held during the three years of erecting the college building. In 1857, he was made chairman of the committee on organi-
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most men at his age; he has never been a candidate for any office, or sought the nomination. He has held the office of post master for the past ten years, and is still post master, also local banker and broker.
Hon. Austin Adams was born in Andover, Windsor county, Vt., May 24, 1826. His boyhood was spent on a farm. At the age of seventeen he commenced fitting for college, and two years later he entered Dartmouth college a year in advance, where he graduated in 1848. He had some years before determined to enter the legal profession, but his pecuniary circum- stances were such he found it neces- sary to engage temporarily in teach- ing. He accepted the principalship of West Randolph (Vt.) academy, which position he occupied for four years, pursuing his legal studies dur- ing his vacations. His academy be. came prominent as a classical school, and was resorted to from all parts of the state by young men who were de- sirous of preparing for college. Upon leaving the business of teaching he entered the law school of Havard Uni- versity, where he remained one year. Before applying for admission to the bar, he spent six months in the law office of ex-Gov. Coolidge, of Wind- sor, Vt. He was admitted to the bar in his native county, in January, 1854, and on the day of his admission, formed a law partnership with ex-Gov. Coolidge. Windsor, Vt., is one of those quiet, elm covered villages of New England, which afford a delight- ful retreat from the turmoil of busi- ness, and was precisely not the place for a young man like Mr. Adams. This he soon saw. Accordingly he resolved to try his fortune in the west, and in the summer of 1854, he removed to Dubuque. There he opened an of- fice without friends or acquaintances, but after the first few months he found himself fully employed. He con- tinued in the uninterrupted practice of the law until he was elected judge of the supreme court of Iowa, in Oct., 1875, as successor to the Hon. William E. Miller. Mr. Adams never held a public office before, except that of regent of State University, which of- fice he still holds.
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Asa Horr, M. D., was born Sept. 2, !
| 1817, at Washington, Ohio, of parents of New England stock. The family name was originally spelled Hoar. His father was an early settler in the " Black River " country of New York, where he made a new farm, then with his family removed to Ohio, engaged in mercantile pursuits, lost his proper- ty by fire, and in 1827 removed to Jeffer- son county, N. Y., where he soon died, leaving a wife and nine children, with almost no means of support. For sev- eral years, Asa labored at farming with relatives for his board, clothing and the privilege of attending district school three to four months in the winter. Up to the age of ten, he had been kept almost constantly in school, which formed his taste for study and laid the foundation of his future education. Geography, grammar and arithmetic, had been already gone through with after the fashion of teaching in those days. He cannot remember having learned to read, though his memory of many events extends back to the time he was three years old. He always had a habit of reading instead of play- ing in leisure hours, and was fond of working by tasks, so as by activity to gain time to be devoted to study. For several years he pursued, with an old- er brother, the business of house- building in Canada West, and was en- trusted with the superintendence and building of houses, the best required in that region. At the age of twenty, he withdrew from the business with his brother and sought the counsel and assistance of a cousin - a physi- cian of wealth and eminence in Ohio - under whose guidance and assis- tance, he read medicine, attended two medical schools; graduating at both, the last at Cleveland, Ohio. After six year's practice in Ohio, under the au- spices of an old practitioner of medi- cine, he removed to Iowa in 1847, and has pursued his profession continu- ously in Dubuque up to the present time. His tastes have led him, some- what, to investigate the sciences col- lateral to medicine. Botany was pur- sued with some ardor and success, in his early life. He was one of the " first class observers " for the period of 21 years, for the Smithsonian Institution. He is president of the Iowa Institute of Science and Arts, at Dubuque. He is a member of the Iowa State Medical Society, and of several of the
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learned societies in this region; also of the American Medical Association. He was the chief instrument in ob- taining the city clock for Dubuque. He has a fine astronomical transit with which the true longitude of Du- buque was established ten years ago, and which furnishes the standard of time at this point, has always main- tained an honorable reputation as a man and a physician, and has ever been ready to take a step in advance, when sanctioned by the improvements of the age. Surgery, in its more im- portant relations, has for many years, occupied a large share of his atten- tion, patients often seeking his advice from a distance in this, and from ad- joining states.
Hon. Joseph Barris Young is a na- tive of Erie county, Penn. He was born Feb. 18, 1832. He is of English- German-Irish ancestry. John Young, of England, received a grant of land from the king to a large tract in Mas- sachusetts. He settled on this grant in the early days of colonial history, at or near Salem. From him sprang the progenitors of the subject of this sketch. His great grandfather, John Young, was quite a noted man in his day for his freedom of thought on re- ligious subjects. He was intellectual, and an author of considerable repute. The father, Rev. Alcinus Young, whose record is given on page 229 of the Life Boat, is a Methodist of long standing, and honored by all his brethren for his faithfulness as a shep- herd in the house of Israel. May his last days be as peaceful as his life has been fruitful of good works. J. B. Young resided with his parents until his majority, attending school, includ- ing a term each in Madison and Washington Colleges, and two and a half years in Asbury University, at Greencastle, Ind., where he graduated in 1851. At the age of fourteen years he came with his parents to Iowa, and after graduating, Mr. Young began the study of law under the direction of Judge Carleton, of Iowa City. In 1853, he was admitted to the bar, and began practice in Marion, Linn coun- ty, where he has since resided. Dur- ing his practice he has served as pros- ecuting attorney, and in 1861, was elected as representative in the state legislature. He served through the
session of 1862, and in 1863 was elect- ed to the state senate, and reelected in 1865 to fill his own vacancy, occa- sioned by his entering the army. During his term he spoke but seldom, aud then to some purpose. One of his most characteristic efforts was in support of the resolution requesting our senators and representatives in congress to use their efforts to secure the enactment of a law providing for universal emancipation, etc. On Fri- day evening, Feb. 14, 1862, the house of representatives resolved itself into committee of the whole on federal re- lations. The following are the re- marks of Mr. Young: " He affirmed that slavery was the cause of this war. the source of our national calamities, the fountain from which flow the bit- ter waters of rebellion; that for many years slavery had been the con- trolling spirit in this government- the supreme dictator of the whole commonwealth; that had laws bcen made at its bidding and construed ac- cording to its direction; that it had been the legal adviser of' many of our chief magistrates - the guide and ruler of congress - the idol of the na- tion ; that every important interest in the government had been subservient to its will; that the very altars of its sanctuary had been prostituted to its worship; that, though a bitter foe to free institutions, it had been the favor- ite guest at democratic banquets - the bosom friend and companion of the devil, it had sat by special invitation of false priests at the Lord's table. Slavery had exercised a controlling influence over national affairs, extort- ing the most humiliating concessions from the north, by fierce denuncia- tions and threats, awing thousands into silence, and by a magic peculiar- ly its own, paralyzing the efforts of its adversaries. So effectually was the whole nation at one time fascinated by the magnetism of its terrible eye, that the two great political parties vied with each other as to which should be most obsequious in its pres- ence, and which should do most to establish its dominion. Its power culminated in the thraldom of those parties, and its magic spell was bro- ken in the repeal of the Missouri Compromise. No institution or sys- tem that cannot live under the burn- ing light of truth should be tolerated
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in a free government. Slavery dreads exposure, shrinks from investigation, and cannot live under the acorching rays of outspoken truth. Our gov. ernment was founded on frec princi- ples, and the logical and inevitable conclusion to which every mind must come is, that slavery should not be protected by, or tolerated in it. We are told that we must be conservative. Conservatism is the watchword of every proslavery man. It has been the cause of defeat to our armies - the great obstacle in the way of the successful prosecution of the war. It disheartens the lovers of freedom, par- alyzes the efforts of the government, and, as sure as its counsels prevail, will bring utter ruin upon the coun- try. Truth is not conservative. With- in its own territory, it rules with an absolute sway. It yields no rights, makes no treaties, enters into no com- promises. It is essentially progress- ive, and, as the stream of time moves on, sails majestically through the channel, bcaring the great and good of all nations, while conservative in- tellects are floating on the eddies or lie rotting along the shore. The trumpet of freedom's great battle has been sounded, and the armies of mind are rallying around the standard of liberty. Slavery is doomed. The year of jubilee is coming when the stars and stripes will wave in triumph over the whole national dominion, and freedom shall he proclaimed to all the inhabitants thereof." In 1864, he was appointed paymaster in the army, and served to the close of the war. In 1868, he was one of the elect- ors at large on the republican ticket. In June, 1869, Mr. Young was ap- pointed pension agent for the north- eastern district of Iowa. He has nearly 3,000 pensioners on the roll. Their ranks are being thinned, and in a few more years the heroes who were so hrave where the shot and shell flew so thick and fast on their mission of death, will have passed away, and the silent pages of history will be all that is left to repeat the story of heroic bravery. Mr. Young was married in 1855, to Miss Jane M. Carter, a native of Massachusetts, and daughter of H. A. Carter, of Hopkinton, Iowa. They have a family of five children - three in the earth-life and two in the land of the hereafter.
Joseph R. Standley, M. D. Dr. Joseph R. Standley was born in Hend- ricks county, Indlana, December 22, 1831. He attended school in his boy- hood in the old log school house, in the neighborhood where he was born. The country was at this time in its infancy as regards wealth, and the de- velopment of its resources. There were no railroads in those days, and but little else than "beech roots and poor people." Young Standley spent his early years, when not in school, working on the farm with his father. He used to go, when from 8 to 10 years of age, a long distance to mill, on horseback, with his sack of corn. Wheat was a scarce article among the early pioneers, and wheat bread was seldora used in his father's house. The subject of our sketch removed with his father to Pike county, Ill., in 1845, and five years later to Davis county, Iowa. He commenced the atudy of medicine at the early age of 16, and at the same time engaged in school teaching to provide the neces- sary funds to bear expenses. As a teacher, Mr. S. acquired a fine reputa- tion, both in this state and in Illinois, where he first engaged in the work. Dr. Standley graduated from the Med. ical university of Iowa, at Keokuk, in February, 1855, with the highest hon- ors, and a special compliment by J. C. Hughes, dean of the faculty. In the spring of 1855, he settled in Jefferson township, in Taylor county, Iowa, where he has ever since resided. Here he commenced the practice of medi- cine, and at the same time opening up a farm. In about two years business 80 accumulated in connection with his farming operations, that he quit med- icine, and turned his attention wholly to stock raising and farming, until 1866, when he added the mercantile branch to his other business. Mr. S. has been a large stock shipper, not un- frequently loading a whole train in his shipments ; also he has been large- ly engaged in the real estate business. It is said that he has built more houses, broken more prairie and fenced the same, than any other one man in his county. He has over 1,000 acres at the present time in cultivation; owns real estate to the value of $60,000, and personal property to nearly the same amount. Among the items of his per- sonal property are three fine stores,
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175 head of cattle, 25 mules. Accord- ing to the last census he was the wealthiest man in his county. Mr. Standley is generous, obliging and charitable; is a member of the I. O. O. F., also of the I. O. G. T., and mas- ter of a grange. He married Miss Rachael Hornback, in Pittsfield, III., July 4, 1854. From this union they have been blessed with two children, a girl and a boy. On his estate of a thousand acres, adjoining the village of Platteville, with good and tasty buildings, fine orchard, etc., Mr. Stand- ley, with his family, lives in the en. joyment of a paradise home,-and is justly regarded as one of the reliable and substantial men of his section.
H. E. J. Boardman. This leading lawyer, of Marshalltown, was born in Danville, Vt., June 21, 1828. He is a son of Rev. E. J. Boardman, a Con- gregational minister well known in Vermont. H. E. J. received a thor- ough education in Dartmouth College, N. H., graduating in 1850. He subse- quently spent several years in the southern states, principally as profes- sor of languages in East Tennessee University. He was admitted to the practice of law in Tennessee, but shortly after removed to Iowa in 1856. Mr. Boardman is well known through- out the state as devoted to the science of law. He has stood much aloof from politics, though often nominated for judge of the district in which he resides, and solicited to become can- didate for the office of supreme judge, declining, however, to accept any nomination. For a long time he has been one of the trustees of Iowa College at Grinnell; is one of the di- rectors of the Central Railroad of Iowa; also president of the Farmers' National Bank, director of the City Bank at Marshalltown, president of the Marshalltown Hotel Company, the Harden and Mahaska Coal Company, and the Coal and Lumber Narrow Guage Railroad. His success in pri- vate and public undertakings, and his final recoveries in litigated cases, in- volving abstract legal principles, are marvellous. This is due to extraordi- nary powers of generalization and analysis, a subtle perception of what human nature will do under certain circumstances, and an industry that never tires. He is solicitous that his | in 1846, discharged the duties of this
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