USA > Iowa > The United States biographical dictionary and portrait gallery of eminent and self made men, Iowa volume > Part 103
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COLONEL ABEL B. SMEDLEY.
CRESCO.
BEL BROWN SMEDLEY, three years master A of the state grange, and for the last two years lecturer for the national grange, is a native of Jeffer- son county, New York, and was born on the 2d of September, 1825. His father, Joseph Smedley, was a Methodist minister. The maiden name of his mother was Mary Jones. The Smedley family were from England, settling at first in New England, spreading into New York, and thence into the west- ern states.
The subject of this brief memoir spent his youth in agricultural pursuits, receiving an academic edu- cation at Williamstown, Massachusetts. He was subsequently educated for a master machinist at Fulton, Oswego county, New York; removed to Wisconsin in 1849, and was an iron manufacturer in Oshkosh until after the civil war commenced.
In 1862 Mr. Smedley went into the military ser- vice as major of the 32d Wisconsin Infantry ; was promoted to lieutenant-colonel in June, 1863; re- turned to Wisconsin in 1864 on account of sickness ; at the end of three months returned to the service as lieutenant-colonel of the 46th Wisconsin, and was mustered ont in October, 1865.
In 1868 Colonel Smedley located in the new town of Cresco, which has since been his home. Since coming to Iowa he has devoted himself to agricult- ural and horticultural pursuits, he being one of the most scientific workers in these branches of industry in the State of Iowa. He has a farm of four hun- dred acres in Fillmore county, Minnesota, half a mile from the Iowa line, on which farm he raises large quantities of fruit, some grain and blooded stock, and has one of the finest creameries in this part of the country.
His homestead in the village of Cresco, contain- ing five acres, is one of the loveliest rural homes in the state. Here Colonel Smedley has more than twenty varieties of grapes, thirty or forty varieties of apples, and all kinds of small fruits which will grow in Iowa, the whole surrounded by a red-fruited bar-
berry hedge. On New Year's night, 1878, his beau- tiful residence was reduced to ashes, and with it went seven hundred or eight hundred volumes of books, sixty choice paintings, all framed and hung, and many precions mementos of friendship and love, which no amount of money can ever replace.
Colonel Smedley was one of the first men in Iowa to start in the grange movement, and in this great "ground-swell " soon became one of the foremost men of the nation. He organized the local lodge, and was its master in 1872, acting at the same time as overseer of the state grange, organizing hundreds of lodges; was master of the state grange from 1873 to 1876, and for two years has been lecturer for the national grange. He has visited and lectured many times in all the states of the Union, except those on the Pacific slope, and probably understands the principles and workings of the order better than any other man in the United States.
He is the author of two or three works, among them " The Patron's Monitor " and a " Manual of Jurisprudence and Cooperation." He also wrote between one and two hundred pages of "The Foot- prints of Time." Probably no man in the country is the author of more grange literature. He has also written a great deal on agriculture and horticulture for various newspapers and periodicals, and on these topics his pen was never perhaps more busy than at the present time. He is very high authority on fruit-growing, butter-making, stock-raising, and kin- dred branches of rural industry.
On the 10th of September, 1867, he was joined in wedlock with Mrs. Jennie Sherman, an artist of Mil- waukee, and they have one child, a son eight years old.
Mrs. Smedley was born on the 20th of May, 1826, in Madison county, New York, and is the daughter of Nathaniel Tompkins, who removed to Milwaukee in 1849, and from that time until his death in 1868 was largely identified with the business interests of that city. Mrs, Sarah J. Tompkins was educated at
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Delancy Institute, near Clinton, New York. Mrs. | studio in Milwaukee will long be remembered for its Smedley was first married to Henry Sherman, of Bridgeport, Connecticut, in 1853, with whom she lived three years, during which time was born to her a daughter, now twenty-two years of age. Miss Bertie Sherman attended the Iowa Agricultural Col- lege for three and a half years, and then entered the senior class at the Milwaukee Female College, and graduated on the 2 1st of June, 1876. Miss Sherman is a young lady of rare attainments.
Mrs. Smedley, as an artist, may be said to have been born such. Some of the rarest pictures in oil in the state are from her brush. From 1862 to 1868 she devoted herself entirely to her profession. Her i mother in the highest sense of these holy attributes.
rare collection of works of art and the resort of art lovers. Since her marriage to Colonel Smedley she has been, in its broadest sense, a helpmeet to her husband. She is an enthusiast in horticulture, flori- culture and agriculture, and their beautiful home bears ample evidence of her industry and cultivated taste. Her ability and fitness for public life have taken nothing from her charms as a wife and mother. Mrs. Smedley is a living exemplification of the fact that a woman who has the ability and devotes a por- tion of her talents and life to the elevation of her sex and humanity, can at the same time be a wife and
GENERAL FRANCIS M. DRAKE,
CENTERVILLE.
F RANCIS MARION DRAKE, son of John A. and Harriet O'Neal Drake, was born in Rush- ville, Schuyler county, Illinois, on the 30th of De- cember, 1830. When he was six years old the fam- ily moved to Fort Madison, Iowa, where Francis M. received such education as the schools of the place afforded. In 1846 John A. Drake removed to Davis county and founded the town of Drakeville, now on the southwestern branch of the Chicago, Rock Isl- and and Pacific railroad, the father and two sons, John H. and Francis M., engaging in the mercantile trade there.
In 1859 the subject of this sketch removed to Unionville, Appanoose county, twelve miles west of Drakeville, there selling goods and dealing in stock until the civil war commenced.
In the spring of 1861 Mr. Drake raised a company at Unionville, intending to join the 2d Iowa Infant- ry, but was too late. In the meantime the governor furnished the company with arms, and Captain Drake drilled it during the summer.
In September, 1861, southern Iowa was invaded by the rebel general Patten; Governor Kirkwood called out troops, and Captain Drake with his com- pany joined Colonel Edwards' independent regiment of lowa volunteers and marched into Missouri. At Allenville Captain Drake was made major ; he took command of sixteen companies, and pushed on to attack General Patten, who was retreating to join General Price, Major Drake following him as far as Saint Joseph. There he met General Prentiss, who
assigned him to the command at Saint Joseph, with Iowa, Kansas and Ohio troops. He was in com- mand there when Colonel Mulligan surrendered at Lexington.
In September, 1862, Major Drake was commis- sioned lieutenant-colonel of the 36th Iowa Infantry, and served in that capacity until February, 1865, when he was breveted brigadier-general for merito- rious services, and continued in the field until mus- tered out, in September, 1865. While serving as brigadier-general he showed on many occasions a good deal of boldness and dash, as well as military skill.
He was in many expeditions, among them, the Camden, under General Steele, to reinforce General Banks, on the Red river, and on the 4th of April, 1864, there was a great contest to see who should get possession of and hold the ford on the Little Mis- souri river, in Arkansas. Colonel Drake finally got possession of the ford, and with five hundred men fought General Marmaduke, with his whole division, for half a day, capturing Lieutenant Fackler, an aid- de-camp on Marmaduke's staff. Colonel Drake was shot through the clothes three times during that day. but received no wound.
On the 25th of the same month, by special as- signment, Colonel Drake had command of the 2d brigade of General Solomon's division, and with one thousand men that day, in the battle of Marks' Mills, fought General Fagan, who commanded all the cav- alry forces under Dick Taylor, eight thousand strong,
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according to the official report of the confederates. In that engagement Colonel Drake's horse was shot five times, and he himself was severely, and reported mortally, wounded. He fell and was captured, but, owing to his condition, was paroled immediately.
After being breveted brigadier-general he relieved General Thayer at Saint Charles, on the White river, Arkansas, and subsequently commanded a brigade in General Shaler's division until the close of the war. His military record is such as the state may be proud of.
While General Drake was in the service his family resided at Centerville, Appanoose county, which has been his home for the last fifteen years.
Before going into the army he had read law ; up- on his return he resumed its study, and was admitted to the bar in 1867. For three years he was associ- ated in practice with Judge Amos Harris, the firm name being Harris and Drake. The latter was out of practice three or four years, from the ist of Janu- ary, 1871, his business being railroad building. He organized a company, and constructed a road from Keokuk to Centerville, a distance of ninety miles, the road being known as the Missouri, Iowa and
Nebraska railroad. The cars entered Centerville on the 27th of December, 1872. General Drake was made president of the company at its organization, and still holds that office. He is a man of great energy of character and executive ability.
In May, 1875, he resumed the practice of law, as- sociating with him General A. J. Baker, formerly at- torney-general of Missouri.
As a citizen of Centerville, General Drake has few peers in enterprise. His whole interest is in the town, and he labors indefatigably to build it up. He has been president of the school board almost con- stantly for nine or ten years. He is a member of the Christian church, and was a delegate to the national convention of that body in 1877. He is very liberal in benevolent enterprises.
Politically, General Drake is a republican, and was a delegate to the national convention in 1872.
He is a Knight Templar in the Masonic order, and past chief patriarch in Odd-Fellowship.
On the 24th of December, 1855, he was united in marriage with Miss Mary J. Lord, of Bloomfield, Iowa, and they have had seven children, all yet liv- ing except one child.
HON. JAMES G. DAY,
SIDNEY.
J
AMES GAMBLE DAY, late chief justice, and
still on the supreme bench, is a son of George Day, a farmer, and Sarah Gamble, and was born in Jefferson county, Ohio, on the 28th of June, 1832. His grandfather, George Day, senior, was from Eng- land, and settled in Maryland. The Gambles are of Irish descent. John A. Gamble, who died in Jersey Shore, Lycoming county, Pennsylvania, in February, 1878, and who was once a member of the Pennsylvania legislature, a canal commissioner, a leading politician and banker, was an uncle of Judge Day. James Gamble, another uncle, was a member of congress thirty years ago, and is now a judge of the court of common pleas in that county. Matthew A. Gamble, a third uncle, is a wealthy banker and leading man at Jersey Shore.
The subject of this sketch was on his father's farm until eighteen years of age; then attended Rich- mond College, in his native county, nearly three years, devoting especial attention to mathematics and the languages ; taught about the same space of
time in district and graded schools; read law in pri- vate, and entered the law school at Cincinnati in 1856, graduating in the spring of the following year. On receiving his diploma he came directly to Iowa, locating at Afton, Union county, where he remained three years, serving as prosecuting attorney the first year.
In 1860 he came to Sidney, his present home, and formed a partnership in the legal profession with L. Lingenfelter, Esq.
In the autumn of 1861 Mr. Day entered the mili- tary service as first lieutenant company F, 15th Iowa Infantry ; was soon promoted to captain of company I, and on being wounded in the battle of Shiloh, on the 6th of April, 1862, was compelled to resign. Before leaving the army he was nominated for judge of the third judicial district; went on the bench on the Ist of January, 1863; was reelected four years later, and served in that position until August, 1870, when he was appointed to the supreme bench by Governor Merrill, to fill a vacancy caused by the
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resignation of Judge George G. Wright, who had been elected United States senator. Two months before this appointment the republican state con- vention had nominated Judge Day for the same po- sition, and the people sanctioned the wise choice of the governor. In 1871, and again in 1877, he was reelected, and is still on the bench. During the first year, in accordance with the Iowa statutes, he was chief justice of the supreme court, and again in 1877.
Persons best acquainted with Judge Day regard him as a superior court and chancery lawyer, always having excellent briefs, and presenting his points systematically and logically. As a judge, while on the district bench, says an old associate, "he was pleasant and affable, always maintaining the utmost decorum, and was very highly respected by the bar, the officers of the court, and the jurors. He never allowed himself to become irritated, and presided with marked dignity." All the best traits of the true jurist he exhibits on the supreme bench.
Judge Day has always been a republican, but not a very active politician.
Religiously, his connection is with the ' Presbyte- rian church, of which he is an elder.
In moral and religious character, as well as legal
attainments and judicial standing, he is an ornament to the state.
On the Ist of December, 1857, he was united in marriage with Miss Minerva C. Manly, of Steuben- ville, Ohio, and they have seven children. Two of the older ones are at Tabor College, Fremont coun- ty, twelve miles north of Sidney; others are pursu- ing their studies at home. Mrs. Day, before her marriage, was a teacher, and noted for her efficiency and success. She is an active worker in the temper- ance cause, and in various benevolent enterprises ; very domestic in her habits, and heartily devoted to the interests of her own family.
Judge Day has a dark complexion, dark hazel eyes and black hair, slightly sprinkled with gray ; a bilious- nervous temperament, and a dignified yet easy ad- dress ; is five feet and eleven and a half inches tall, and weighs two hundred and ten pounds.
His father, who died in 1850, was a prominent whig politician, at one time a member of the Ohio legislature, and during thirty years an elder in the Presbyterian church. The mother of the judge, who died about 1868, was a woman of remarkable force of character, and noted for her many and marked christian graces.
HON. HENRY H. TRIMBLE,
BLOOMFIELD.
H ENRY HOFFMAN TRIMBLE is of remote German descent, his parents, John Trimble and Elizabeth Hoffman, having Teutonic blood in their veins. The Trimbles were early settlers in Rockingham county, Virginia, the grandfather of Henry H. being a soldier in the days "which tried men's souls." The Hoffmans were pioneers in Penn- sylvania, and connected by marriage with the Scotts of that state, who were old Indian fighters, some of them being with General Braddock when he suffered his ignominious defeat.
During the boyhood of Henry H., his father, who was a carpenter in early life, and afterward a farmer and merchant, lived in succession in Rush, Decatur and Shelby counties, Indiana ; his son farming until sixteen years of age.
He received his literary education in the prepar- atory department of Franklin College, and in the State University at Bloomington and Asbury Uni- versity at Greencastle, all in his native state, grad-
uating from the last named institution on the 21st of July, 1847. He taught more or less while pursuing his studies, and did other kinds of work, defraying his entire expenses.
From college Mr. Trimble went directly into the Mexican war, serving one year in the 5th Indiana Volunteers, James H. Lane, colonel.
On his return from the war, Mr. Trimble read law, at first with Eden H. Davis, of Shelbyville, Indiana, and afterward with the Hon. Thomas A. Hendricks, teaching during this period the Shelbyville Academy for one year.
His father removed to Iowa in 1848, and he fol- lowed the next year, continued his law studies, and was admitted to the practice by Hon. J. F. Kinney, of the supreme bench at Keosauqua, on the 29th of April, 1850, taking in a very few years a high posi- tion at the bar.
He was county attorney from 1851 to 1855, and state senator from 1855 to 1859, being at the last
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session held at Iowa city and the first held in Des Moines, and on the judiciary committee during his entire term.
In July, 1861, Mr. Trimble entered the service as lieutenant-colonel of the 3d Iowa Cavalry ; served in that position until the 9th of September, 1862, when he was discharged on account of a wound he received in the face at the battle of Pea Ridge, Ar- kansas, on the 7th of March, 1862. The ball en- tered his right cheek, passed through his face, and came out at the bottom of his right ear. It was years before this wound healed, externally ; it still discharges slightly, and he suffers from it more or less at all times.
At the October election in 1862 Colonel Trimble was elected district judge of the second district and served four years. His mind is of the analytical type, and he has the ability to analyze thoroughly a question suggested to him. He excels as a trial law- yer, and has great influence with the courts. He has, by study and experience, made himself thoroughly familiar with the general principles of law. As ques- tions arise in the trial of a cause, by a little analyz- ing he assigns them to their proper places. His tenacity is wonderful, and he never gives up until the very last. Regardless of the amount involved, he brings to bear all his professional talent to gain his case. One who has practiced with him. and before him, and who has been intimate with him for years, says that he is probably as successful a criminal law- yer as there is in the state. His practice in the fed- eral as well as in other courts has been very exten- sive. He displays masterly skill in the examination of witnesses, and has few peers in any department of legal practice.
One of his strong points as a lawyer is in cases where the question of insanity is involved. He has made this subject a study for years; has, so to speak, fathomed its lowest depths as a science. Whenever he has a cause in which this question arises, and he has occasion to defend a person on the plea of in- sanity, he astonishes everybody with his wonderful grasp of the subject and the amount of research and learning which he exhibits.
In 1866 a corporation was organized by the cit- izens of southern Iowa called the Saint Louis and Cedar Rapids Railway Company, the purpose of which was to extend the North Missouri railway, then being constructed, into Iowa. Judge Trimble was chosen one of the directors, and remained such till September, 1868, when the directors, becoming
dissatisfied with the then president, procured his resignation, and the judge was chosen to take his place. He immediately entered on the duties of his new office; in four weeks had the railroad bonds negotiated and iron bought. In six weeks track- laying commenced and continued until the track reached the flourishing city of Ottumwa. This is the only direct line of road from the great city of Saint Louis into Iowa, and is one of the most valu- able lines in the state. The judge remained presi- dent of that company until the sale of the road in 1875. He also assisted in building the Burlington and Southwestern railway, and has always taken an active interest in all public enterprises.
Judge Trimble has always affiliated with the dem- ocratic party, and has been a prominent member of it for more than thirty years, having, in fact, a na- tional as well as state reputation as a politician. Be- fore the capital was removed from Iowa city, and when, under the old constitution, the judges were chosen by the legislature, he received the democratic support for member of the supreme bench, coming within two or three votes of being elected, the re- publican majority then being very small. He ran for the same office before the people in 1863. He was a candidate for congress in the first district in 1858, running against General Curtis, and coming within five hundred votes of an election, reducing the usual republican majority more than twelve hun- dred votes. He ran a second time for the same office in 1872 against Hon. William Loughridge, then a candidate for reelection, running more than five thousand votes ahead of Horace Greeley, the demo- cratic nominee for President. He was a delegate at large in the democratic national convention which met at Saint Louis in 1876, and cast his vote for Governor Hendricks while there seemed to be any hope for that gentleman's nomination. He was a member of the committee on resolutions in that con- vention.
No democrat in the state is more popular with his party than Judge Trimble. In all respects his stand- ing is exalted. He is president of the State Bar Association, and in a double sense is at the head of the Iowa bar.
He is a member of the commandery in the Ma- sonic order.
The judge is a believer in the cardinal doctrines of Christianity, but is not connected with any re- ligious denomination.
His wife was Miss Emma M. Carruthers, a native
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of Wheeling, West Virginia; married at Shelbyville, Indiana, on the 5th of April, 1849. She is the mother of five children, all yet living, and retains to a wonderful degree the freshness and bloom as well as vivacity of girlhood. A stranger would take her for a lady under thirty years of age.
The eldest son, Palmer Trimble, is married and an attorney-at-law in the firm of Trimble, Carruthers and Trimble, the middle member being Samuel S. Carruthers, a brother-in-law of the judge, and his law partner since 1867. The second son of Judge Trimble, Frank K., is studying with this firm.
WILLIAM ISEMINGER, M.D.,
DENISON.
T' HE longest resident of Denison in the medical fraternity, and one of the leading practitioners in Crawford county, is William Iseminger, a native of La Porte county, Indiana. He is the son of a farmer, Jacob Iseminger, of German descent, and was born on the roth of July, 1836. His mother was Elizabeth Graybeal, who is of Irish pedigree. William lived on the farm in La Porte county until twenty years of age, sharing in the ordinary educa- tional privileges of farmers' sons. Quite unsatisfied with his literary attainments, in 1856 he went to Greencastle, Indiana, and spent six years in fitting for and going through Asbury University.
On graduating, Mr. Iseminger came to Iowa, in December, 1862, and taught two seasons in Polk and Jasper counties. He read medicine with Dr. D. V. Cole, of Des Moines ; attended two courses of lec- tures at Ann Arbor, Michigan. After spending three years in Vandalia, Jasper county, alternating be- tween teaching and practicing, in May, 1868, he set- tled in Denison, where he has built up an extensive
business, his rides sometimes embracing a circle of twenty and even thirty miles. In difficult cases of surgery his rides for consultation are still more ex- tensive. His practice is general, as it must neces- sarily be in a country so sparsely settled as Craw- ford and the adjoining counties. He is a careful reader of medical books and periodicals, he know- ing very well that in no other way can one keep pace with the progress of medical science.
Dr. Iseminger is United States examining surgeon for pensions; has been the county coroner for six or seven years; is on the school board, and has held other local offices. He is a practical business man and a very useful citizen. He is a republican.
He was formerly a member of the Christian or Disciple church, but there is no such an organiza- tion in Denison. In moral and religious character his standing is exalted.
His wife was Miss Nancy J. Cavett, of Vandalia, Iowa; married on the roth of September, 1868. They have one child living, and have lost one.
HON. HUGH W. MAXWELL, DES MOINES.
H UGH WRIGHT MAXWELL, late judge of the fifth judicial district, was the son of Will- iam Maxwell, a farmer, and Charity Wright, and was born in Vermilion county, Illinois, on the 14th of February, 1827. His paternal grandfather, Hugh Maxwell, came from Ireland and settled in North Carolina. The Wrights were English. Hugh W. farmed with his father in his native county until of age, finishing his education at the Georgetown Sem- inary, near Danville, and graduating in the summer of 1852. The next October he crossed the Missis- sippi river into Iowa, located at Indianola, Warren
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