USA > Iowa > The United States biographical dictionary and portrait gallery of eminent and self made men, Iowa volume > Part 43
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Soon after the outbreak of the late war Camp Denison was established some twelve miles from his residence. Squadrons of troops had been sent there in advance of surgeons or regimental organizations. Disease broke out in the camp. The doctor volun- teered his services, and for weeks, without fee or reward other than the prayers and thanks of sick men, and the sweet pleasure derived from benevo- lence, he doctored, nursed and attended the sick night and day, until he was himself smitten down with a contagious disease under which he lingered for months, and in the summer of 1861 was obliged to make a trip to the eastern seaboard and spend the season in recruiting his own health. But his
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constitution had received a shock past perfect res- toration.
In the summer of 1862 Dr. Witham was one of the volunteer surgeons, without pay, on the hos- pital boat Glendale, which was sent out by the State of Ohio to bring home such of the sick and disabled soldiers of the state as could be reached by water. The vessel, after visiting various cities along the Mississippi and its tributaries, ascended the Ten- nessee as far as Pittsburgh Landing, and brought away from the battlefield at that point some three hundred wounded men, who were tenderly cared for, the doctor serving with great zeal and success in the surgical ward of the boat.
In October, 1862, he volunteered his services to the war department, and was immediately employed as acting assistant surgeon in the United States army, and ordered by General Grant to report at Jackson, Tennessee. From this he was ordered by special telegram to repair to Lebanon, Kentucky, where he was placed on duty at " Hospital No. 2," which had been filled with mangled human beings from the battle of Perryville, Kentucky, and was without a surgeon. Here he found ample employment not only for his professional powers, but also for his executive abilities. He organized the institution, and worked with such zeal for seven months as gained for him the highest commendation of the medical director of the post. Here he saved the life of many a poor soldier-boy who but for his skill and indomitable energy would inevitably have died. Having brought the hospital out of chaos and placed it under excellent discipline, in the spring of 1863 he was ordered to Louisville, Kentucky, where he remained two years (acting as executive officer when not in charge of hospitals). Here there were no less than twenty-one general hospitals. The doctor was first placed in charge of " No. 9," but was soon after transferred to the "Clay General Hospital," with five branches, located in as many college and public- school buildings of the city, one of which was an officers' hospital, elegantly fitted up in one of the mansions on Broadway, taken for the purpose. He was instructed to make branch "C" of this institu- tion the model hospital, and to say that he carried out these instructions to the letter would not do him full justice. All his talents were placed under contribution, executive, mechanical and surgical, and every department went like clockwork. More thorough discipline had not been previously seen in any hospital. The wards had the air and comfort of
a palace. He had the esteem and unqualified con- fidence of all his subordinates. During a whole year of this period he was not out of sight of this institu- tion. Such arduous and incessant labor would have broken down a man of iron, much more one of flesh and bone. At last the doctor was obliged to suc- cumb, and in the spring of 1865 requested a leave of absence, which was granted. Meantime the sur- render of Lee brought the war to a close. The doctor closed his contract with the government, and resumed his practice at Mainville.
We have space for but a single one of the many flattering testimonials and souvenirs of which he was the recipient during and after his connection with the last-named hospital. It speaks for itself :
LOUISVILLE, KY., Sept. 22, 1864.
DOCTOR WITHAM,-The attendants and patients of branch "C," Clay General Hospital, in admiration of the unswerving fidelity and patriotism shown in the execution of the duties assigned you by the government, in apprecia- tion of the marked ability and sound judgment which has crowned your professional labors with noted success, and especially for the constant care, kindness and benevolence you have exhibited toward us, herewith present you, as an expression of our unqualified esteem and devotion, the case of surgical instruments on which your respected name is inscribed. Your sincere friends,
DANIEL WEBSTER, WILLIAM CHAPLIN,
and one hundred others.
Besides his incessant labors as surgeon, he was also called upon to serve on boards of examination for discharging and furloughing soldiers, and to dis- charge other functions connected with the service which occupied much time.
After his return from the army he remained two years in his old home at Mainville, where his practice soon became burdensome, his health being still delicate. In order to gain some needed relax- ation and change of air, and with a view to retiring from the practice, he removed to Wilton, Iowa, in the autumn of 1867. The intermission, however, was but short.
He soon took a leading position in Wilton, not only as a physician but as a citizen.
He has always been a staunch advocate of free schools and popular education, and was in 1870 elected a member of the school board of Wilton, upon which he served with zeal and effect for seven years. In 1875 he was one of the leading advocates of the erection of the high school building of the town, which was made an issue before the electors, and was hotly contested at the polls, the measure being strenuously opposed by the only class of the community who could possibly derive benefit from
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it,- those who had large families of children to ed- ucate, and yet were not liable to taxation for school purposes,- while it was favored and carried by men who, like Dr. Witham, had no children to educate, and yet were liable for the full burden of taxation. Here we have the anomaly of one class of men voting taxes on themselves for the education of their neighbors' children, while with a bitter and unani- mous emphasis the other class vote against receiving the bounty, in favor of ignorance and against educa- tion. After the measure had been carried by a small majority at the polls, Dr. Witham took the corporation bonds, and advanced the money -thir- teen thousand dollars- to build the school-house ; the securities were soon after, however, taken off his hands by an eastern capitalist. He was one of the original incorporators of the Farmers and Citizens' Bank of Wilton in 1874, and has since remained a director.
The doctor was brought up under Baptist in- fluence, but was too large-hearted and liberal to remain a member of a denomination which would exclude from the Lord's table a brother believer simply because he had been baptized by another form, and consequently has been for some years a member of the Congregational church, of which he is one of the trustees, and one of the largest contrib- utors. His private charities are also munificent.
He was an abolitionist at the age of ten years, and has fought it out on that line ever since.
In 1872 Dr. Witham formed a partnership with Dr. A. A. Cooling, a graduate of Miami Medical College, Cincinnati, a most excellent and highly- esteemed physician, which partnership still exists. The doctor had about three years' experience in the army hospitals of Nashville during the war.
In the same year incessant professional labor had so impaired the health of Dr. Witham as to render a season of rest and recreation imperative. Accord- ingly he spent the summer of that year in a tour through Mexico, United States of Columbia, -by way of the Isthmus of Panama - California and the Rocky Mountains. Passed through the old gold mines, the groves of mammoth trees in Calaveras county, and the picturesque and indescribable Yo- semite Valley. With the matchless beauty of the last-mentioned region he was charmed and spell- bound. After his return home he put the results of his observations and impressions into a series of five lectures, which in the winter of 1874-5 he delivered in behalf of the grasshopper sufferers of
Kansas. It is hoped that he will give the whole to the public in book form at an early day. It would prove a highly important addition to the standard literature of the country, and would doubtless tend in some measure to divert the tide of summer travel from countries beyond the ocean, at least on the part of those who have never seen the wondrous beauties and awful grandeur of their own land.
He has a taste for public speaking, and displays considerable talent as an elocutionist.
During the centennial year of the republic he visited the great exposition at Philadelphia, and made its wondrous collection of the arts and indus- tries of the world the subject of a series of highly valuable letters to the western press, which demon- strated a grasp of thought and an acuteness of judg- ment of rare occurrence.
He has been an earnest temperance advocate all his lifetime, and has recently delivered a scientific lecture on "The Action and Power of Alcohol on the Human System," showing its baneful influence on future generations. The lecture bristled with figures and statistics showing the appetite to be transmissible, and the most fruitful cause of idiocy and insanity in the world.
The doctor is a man of massive framework, over six feet high in stature, and weighing about two hundred pounds; has an intellectual brow and pleas- ing countenance; graceful and dignified manners; is an earnest student of nature, feeling his way up from nature to nature's God. He is modest and reticent except to his most intimate friends, to whom he re- veals a depth of feeling and an intensity of thought seldom suspected by the outside world. He seems to grapple with the infinite; and the scintillations of light which sometimes flash upon his inner being, revealing to him glimpses of the transcendental, are but dimly shadowed by the half-spoken sen- tences in which he sometimes essays to express the unutterable thoughts that well up in his soul.
The doctor will probably retire from the practice in a short time and devote the balance of his days to study and travel.
On the 10th of September, 1855, he married Miss Martha, daughter of Moorman Butterworth, of Main- ville, Ohio, of Quaker stock, noted for integrity of character and strong abolition principles. Mrs. Witham is a lady of high literary and social attain- ments ; is also a great student of nature and art, and is noted as a mathematician. In early life she studied the sciences of medicine and botany, and still de-
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votes some time to, and derives much pleasure from, investigations in both sciences. During the winter of 1862-3 she volunteered her services as nurse at " Hospital No. 2," Lebanon, Kentucky, and for five
months superintended the cooking and nursing in that institution, doing most effective service, which was both appreciated and complimented by the medical authorities.
ALEXANDER B. IRELAND, M.D.,
CAMANCHE.
A ALEXANDER BAIRD IRELAND, for twenty- five years a practicing physician in Camanche, is a native of Tennessee, and was born at Sevier- ville, Sevier county, on the 12th of March, 1818. His parents were Thomas L. and Hannah Wood Ireland. The Irelands were from Maryland. His mother was the daughter of the Rev. Richard Wood, a Baptist clergyman prominent in Tennessee forty or fifty years ago. In 1836 Thomas L. Ireland moved with his family to Schuyler county, Illinois, and two years later to Tazewell county. He was a farmer, and his son followed that business until eighteen years of age, when he commenced teach- ing, following that profession five years. During this time he studied medicine more or less; fin- ished these studies at Jacksonville, Illinois, and there graduated from Illinois College in 1846.
Dr. Ireland settled in Andrew, Jackson county, Iowa, and with the exception of one year (1850) spent in California, practiced there until June, 1852, when he settled in Camanche. Here he has at- tended very closely to his profession, in which he has a high standing in the vicinity. He is a member of the Clinton County Medical Society, the Iowa State Medical Society, and the American Medical Association, and is one of the reading, thinking, pro- gressive men in medical knowledge.
In 1857, when Camanche became a city, Dr. Ireland was elected mayor, and again in 1859. He was a member of the county board of super- visors one year, and of the upper house of the general assembly from 1870 to 1874. While a state senator he was chairman of the committee on state universities and normal schools, and was on the committees on charitable institutions, congressional districts, and one or two others. He made a judi- cious legislator.
Dr. Ireland is a Royal Arch Mason, and belongs to the encampment of the Independent Order of Odd- Fellows.
In politics, he was a democrat until 1861, since which time he has been a firm republican.
He is a member of the Baptist church.
On the 8th of July, 1854, he married Miss Mary E. Cady, of New Berlin, New York. They have had five children, and have lost one of them. She died on the 9th of May, 1873. She was a devoted chris- tian woman and a true mother.
The eldest child living, Jennie, is the wife of Le Roy Heilman, of Camanche. The other three children, Fannie A., Mary Antonette and Lewis A., are living at home. Dr. Ireland is looking well to the education of his children. He has an excellent | mind, and is also very much polished in manners.
HON. JOHN L. DAVIES,
DAVENPORT.
T HE life of Hon. John Lodwick Davies (de- ceased) presents one of those numerous ex- amples to be found in the United States of rapid personal progress from humble beginnings to a sub- stantial and honored position. He was born in the parish of Llangeithoe, Cardigan county, Wales, on the 22d of August, 1813. He received his edu- cation at the parish school of Tiefilan, in his native
county ; his early training developing an obedient, studious boyhood, on which the life of a useful man and honored citizen was reared.
He learned a trade in Bath, England, and became a skillful workman in the weaving of gold and silver lace for coach trimmings. This he left before com- ing to his majority, owing to his having early im- bibed a constantly-strengthening radicalism which
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rebelled against "making gewgaws for the pampered aristocracy." He devoted his attention to a more sturdy industry and became a skillful carpenter and joiner, and as such emigrated to the United States, settling at Cincinnati, Ohio. From that city, down the Ohio and on to Louisiana, a winter's work on a plantation sufficed to settle deep in his breast that uncompromising hatred of human slavery that made him thenceforward one of the most consistent and zealous among the early abolitionists.
Returning to Cincinnati, he there married, in 1840, Miss Margaret Jones, who still lives, honored by fidelity as a wife, her devotion as a mother, and her charities as a true christian woman.
They at once set out for a home in Iowa, but reaching Keokuk were driven back by the ice, and wintered in St. Louis, terminating their journey to Davenport in March, 1841. Here he worked at his trade for ten years, and in 1851, in connection with B. F. Cotes, completed and put in operation the first wood-working machinery in Davenport. In August, 1859, with Hon. G. H. French, he pur- chased the large saw-mill owned by himself and son, L. S. Davies, Esq., at the time of his death. Besides this mill he had two mills in Wisconsin, one at Wausau and one at Pine River, Marathon county.
Mr. Davies filled many positions of honor and trust, though always unsought by him: alderman of the ward in which he lived, director and vice- president of the school board, member of the Scott county board of supervisors, and for two terms mayor of the city; formerly a director of the First National Bank, and at his death director in the Davenport National Bank, as also director of the Davenport and St. Paul Railroad Company, of which he was one of the originators, and also one of its unfaltering supporters until it was successfully es- tablished. His counsels, financial ability and recog- nized worth contributed largely to the establish- ment of the First National at a time when such sup- port was necessary to the success of institutions of that character. In 1868 he was made trustee at large of the Iowa Soldiers' Orphans' Home, was president of the board, and served as a member of the executive committee until his death. He died on the 28th of March, 1872, surrounded by an un- usually large circle of friends and acquaintances.
Mr. Davies was a warm admirer of republican institutions, a temperance man, and a christian, hav- ing been a member of the Sons of Temperance and of the Congregational church. He won honor by resolute fidelity to principle, and patriotism and be- nevolence were his distinguishing characteristics.
REV. JOEL S. BINGHAM, D.D.,
DUBUQUE.
TOEL SMITH BINGHAM was born at Cornwall, - Vermont, on the 16th of October, 1815, and is eldest son of Deacon Asahal Bingham and Laura née Smith, of English origin. His father, a promi- nent man in his community, served several years in the Vermont legislature as representative, and was also colonel of militia. He was a strong abolitionist, and advocated that doctrine when to do so was considered almost a crime. A man of great gen- erosity and benevolence, he was called the poor man's friend. His mother was an earnest christian woman, and from her Joel very early received re- ligious impressions, and to the influence of her teach- ings and example is largely due the steadfastness of his religious convictions, one of his strongest characteristics. The habits of economy and indus- try acquired in his early life have proved invaluable to him in all his subsequent life.
. He received his primary education in the com- mon school, making diligent use of his time. At the age of seventeen he was converted, and united with the church, and at that time determined to devote his life to the gospel ministry. In the fol- lowing year he left home inspired with an ambition for a career of usefulness, entirely dependent for support upon his own resources. He began a pre- paratory course of study at Marietta, Ohio, under the instruction of Dr. Henry Smith, now president of Lane Seminary, and at the expiration of two years, in the fall of 1835, entered college. In the spring of 1836, leaving this school, he entered Middle- bury College, where he remained until in his junior year, when, by reason of ill health, he was forced to abandon his studies. For seven years thereafter he was engaged as preceptor in an academy, and employed his leisure hours in the study of theology,
Eryaby FB Boll & Sons13Bor clay StNY
J. S. Ringham
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and also at times supplied feeble churches with ser- mons, lectures, etc. In 1846, in response to an earnest call from Charlotte Church, he took charge of their religious service as a layman, and in May of the same year was licensed to preach by the North- Western Association of Vermont, and was ordained and installed on the 20th of the following October. He had charge of two or three churches prior to 1863, and at that time accepted a call to the Maver- ick Church, Boston, Massachusetts, where he labored until 1870. Finding the climate incompatible with his health, and wishing for a change, he accepted a call from the Congregational Church of Dubuque, Iowa, where he still continues. Here Dr. Bingham has been eminently successful; under his leadership the church has been greatly revived, and become the largest and wealthiest Protestant church in the city.
He was married on the 22d of August, 1838, to
Miss Jane Robbins, daughter of Rev. S. B. Rob- bins, of Marietta, Ohio, and a direct descendant of Chandler Robbins, one of the first ministers of Plymouth Church. Mrs. Bingham is a lady of high attainments, and distinguished for her womanly and christian virtues.
Dr. Bingham has pursued his chosen course with untiring zeal, and with a success which has earned for him no inferior rank among the distinguished preachers of the land. He is a man of strong, sharp intellect, untiring ambition, and as a pulpit orator has few equals. If his chief characteristic as a preacher and pulpit orator were to be expressed in one word, that word would be momentum. The growing prosperity of the church over which he presides, and the prominence into which it has sprung while yet young, is a monument which might satisfy any ordinary ambition.
COLONEL JOHN H. KEATLEY,
COUNCIL BLUFFS.
JOHN HENRY KEATLEY was born at Boals- burg, Center county, Pennsylvania, on the ist of December, 1838. His parents' names were James Gregg and Emily Keatley. His grandfather, Chris- topher Keatley, emigrated from Antrim county, Ire- land, on account of political troubles in which he took part, and in which Roland Curtin, the father of ex-Governor A. G. Curtin, of Pennsylvania, also participated. The paternal grandmother of our subject was a Gregg, and a cousin of Andrew Gregg, who was United States senator from Pennsylvania shortly after the organization of the federal govern- ment, and who was the maternal grandfather of ex- Governor Curtin. The ancestry of Mr. Keatley on his father's side is Scotch-Irish. His maternal an- cestors settled in Berks county about the middle of the eighteenth century, having emigrated from Sax- ony in Germany. His maternal great-grandfather moved west of the Susquehanna when only a lad, and took an active part in repelling the attacks made on the settlements by Logan, the celebrated Mingo chief, and was also a soldier in the Pennsylvania line during the war for independence.
The religious faith of the paternal ancestry of Mr. Keatley was the Presbyterian, while his mother's family were believers in the Lutheran form of wor- ship. His parents were from his earliest recollection
in humble circumstances, his father having been a sober and industrious millwright, wholly dependent upon his daily exertions for the support of his little family, and consequently having little means to de- vote to their education, the- facilities for which were confined to the traditional log school-house with rough benches, in charge of persons wholly incom- petent for the profession. At the age of eight years our subject could read, cipher and write a little, but owing to lack of opportunity his early education was sadly neglected. The circumstances of his parents were such that at ten years of age he was obliged to commence earning his own living by such work among neighboring farmers as he was able to do, his school-days ending at this period. An occa- sional newspaper which fell in his way early excited an interest in political subjects, which has never left him, and he has taken a warm interest in all the great political events of the last thirty years. About this time he became possessed of a torn copy of Sir Walter Scott's "Tales of my Landlord," and this fas- cinating book aroused in him an ambition to become acquainted with English literature. Odd volumes of Hume's "History of England " falling in his way only served to increase his appetite for knowledge, and while working hard all day as a farm hand, a large part of the night was spent in study. He felt
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that if he could fit himself for a teacher the avenue to knowledge would become more open to him, and with that view alone he undertook the task, and in 1856 received the coveted certificate permitting him to become an instructor. He then resolved to gradu- ate at some college, and taking a college catalogue for his guide, and with no other helps than those furnished by text-books, with some occasional assist- ance from I). C. Boal, a classical scholar, he entered upon a preparatory course. In this way he acquired some knowledge of the Latin and Greek classics, the higher mathematics, and moral and intellectual philosophy. During this time he worked as an or- dinary farm laborer in the summer, teaching in the winter, and having only odd moments and even- ings to devote to study. In 1858 he was advised by Hon. A. G. Curtin to study law, but his earnings being necessary for his own and his parents' support he was unable to enter the office of Mr. Curtin, but was obliged to pursue his legal studies only in lei- sure moments during winters of teaching and sum- mers of farm labor. In August, 1860, he was examined for admission to the bar at Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, and duly admitted to practice.
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