Source: Iowa Territorial and State Legislators Collection compiled by volunteers and staff at the State Historical Society of Iowa Library, Des Moines, Iowa.

Standard Form For Members of the Le9 1s l a ture

Name of

1 . Birthday and place

3.v Siqnificant events for example:

A. Business ______________________________________________ __

B. Civic responsibilities __________________________________ _

c. Profession~~~~~~~~~~~-----------------------------------

B. State ________________________________________________ ___

. c . Nati onal ______________________________________________ __

> t

' T t 7 9. Name s of parents __________________________________________ __

Source: Iowa Territorial and State Legislators Collection compiled by volunteers and staff at the State Historical Society of Iowa Library, Des Moines, Iowa.

-·---··-----11. Degrees ~ ~w tl.f:b_r.d /:H e-vttt-,,1 ...,./_ ~·--

~ ~~L

12. Other applicable informatio n

Source: Iowa Territorial and State Legislators Collection compiled by volunteers and staff at the State Historical Society of Iowa Library, Des Moines, Iowa.

!> o urces Lou for r. ev.Lslall o ll E11L1. les

1\ppll c n!Jl.ll t.y

---· ··· -- ---··-·---------·-·-·----------------- - ·- ··-·······- -· ·--··--

'

./ I

---·-··--···--·-·-.. -----------------·· - --·---- ---- ··----·--- -·-···--·- --···--- ··-··

.. .. . " .. .. . . . ... -·······- ··--· .. -·--·· ·-·--- .. ·· -···-- ···-----·-----··- --- --····-- ····--·--- · --·--

Source: Iowa Territorial and State Legislators Collection compiled by volunteers and staff at the State Historical Society of Iowa Library, Des Moines, Iowa.

:more ·tllanJ. month an the ."centenn1al of

thcmseil-es on ii1.wlio rise tion.of the reaii.Qrisibi~ity of living • ..

• t to tb d ·- '11 b' grew U}' to·l.nanhood:- '-- mr-studicd-Jaw . WS.S Willing to die When summoned,' and

lrl~-(f r deln 1\Y Wrl nl•-~ \VI\8 admitted to t.hc bar ~nd Tn"ncUced bas pas~e~ f~oni:tho presonco .of lovi' .. U'-1 ea gs, c .. .,.. ,.. . f . d . . od . d' . . . . . n· ' l with refe\·tmccto the_profossion nwhlle,in his na.tin city. rum ~~a. go ,, .ro.an an .true. .. ·.:: · ! ~.-.~· •

. tU•~·ag 'of the COUntry's . . , ~~~~=~~~ the undrcd years .;..of . .-~ · • ' rvernmo §InJr: ~eellent on~·· It .. i& all h~tti=:ol-tbe"-•an•~•-ruli . knowlcdie '.of 'the to

Source: Iowa Territorial and State Legislators Collection compiled by volunteers and staff at the State Historical Society of Iowa Library, Des Moines, Iowa.

- .. .

"-ltrni:rborhood-dav!l-ts-H>~...,_"i 1g afterward tbo ties . ~:t''::f~~:~~~~~~~~;~':-~~~~fti~W~~aftnif~~~l;]~i,i~Sl~ft?1f;~~~r;,~ ether as leaders in .. April)7Ui~l~t;'atill

·the practice_of.law~ :~.H'e~·· lnAtWD400US1,·glr~~~~u~~~n3r4{~m3~-Wll~UUIG~)UilUS~tl(!n ... ~I Uie ·edt tOrs , .of~.,..,_•-•

· · ' ~ in···ine: :!r as tho days go· oy.

N"- an·d Cedar Rapids ·-are but ._ the output ot any article- real estate bnslneu as one.:oUhe wa cities which will cele- commodityiu which they.seeachanceby Kiliso:Y: DaVi(r&·Jeniiinga.~·ihe~•ttana=-: : lten.ninl of ,w ashin~!on's so d_oing to .make money. Trusts· ca~ as· a~ted :. a l~e bti,llirie'ss:. ;-;,The firm clo's:..: - - . . .well exist· where there is no protet:t~ve ing· in.1857, he·again.rcsurned th~ i u: .. ;.:. . .f-.::.:.L;\~~:i:..:

tariff as where such. a · ~ystern prevails,· practice fn pnrtnersliip,:with;Hon. H.:i'; as in tho United Sta.tes. B11t. there is no McNulty . . ln '1859 he was elected. to the use of arg\}ing that point now: Tho · Legislature. After his-term . ex~ one thing needful is to nnd a way out of pired he wa.s returned for foux: · years this unfortunate pr·edica.ment in which fnrthe~ secyice _in. the Senate~-' :'·While

r 1 1 can show a better Io\v t~. t Last year, accord-;tatistiaians, her farmers h corn to pay orr all their .ri have 100,000,000 bushels \nd sr.ed.

ic Sh~rt Lin," to run from Ogden, Utnh, seems to be

fact. When that road is oaking a hoo naarly.SOO from Chicago to San· Frnn-y _pther one now exisrin'g, the Illinois Centrli1's Iowa reatlv. enhsuced.-- -- ··- ·

the ~cneral publie-is~ placed by the ex.:. State . Senator ho received from ·tLe / . ;...,. istence of the vartous trusts; .:W.hen this Democrats the 'compliment of a nOin.Tna-' 4 .. s.h~-be accom plishcd there will be tion for U uited States Sen a~ but was .. , . reason lor rejoicing. Wkon e~borbi- ·~ot elected • . In : ibis city_ h~ Jus.i>ooU: ·· ·. · tautly hi~h prices rnu!lt be. ptud for such. promin-efitJy identified with oducational · :: >.:·: . .'/ :~·:.:.. : nn article ns binding t;irie~ evon, .tbo I?.terestsand was :.twlctt chosen . Prest-' 1 . ·: . prices· of other t~in~3 a:re mor:o or less d~n~ of ~he ·School .HoiU'd,· each-t{me· de'-:- :. :. ··.i. < ::. ~ affected. It can't be otherwise;, the chmng a. re-ele'ctlon. Subsequently., he . : ·:-. .. :. ' · gi-ent trade centres is · influenced bj•tne was elected City Auditor. JVhile in .thiS. . ·.: . ···, ·., ., . slightest pulsation on the border. But position he in~tittited . careful ·· and .. ~c.:. .. · -:- .. .the difficulty is, How !!ball these · dis~ curate. meth_od~ of book-keeping· an~ turbing elements b~ kept at bay? that's WfU thereby·instrpmental ' in . ln~ngin::-g=+---:..

:n. General . Wanamaker the question which confronts the ·-sagcs the records· .. of the.. office out ·; .. eye ~n that great store of of tho land today. Who ·shall settle it? of a state ot chaos and confusion into • I

Jelph1n, nlLhough he doc~ · which t&ey had been allowed ,to talL Lnd_sleep_in Washington. TO-'!\lORRol\ NIGHT'~ WO:RI{. . 1n August, ·18o1, Mr. Jennhigs was ;·: '.· · · by means of clec~riclty .. he. -TfiCR,epublic·({n-prim!lries-are-to~ a"St7-Vnmr,- of- S .~ ::

.e;traph wire nmmng from hcl~· to.rnorrow· eveni~lg. -x· candidate

Source: Iowa Territorial and State Legislators Collection compiled by volunteers and staff at the State Historical Society of Iowa Library, Des Moines, Iowa.

RECOLLECTIONS AND SKETCHES 851

1ears in this office. In 1889 he was elected to the State Senate, and served in the r wenty-third and Twenty-fourth General Assemblies. He was a Democrat in 1olitics, and one of the most influential leaders of his party. In 1892 he was hosen a delegate to the Democratic National Convention at Chicago, and made ::hairman of the Iowa Delegation. In the same year he was the nominee of his 1arty for Congress, but was defeated by Colonel Henderson. In the later years ,f his life he devoted himself largely to business interests.

Myron H. Beach ~o~~~ced practice in Dubuque, in 1856. He was born 11 Seneca County, New Y or~ in. 1626. He was highly educated, a graduate of -Iamilton College. Soon after hiS arrival in Dubuque he entered into partnership .-ith Lincoln Clari, whose term as Representative in Congress had recently .expired . .vhen Judge Clarlt ~ov~ to:Chicago, George Grey-a Scotchman, and a writer n the Signal of Edinburg-was admitted to the firm, and subsequently L. C. Hurd .. -ecaJ"'• his partner. Duritii the seventies Mr. Beach removed to Chicago and en-)yt lucrative practiJ, ' and ~ame a recognized authority on Insurance Law. n the winter of 191 0 he :~ife:echi ~vere attack of illness. He did not afterward :tum to the practice; and) ~tola" by Willil.m Graham that he is now (May, 91 3) living with hi, · son at S,an Ant~nio, Texas, and though in his eighty-fifth ear, is alert and sound_of min4. ·but feeble in body: His Alma Mater conferred 11 him the degree of IJoct~r of Law$ 5ome years ago. He was a soldier during 1e war and was commissioned· Lieutenant of Company A, Forty-fourth Iowa 1fantry. He served ·for :a n~ber of years as a member of the Board of Educa-on of Dubuque. . . · .. : •. · , ·_ . · ~ohn D. /ttining& ·~u one .o_f the young lawyers attracted to Dubuque in the Fifties." Among his c:Ompeers were"john S. Coval, William C. Friend, Fred .ottschallt, Henry s; jeimiiigs and Heney S. Munson. Covel was for a· time ;sociated with General John Hodgson, but died in the early "Sixties." Friend ,d HenryS. )eonilli$ (who I tllink 'was a brother of John D.) came from Pitts-u g. and were for a time partners--first in .the fitm of Wiltse, F rieod & Jennings, 1d after that in the firm of Vandever, Friend & Jennings. When Vandever went to the army, Friend returned to Pittsburg, and practiced law there until his death, hile Jennings_. after a brief partnership with Eugene Cowles, who came from ICkson County, also returned to Pennsylvania. Munson removed to Chicago about e time of the commencement Qf the .Civil War, where he secured a lucrative prac-:e. Fred Gottschalk wu a German, and cOmmanded the first company of Iowa JOps that went to the fron!.....:...a~ ·co~any almost exclusively of Germans. After e war he removed to St. LOuis and engaged in practice there.

John D. Jennings, of. wbo,P~t\~me no~ to speak further, figured largely, as :11 a• usefully, in the early history of the. State. He was hom in Pittsburg. Penn-lv< in 1624, and came to. Dubuque in 1851, and entered upon the practice

Source: Iowa Territorial and State Legislators Collection compiled by volunteers and staff at the State Historical Society of Iowa Library, Des Moines, Iowa.

. '

852 RECOLLECTIONS AND SKETCHES

of his profession. He was for a time one of the editors of the Miner's Express~ and for a while a legal partner with Henry T. McNulty, under the firin name of .Mc-Nulty & Jennings. In 1859 he was elected to the House of the Eighth General Assembly. In 1861 he was elected to the Senate and served through the Ninth and Tenth General Assemblies. I was a member of the House while he was serving as Senator in the Tenth General Assembly, and I know that he was re-garded as one of the most painstaking, industrious and useful members of that body. That was his reputation and standing at the time. While in the Senate, he received in the Democratic caucus the entire Democratic vote for United States Senator. He was prominently identified with the educational interests of Dubuque, ~d ~as twice President of its School Board. He was City Auditor of Dubuque~ and brought the records of that office out of chaos and confusion. He was marri~d in 1851 to Julia St. Vrain, of St. Genevieve, Missouri, a descendant of Felix SL Vrain, whose· life and tragic death is interwoven with early western history.·.:.St. Vrain was a brother-in-law of Senator George Wallace Jones, of Dubuque, tl~ted States Agent for the Confederate Tribe of Sacs and Foxes, including Black H~wk·s band. He spoke their language and was adopted by them as a friend and brQther, but was finally slaughtered by those to whom he had been a friend. Th~ fiiin~us Indian Treaty, which included the Black Hawk purchase, was certified· hy ·hlm as Unit~d States Agent, and by Antoine LeClaire, United States lnterpret~r. ·on behalf of the tribe. • -:_ ..,~: .

.:.~

]effre)} M. Griffith, William ]. Knight. ..... ..

)

]effre)} M. Griffith was born in .Montgomery County, Maryland, in 1829. H~ was admitted to the bar and commenced practice in Baltimore in 1850. He came to Dubuque and entered upon the practice in 1854. In 185 7 he took into part-nership William J. Knight, who had. just been admitted to the bar, and the 6rm of Griffith & Knight for a good many years, and to the time of Mr. Griffith~s):leath continued to be one of the best known and strongest legal firms in the State. ·Before his partnership with Mr. Knight, he had been associated with M. B. Mulkefu7_~: · . ·

Mr. Griffith was a man of remarkably fine ability, and took pronounced ·}~~rship at the bar. As a trial lawyer, especially~ he might be matched with th~ beSt of the profession: not only in Iowa, but in the nation. In ~e famous "Oats' ~ cases, he particularly signalized himself. He met single-handed some of the ab~st mem· bers of the Bar of Indiana and Cincinnati. His opponents afterward retained him to recoup their losses from the Illinois Central Railroad Company, which he did, and then the Railroad Company retained him to recover their damages from the General Government. The firm of Griffith & Knight became the attorneys of the Illinois Central Railroad Company, and the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul

• Annals of Iowa, Vol. 4, 531-532.