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JAMES S. CLARKSON
 OLD-TIMERS of Polk County most assuredly have not forgotten James S. Clarkson, or "Ret," as everybody called him, who was so prominently identified with all the various activities of the county in the early days.
Born in Brookville, Franklin County, Indiana, May Seventeenth, 142, he was literally raised in the printing office of his father, Coker F., who published the Brookville American. He began setting type in the office when he was so small, boxes had to be piled up for him to stand on and reach the type boxes, and there he acquired an education in one of the best practical schools in this or any other country.
When he was twelve years old, in 1854, his father disposed of his newspaper and engaged in railroad building until 1855, when he purchased a large tract of wild prairie land in Grundy County, Iowa, and with the assistance of "Ret" and his brother, Richard P., more familiarly known as "Dick," began making what became the famous "Melrose Farm." During the winter months, he added variety to his vocation by working in a saw mill.
In 1861, when the cannon's roar at Fort Sumter reverberated over the country, he tendered his services to Uncle Sam, but he army doctors rejected him for physical disability, caused by over-work in the saw mill the previous Winter. He enlisted again in 1862, in a cavalry company, and again was rejected because of a weak heart. He went back to the farm with the enthusiasm in which Cartoonist "Ding" would picture:
"The whining schoolboy, with his satchel
And shining morning face, creeping like a snail,
Unwillingly, to school."
Nevertheless, he stuck to the farm, and while his father was absent as State Senator from that county, served as sole manager of it, but it is save to say his heart was not in it. He was not built
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for a promoter of graniverous quadrupeds. His natural bent was toward journalism, and he became impressed with the idea that the Eldora Ledger would be a good thing to have. One day, he broached the subject to his father, who suddenly squelched his ambitious dream with the tart retort that if he had no higher aspiration than that, he had better stick to the farm until something better presented itself.
He stuck to the farm until the Spring of 1866, when the journalistic cravings of his nature brought him to Des Moines, May Eleventh, and he at once took a "case" as compositor in the Register office, in the Exchange block, at Third and Walnut Streets. Six weeks after, he was made assistant foreman. Frank W. Palmer was the editor, assisted by the never-to-be-forgotten J. M. Dixon, a very peculiar man, and writer of oddities and pungent paragraphs.
While employed in the office as compositor, Clarkson indulged in sending news letters to several newspapers over the signature of "Ret." The office boys took it up, and it became universal. He always responded to it with geniality, in recognition of the good-fellowship which prompted it, and thousands of people did not know he had any other "front" name.
Dixon was a special correspondent of the Chicago Tribune, for which he was paid twenty dollars per month. His eyes became seriously affected, resulting in total blindness. "Ret" assumed the correspondence, and for nearly three years did the work, received the pay, and gave it to Dixon.
In the early Spring of 1866, began a contest for an election of Congressman from the then Fifth District. John A. Kasson was a candidate for renomination for a third term. The friends of General G. M. Dodge and a large contingent of the soldier element decided to put the General in the field, in recognition of his brilliant war record. The Register, Thomas F. Withrow, General Nat Baker, and other leading Republicans, supported Dodge. It was one of the fiercest and most bitter struggles ever known in the party in the district or state. The General received the nomination, and was elected.
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December First, 1866, Frank M. Mills and his brother, Jacob W., purchased the Register establishment, and on the Sixth took possession, signalizing the event with a banquet to the editors and printers. Mr. Palmer was retained as editor-in-chief.
Several months later, a reorganization of the newspaper force became necessary. J. A. Carey, who had been assisting Palmer, was sent into the field for outside work, which made a vacancy at the city editor's desk. Frank, who was the active principle and moving spirit of Mills & Company, began casting about for someone to fill the vacancy. He had for some time been attracted by "Ret," who held a "case" in the composing-room. One day, J. C. Benedict, the chief bookkeeper, casually said to Frank that "Ret" was going away——that he had, or was about to book at the stage office for an overland ride to San Francisco. Frank sent for him to come to the business office. He promptly responded, and was offered Cary's place. He took it, and, said Frank to me, a few days ago: "I think I am entitled to credit for saving the state of Iowa one of its greatest editors."
In 1869, Palmer retired from the Register, to run for Congress. Dodge, satisfied with the glory and emoluments of one term in an office he did not like, and did not want, declined a renomination, and "Ret" was given the editorial chair on probation. Fearing he might be too young for so heavy work, and with vivid remembrance of the events of 1867, Frank made arrangements for articles from General Nat Baker, an old editorial wheelhorse; Louis Ruttkay, a fine scholar and polished writer; Tom Withrow, the nestor of the Iowa Bar, and General Solicitor of the Chicago and Rock Island Railroad, and John S. Runnells, one of the most polished political persuaders that ever mounted a stump, but it was soon discovered that the young man who would push a pencil from Monday morning to Saturday night without stopping was equal to the occasion. Al. Swalm, a second Dixon, was called down from the composing-room and installed in the city editor's chair, and the general verdict was that the two made a team that was hard to get ahead of. Later, Al. was sent to Grand Junction and Jefferson to run newspapers for Mills & Company, and "Lafe" Young, who had been an apprentice in the job department, and was running a job press, was given
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Al.'s place at the city editor's desk, which he held until he went to Atlantic and started the Telegraph.
In 1869, the printing business of Mills & Company had increased to such magnitude the newspaper became an incubus, and they were inclined to dispose of it. That was "Ret's" opportunity, and he suggested the purchase of it to his father, as "worthy of higher aspirations." The suggestion was accepted, the purchase made for thirty thousand dollars, cash, and December Fourth, 18709, the property was transferred to the father and sons, "Ret," and Dick, under the firm name of the Clarkson Company. "Ret" became the editor, Dick the business manager.
"Ret" was an editor by birth, "a chip off the old block." He possesses a virile, versatile, matured mind, well stored with gems gathered from the choicest and best authors.
Old-timers recall with pleasure the force, directness and diction of his political editorials; the elegance, descriptive beauties and masterful word-building of his more sentimental productions, sparkling with all the charms of the purling, babblin brook adown the mountain side. The impress of his individuality, as clear as the shadow from a photographer's camera, was stamped in every line. He had a peculiar genius for constructing obituary notices. It used to be said there were those who were willing to die if "Ret" would write their obituary. He is the author of two works of fiction, but not under his own name, which had a large sale.
There was one style of his writing——his chirography——the public never saw. It was simply execrable, and it was vouchsafed only to the compositors who put it in type to enjoy the beauty of it. The swear-words declaimed in their efforts to decipher it were terrific. It was unique——nothing like it, except, perhaps, that of John H. Gear, Governor Larrabee, Judge George G. Wright, and Horace Greeley, none of whom could decipher their own after it got "cold." There was fun with the "regulars" when a tramp hove into the office for a "sub." He would be given a "case," Jones, the foreman, with a twinkle in his eye, would slip a "take" of "Ret's" copy on the hook; the fellow would grab it, go to his place, study over it, turn it around several times, and break out: "See here, boss, what the h——l is this yer givin' me. Looks like an
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inscription on an Egyptian obelisk," and hand it back to the foreman. Harry Porter was the only compositor who could read it readily, and the boys were willing he should have all the "phat" there was in it.
He wrote very rapidly with a pencil, on soft paper, and several years before he left the Register, his wrist muscles collapsed under the strain of his strenuous pushing, and he had to employ a stenographer, and later a typewriting machine, when those came into use.
I recall an instance, when "Ret" and Dick took a trip to the Pacific Coast, and the only time, I think, Dick went outside the city limits while he was connected with the Register. Just before leaving the office, "Ret" sent upstairs a full column editorial for the next morning's issue. Harry Porter was off duty, and after a serious consultation among the boys, O. H. P. Grove volunteered to tackle it. He awaited the return of the proof with dismal expectations, and great was his surprise to find a crisp, One Dollar bill pinned to it, complimentary to his expertness as a guesser. As a reminder of the event, a page of the manuscript of the editorial was pasted up in the composing-room, where it remained for several years.
In 1871, when the Des Moines National Bank was organized, he was a stockholder, was elected one of the Board of Directors, and subsequently Vice-President.
He had abiding faith in the city of his adoption, every foot of which was underlaid with coal, surrounded by an immense wealth of raw product, in the center of the finest body of land the sun shines upon——it only needed greater facilities for communication with the outside world to secure growth and prosperity. He decided that what was necessary was railroads. The town had but one, the Rock Island. The Chicago and Northwestern had built its road forty miles north of it to the Missouri River, the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy fifty miles south of it to the same point, and the town was fenced in. The so-called Granger Law was in force, the four big trunk lines were vigorously fighting it, and declared that not another mile of road should be built in Iowa. Des Moines was at a standstill, and lethargic. The big, old Savery House was closed and empty; small boys could be seen casting stones through
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its windows. "Ret" decided that it something must be done, and one night, in 1878, I think it was, he sent the office boy in haste to his residence for his valise, and went to Chicago, where he spent several days in strenuous effort to induce the railroad magnates to release their embargo, at least to Des Moines. that he was successful was evidenced by the fact that immediately on his return, he organized the Des Moines and Knoxville Railway Company, went personally into the field, secured the right-of-way from Knoxville to Des Moines, raised the funds to build the road, and when the road-bed was completed, the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy laid the iron on it, and January Tenth, 1880, the first passenger train came into the city on it. "Ret" was President of the company from start to finish.
To get another outlet in another direction, in July, 1879, he organized the Des Moines, Marshalltown, Marion and Milwaukee Railway Company, secured the right-of-way, and survey of the route, negotiated with the Chicago, Milwaukee and Saint Paul to iron and operate it, but the project failed.
"Ret" then turned his attention to the Wabash, a connection with which would not only give Des Moines a third communication with Chicago, but with Saint Louis and the South. He and John S. Runnells went to New York and made an agreement with Jay Gould similar to that made with the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy, whereby the Wabash was to be extended to Des Moines. The Des Moines and Saint Louis Railroad Company was organized, and when the roadbed was ready for the iron, Mr. Gould was called to execute his part of the conpact. In that compact was a provision that two narrow-gauge feeders should be built northward and westward from Des Moines. Accordingly, early in 1880, "Ret" organized the Adel and Western Railroad Company, the name of which was, in September, changed to Des Moines and Northwestern Railroad Company. This was followed with the organization of the Saint Louis, Des Moines and Northern. Polk & Hubbell became interested in the narrow-gauge roads, and one was built through Dallas and Guthrie counties to Fonda, and the other to Boone.
In January, 1886, "Ret" negotiated the incorporation of the Des Moines Union Railroad Company, composed of the Des Moines
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and Saint Louis, Des Moines and Northwestern, Saint Louis, Des Moines and Northern, and Wabash, Saint Louis and Pacific Railroad companies, and he was elected President of the corporation.
To secure these four roads to Des Moines, "Ret" spent nearly half his time for two years, and much money from his own pocket. Nor was that all. It was not uncommon for him to turn the paper over to "the boys," and post off to New York and Philadelphia, to assist in starting some new industry in Des Moines.
He is a radical Republican, an active politician, and understands the game in all its phases. The influence of the Register attained national fame, and in 1868, I think, he was made Chairman of the State Central Committee, and served several years. In 1867, when only twenty-five years old, he was offered, by President Grant, the mission to Switzerland, but declined it. In 1871, he was appointed Postmaster for Des Moines, served six years, and resigned on account of his inability to agree with the southern policy inaugurated by President Hayes, and his unwillingness to oppose a President he was serving under officially. In 1881, President Garfield offered him a foreign mission, but he declined it. In 1889, he was appointed, by President Harrison, First Assistant Postmaster General, and served one year, when he was offered a mission to China or Russia, but he declined them.
He was a delegate to each Republican National Convention from 1876 to 1896; a member of the Republican National Committee from 1880 to 1896; chairman of the Committee from 1890 to 1892, and President of the Republican League of the United States from 1891 to 1893.
During the entire war period, to him a Secessionist was a Rebel, and so long as he was editor of the Register, it was so printed in its columns. He recognized no such substitute as "Confederate."
He is of nervous, lymphatic temperament, genial and companionable, but not loquacious; is decidedly positive in character; possesses an indomitable will which even the most adverse circumstances cannot break; is a close, tenacious friend, and a hard hater. An enemy he can forgive, but forget, never. Is inclined to be aggressive, and woe to the person or thing that becomes the target of his trenchant pen when dipped in gall. He was an earnest promoter
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of the growth and prosperity of the town of his adoption, and from the viewpoint of the present-day "booster" dispensation, he was a booster when it was needed. He gave to the industrial, educational, and church interests the powerful influence of his newspaper. For several years he was an active member of the West Side School Board.
In 1879, a beginning was made to establish a school for the higher education of girls, and the preparation of boys for college, to which endeavor the columns of the Daily Register gave enthusiastic support. It culminated the following year in the incorporation of Callanan College, so named in honor of James Callanan, who donated the grounds and building, as a boarding school of the highest excellence for young women, and "Ret" was elected one of the Board of Trustees.
He was a charter member of Capital City Lodge Number Twenty-nine, Knights of Pythias, organized March Twenty-sixth, 1876.
In 1891, he sold his interest in the Register to his brother, Dick, went to New York and organized the New York and New Jersey Bridge Company, to build a bridge over the Hudson River at Fifty-ninth Street, to cost sixty-five million dollars, and was made President of the Company.
In 1902, President Roosevelt appointed him Surveyor of Customs for the port of New York, which place he now holds. Some day, he will return to Des Moines, which he claims is his home.
May First, 1904.
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JUDGE WILLIAM W. WILLIAMSON
 OF the pioneers of Des Moines who came early, grew up with the town, and became prominent factors in civic affairs was William W. Williamson, or Judge, as he was more familiarly known, a Kentuckian by birth.
On learning, through the newspapers, in 1848, that the Capital of the state was to be removed from Iowa City to Monroe City, which had been selected by a lot of Quakers appointed by the Legislature,because of faith in them to resist the machinations of sharpers, speculators, and temptations of "the flesh and devil." So, with his wife, a carriage, and two fine Kentucky thoroughbred horses, they embarked on a steamboat for Keokuk, via Saint Louis. From Keokuk, they journeyed to Monroe City. Prospectively, it was a beautiful city. It was platted with parks, boulevards, fountains, wide streets, and so forth, but when they arrived there, said Mrs. Williamson, a few days ago, "There was nothing but a lot of stakes set all over the town, not a building in sight in any direction, and we went on to Fairfield."
The Quakers had "fallen from grace," been caught in the wiles of the Tempter, and departed from their faith. so tainted with corruption was their action, the Legislature repudiated it entirely, and the future Capital was relegated to the gophers and prairie dogs.
After a short halt in Fairfield, the Judge and his wife came to Fort Des Moines. Houses were scarce, but they found a log cabin near what is now the corner of Ninth and Walnut streets, where they began their first experience in housekeeping. The log cabin being unsuitable for cold weather, they soon after moved to a small frame building with a clap-board roof, on Second Street below Vine. The house had but two small rooms, one above the other. The upper floor, or sleeping-room, was reached by means of a ladder through a hole in the floor. Upon retiring the ladder was pulled
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up after them, and the slept the sleep of just. They were young and vigorous, and enjoyed the new life in the wild and woolly West immensely. They were both ful-blooded Methodists, and tinctured with genuine Kentucky hospitality. Their house was always open to the "brethren" sans ceremony, sometimes to the great discomfort of the hostess, for, as she used to say: "Though they were good people, always welcome, they had good appetites, and there were times when provisions were scarce. One day, there came a preacher and his wife. I had very little flour, bacon or corn meal. I wanted to make some pies, but there were no dried apples——we didn't have canned nor green fruit in those days——and I went out on the plateau north, gathered some sheep sorrel, and made the pies, and they were good."
On another occasion, in 1851, on Sunday, July Third, the whole country was flooded with high water; teams could not go anywhere to mill; the whole town was short of provisions. The next day there were to be dinners and suppers, but the larders were bare, and everybody was anxiously waiting the coming of a steamboat with supplies. A large gathering had assembled in a frame building on Walnut Street, where the Simon clothing store now is, when the small whistle of a steamboat broke in upon them. Instantly, the entire assemblage made a rush for the river, and the meeting closed without a benediction from the preacher. The people were more interested in flour and bacon than Biblical rhetoric, and they gave the steamboat a rousing welcome, for it was loaded with just what they wanted.
In 1851, the Whigs resurrected the wreck of the Fort Des Moines Gazette, which Lamp. Sherman had laid away after a vain effort to keep it afloat, and February Twenty-eighth, issued the first number of the Iowa State Journal, with Peter Myers & Company publishers, and Williamson the leading editor. It was during the Presidential campaign of General Winfield Scott, and the paper did effective service, but Whigs were in the minority, the paper received no public patronage, and in August, 1852, ceased to be, and Williamson went back to his law books.
Under the Legislative Act of 1846, organizing Polk County, the counties of Story, Boone, and Dallas, and all the territory north and
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west thereof were attached to Polk for election, revenue and judicial purposes, and all residents therein could vote for national, state, and count officers as being in Polk County.
In 1847, a new voting precinct was established, comprising the County of Boone and all the territory north and west of it.
In 1849, a new County of Boone was established, entirely independent of Polk, with prescribed limits, but no provision was made for the unorganized territory, north and west, for election or judicial purposes, hence, de facto, it did not belong to Polk nor Boone.
In April, 1853, Williamson was elected Prosecuting Attorney, and served one year, being succeeded by Barlow Granger, the Democrats making a special effort to get control of all the county offices.
At the same election, he was elected one of the Council of the "Original Town of Fort Des Moines." There were no wards, the Councilmen being elected by the people at large. He held the office one term.
In 1855, at the Democratic nominating convention, McFarland and Judge Curtis Bates were candidates, The Fort supporting the latter. A count of noses showed the vote would be close, but late in the session a fellow came in claiming to represent King County, up in what is now a part of Sac County, a county which had never been heard of. He was admitted, and voted for McFarland, giving him a majority of one vote. Of course, Bates' friends were mad.
The Whigs nominated Williamson, who had become prominent and popular. The Know-Nothing craze was flourishing, with its shiboleth, "Americans to Rule Americans," and the small, diamond-shaped paper frequently scattered about the streets as notice of an immediate meeting of the clan somewhere, operated as a red rag to the Irish, Scandinavians, and Dutch. This element, and some of Bates' friends, affiliated with the Whigs. The Capital re-location subject and the gubernatorial campaign were also on, so that the whole country was considerably stirred up.
At the election, the returns showed that Williamson had a small majority. The Democrats asked for a postponement until the "back country" could be heard from, but he was declared elected, and was given his commission by the Governor. In the meantime,
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some poll books were sent in from Butler County, which had just been organized out of the territory formerly belonging to Polk County, but which had been cut off from all jurisdiction by the Act of 1849. The Democrats claimed the poll books should be recognized and the votes counted. The question was referred to the Judges of Election, two Democrats and one Whig, who accepted the poll books and counted their forty votes for McFarland. John A. Hull, of Boone, a prominent politician in those days, contested the election, claiming that the forty votes given to McFarland were illegal, as not a name of a voter appeared on the alleged poll books, neither were they signed by anybody as Judge or Clerk of Election. The contest went to the Supreme Court, where it was decided that unless fraud could be shown in the election, the votes must be counted, notwithstanding there were some irregularities, the court thus ignoring the fact that the votes were cast in Butler County, which had been attached to another district entirely entirely for election purposes.
McFarland got the place, and learning that Hull had been seeking to defeat him, recalled the fact that Hull owed him for a barrel of lime. He sued for the value of the lime, and got a judgment in a Justice Court. Hull paid the judgment, but McFarland's temper having cooled, he refused to take it, and it went to the heirs of the estate of the Justice.
Though Williamson did not get the place, he got the title, which stuck to the end of his days.
He had the usual experience of other lawyers with the bibulous McFarland. One day, when he and his opponent were arguing a case, the Judge was so drunk he tumbled off his chair. Gathering himself into his seat again, he said: "Go on with your d——n speechifying. I'll show you when you get through."
One morning, court had been opened, the Judge was in his seat, and the lawyers were standing about, preparing to settle down to business, when a man, ill-dressed, came straggling in and planted himself directly in front of the Judge, with his hat on. Nothing would excite the ire of the Judge more than to see a man in "open court" with his hat on.
"Well, what do you want? Take off your d——n hat!" said the Judge.
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"I have been elected to an office, and I want to be qualified," replied the stranger.
"I'll swear you," said the Judge, "but all h——l couldn't qualify you."
In 1856, during the contest over the location of the State House, Williamson was an active West Sider, and was one of the committee who secured the three hundred thousand dollar fund to be given the state as a bonus for locating it on the West Side, and in the investigation, in 1858, of the subject, in which the Commissioners who located it on the East Side were charged with corruption and boodling, the East Siders claiming the West Siders' subscription was not worth the paper it was written on. Williamson was called as a witness and testified as follows:
"Question.——Were a resident of Fort Des Moines at the time of the location of the Captial?"
"Answer.——I was.
"Question.——Did you know this paper (marked 'E') was in circulation about the time of the location, and if so, what was the understanding as to the subscription being bona fide?
"Answer.——My understanding was that it would not be accepted —— for I had heard the Commissioners had located the Capitol on the East Side.
"Question.——Did you sign that paper with the intent to pay? [He signed for five hundred dollars.]
"Answer.——Had the location been made on the west side of the river, after the subscription had been presented to the Commissioners, I presume I would have paid it.
"Question.——Did you own property on the west side of the river?
"Answer.——Yes.
"Question.——Were you influenced by that fact in subscribing?
"Answer.——In part, I was. I resided there, and for convenience I wished to have it there.
Politically, the Judge was a Free Soil Whig, though the son of a slaveholder, and raised on a plantation. He was an active, leading man in his party in the early days, when there was a strong pro-slavery element among the Democrats, who did not think a Whig had any rights they should respect.
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He was a supporting pillar——financially as well as morally——of the Methodist Church and of the public schools. He brought with him to Des Moines considerable money, and as his wife once said, "He gave it all away to churches and schools." He was a member of the West Side School Board twelve years, and devoted much of his time to the office without compensation. He was very fond of children, and a great favorite with them. Nearly every day, little ones would come to his house n the lot corner of Fifth and Locust, where the Marquardt Bank now is, bringing pictures to "Willie Willyumson," as they called him, until nearly every room in the house was papered with them.
During the formative period of the town and city, he was identified with every movement for progress and improvement. He died in 1893.
July Ninth, 1905.
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COLONEL J. N. DEWEY
 THIRTY years ago, a very dignified and prominent individual in Des Moines was Colonel J. N. Dewey. How he acquired the military title, I never learned. He was not a Kentuckian, nor was he ever in the military service, except by implication.
By profession, he was a civil engineer, and in the early 'Fifties, did railroad engineering in Massachusetts and New York. When Hugh Riddle was at the head of the New York and Erie Road, the Colonel surveyed, laid out, and assisted largely in building that road, and when Riddle came to Chicago and became President and head of the Chicago and Rock Island Road, so great was his confidence in the Colonel, he was a frequent and influential adviser with the leading man of that road, and represented them in the Directory Board of the Burlington, Cedar Rapids and Northern Division.
In 1855, he came to Des Moines, then only a small village, and began business in surveying, engineering, and real estate. An adept in his profession, and possessing excellent business qualifications, his services were valuable in promoting the growth and business interests of the town, and in 1856 he was elected Engineer by the Town Council of Fort Des Moines, and reëlected in 1857 City Engineer by the first Council of the City of Des Moines, and was prominently identified with the laying out of the streets and alleys and fixing the holdings of lot owners. His services in the City Council, when business qualifications were much needed, were of great value to the city.
In 1860, he was elected City Treasurer, and held that office one term.
In 1860, the Legislature convened in special session to devise measures for a War and Defense Fund, and to enable the state to comply with the demands of the United States for soldiers in "suppressing the Rebellion," as the statute reads. (All through the war period, the Legislature used the terms "rebellion" and "rebel.")
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An appropriation of several hundred thousand dollars was made to pay the expenses therefor. The Colonel and S. R. Ingham were elected Commissioners by the Legislature to disburse that fund. It was an onerous and difficult task. It embraced the auditing of "all accounts and disbursements having reference to the military organization, arming and subsistence of the same, and all expenditures regarding the purchase of arms, uniforms, and accoutrements, army supplies and subsistence for any of the companies of the state called into the service of the General Government."
No claim could be paid unless proved and allowed by the Commissioners. For this service, they were allowed three dollars per day and actual mileage.
The war period was a field day for "grafters" and speculators in army supplies, and there were many always alert to "make money" by it, but, while not penurious nor captious, the Colonel and Ingham would pay no "padded" or constructive claims against the state or United States. They could not be swerved one iota from exact justice and right. There must be a tangible equivalent for every dollar expended. A single glance at the frigid facial expression of those two men would send a shiver down the spinal column of the most persuasive and versatile jobber in Government contracts, and visions of "graft" vanished into nothingness.
The Legislature also provided in the original Act for protection against "wild-cat" money, by requiring paymasters and all other disbursing officers to make their payments in coin of the United States, or be removed from office and barred from holding any office in the state for five years.
The burden of the labor of the Commission was assumed by the Colonel, who devoted his entire time thereto. There was very little building in the town during that period. all business enterprises were greatly depressed.
In 1862, the Colonel was appointed by President Lincoln as Assessor of Internal Revenue for the Third District, he being the first one appointed. Soon after, he was appointed by Secretary of War Stanton as Commissary of Subsistence, but the duties of his office as Auditor of the Iowa War Fund were so exacting he was obliged to resign both appointments.
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In 1864, the Des Moines Gas Company was organized. During the first year, its work was largely experimental, in an effort to make gas from superheated steam. Brilliant gas could be and was made, but no substance could be found of which to make the crucibles that would withstand the intense heat necessary for "cooking" or heating the steam. The project was abandoned, the usual process adopted, and gas was first supplied for private use, Tuesday evening, July Eleventh, 1865.
In 1866, the Colonel was selected, by Act of Legislature, a special agent of the state to settle and adjust with the United States all claims of the state for expenses incurred during the war in raising and equipping troops, expenses in protecting her frontier from guerrilla raids, and also expenses incurred in protecting her frontier after the Spirit Lake Massacre by Inkapadutah and his band in 1857; also to settle all claims of the state of the five per cent of the sale of the public lands. His compensation was fixed at five dollars per day, and so thoroughly complete and exact was kept the account for raising and equipping Iowa regiments under the Act of 1860, with its multiplexity and complications, every claim which had passed through his hands was allowed and paid.
All these papers, records, and statements relating to his war commission, carefully preserved, are stored in the barn at his late residence.
In 1868, he was elected Alderman for the Third Ward, and reëlected in 1869. The ward then comprised all the territory between Locust and Center streets west of Des Moines river.
In 1870, the Legislature passed an Act providing for the erection of the new Capitol. An appropriation of one hundred and fifty thousand dollars was made to begin the work, and a Board of Commissioners was elected to carry out the provisions of the Act. The Colonel was one of the Commissioners, each of whom had to give a bond to the state in the sum of fifty thousand dollars, that he would honestly perform his duties. Work was commenced at once, and on a cold, rainy day, November Twenty-third, 1871, the corner-stone was laid with elaborate and appropriate ceremonies, and the foundation finished for the erection of the superstructure.
In 1875, the Capital City Gas Light Company was organized, and a charter obtained from the City Council. The Colonel was
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elected President of the company, and on the evening of September Twenty-third, 1876, the city was first lighted by that company, and has continued its service to the present day.
In 1878, the city had grown so as to encroach largely on the territory of Des Moines and Lee Townships, little being left of them. The Legislature was appealed to for relief, and an Act was passed providing that where a city of the first class embraced parts of two or more townships, and Alderman-at-Large should be elected to represent such township. Under this Act, the Colonel was elected Alderman-at-Large to represent Des Moines Township.
"" While associated with Ingham in various official undertakings, the Colonel was so well pleased with him, a business partnership was formed, and when the old Savery House (Kirkwood) was sold under a mortgage, it was purchased by Ingham and the Colonel, stripped of all its contents, the rotunda and business offices removed from the second floor to the ground floor, and the whole interior remodeled. The name was changed to "Kirkwood," in honor of the old War Governor. The Colonel retained his interest in it until 1889, when he sold it back to Ingham.
The Colonel was, to the masses, serene, taciturn, and frigid. Few knew him intimately, but those who did, socially and in business, found him gracious and companionable. He had a warm side to those who got next it. He was a fast friend. He was kind and charitable to the poor, to whom he made liberal contributions. He also gave generously to churches and other worthy objects, and always with the request that the source should be unknown to the beneficiaries. He disliked newspaper publicity of his doings, and the reporter who attempted to "pump" him very quickly discovered his aversion to it.
He took great interest in civic affairs, and his oft-repeated election to public office evidences the public faith in his honesty and integrity.
Politically, the Colonel was a Republican. He took an active advisory part in politics, but never sought public office, yet for
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nearly twenty years he was a public servant, and during the war period did the state notable, conscientious service. He was intensely patriotic, and strongly desired to enlist in the army, but his age precluded it. When the news came of the assassination of President Lincoln, the city was intensely excited. Hurried preparations were made for public expression of its sadness and sorrow. The Mayor requested that all public offices, office buildings, and private residences be appropriately draped. A mass meeting was held in the Court House Square, on Sunday, attended by an immense crowd of people. Eloquent addresses were made by Frank W. Palmer, John A. Kasson, J. A. Williamson, and others, the meeting closing with a benediction by the vernerable pioneer and beloved first rector of the Episcopal Church, the Reverend Doctor Peet. The pastors of all the churches, at their morning service, except one, gave heartfelt expression of sympathy for the Nation's great loss. Some devoted the entire service to the event. At the Episcopal Church, the rector, John E. Ryan, conducted the regular service. At the close of his sermon, he asked the attention of the audience for a moment, and said that, as a Christian minister and patriot, he would not do his duty if he omitted to mention the distressing event of Saturday, but he had many times declared his pulpit should never be profaned to the preaching of politics. He would not, on the one hand, carp at the measures of the administration, nor on the other eulogize the virtues of the late Executive. There was instant expression of indignation at the mockery of the incident, and the audience dispersed in discomfiture. The next day, when vestryment the Colonel, Hoyt Sherman, "Dan" Finch, and others met to make preparations to drape the church, which was a small frame standing on Seventh Street between Walnut and Locust, where the Younker store now is, they were informed the rector had refused to permit the church to be opened for such purpose. The doors were forced, and the interior elaborately draped. The rector soon after left the city.
During the later years of his life, the Colonel retired from active business, having become quite wealthy. He died in September, 1889.
September Third, 1905.
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