Pieces of Iowa’s Past, January 18, 2012

Pieces of Iowa’s Past, published by the Iowa State Capitol Tour Guides weekly during the legislative session, features historical facts about Iowa, the Capitol, and the early workings of state government. All historical publications are reproduced here with the actual spelling, punctuation, and grammar retained. January 18, 2012 THIS WEEK: Report by Annie Wittenmyer, State Sanitary Agent BACKGROUND: The 10th General Assembly convened on January 11, 1864, and adjourned on March 29—a 79-day session. There were 138 members in the legislature. The members included 42 Republicans in the Senate and 87 Republicans in the House of Representatives. Democrats numbered four in the Senate and five in the House. Jacob Butler was the Speaker of the House, and Enoch W. Eastman was the Lt. Governor presiding in the Senate. William Stone was Iowa’s governor. Stone was inaugurated on January 14, 1864. He was 36 years old. Governor Stone, a friend of President Abraham Lincoln, rode Lincoln’s funeral train to Springfield, Illinois

Pieces of Iowa’s Past, March 13, 2013

Pieces of Iowa’s Past, published by the Iowa State Capitol Tour Guides weekly during the legislative session, features historical facts about Iowa, the Capitol, and the early workings of state government. All historical publications are reproduced here with the actual spelling, punctuation, and grammar retained. THIS WEEK: Judge Reuben Noble Praises the Iowa State Building at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition BACKGROUND: REUBEN NOBLE REUBEN NOBLE was born on the 14th of April, 1821, in Ada County, Mississippi, where his father was a farmer. When he was eighteen years of age, Noble began to study law and was admitted to the bar at twenty-one. In 1843, he came to Iowa, making his home at Garnavillo, in Clayton County. In 1854, Noble was elected to the legislature as a free soil Whig and upon the organization of the House was chosen Speaker, serving in the regular session of 1854 and extraordinary session of 1855. At the first Republican State Convention of 1856, he was placed at the head of the ticket for presidential elector. Four years later, he was a delegate to the National Convention that nominated Abraham Lincoln for president. Up to the time of the attempt of the Republicans to remove President Johnson by impeachment, Noble had been a prominent leader of that party. But approving of the policies of the President, he left the Republicans and from that time became a Democrat. In 1866, Noble was nominated by the Democrats for Representative in Congress but was defeated by William B. Allison. In 1886, he was one of the organizers of the Pioneer Lawmakers’ Association and was its first president, never missing a session during the remainder of his life. Noble was the leader of the bar of northeastern Iowa beginning in 1850. As a compliment to his high standing and eminent qualifications as a jurist, the citizens of the Tenth Judicial District elected him to tthe office of district judge in the fall of 1874. (History of Iowa from the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century/Volume 4)