He was highly regarded in the Masonic Fraternity, of which he was a prominent member. His sterling qualities of character were everywhere recognized by those with whom he associated. 66 His mind was pure, and free from pride and prejudice," said Mr. F. D. Lindsley in speaking of Mr. Parsons as a Mason, "he was in deed and in truth to every Mason a brother, yet outside the limits of our institution, or of any society, he could see a brother, and because of this his mind was prepared for the reception of truth and wisdom. He learned the just estimate of those wondrous faculties with which God had endowed His creatures created after His own image; and he was thereby enabled to glorify Him, and to be himself a contributor to the happiness of mankind.”

Mr. Parsons was modest and unassuming in his manner. He gave liberally to benevolent enterprises, but always in that quiet, unpretentious way that was characteristic of the Like most mortals, he had his faults. Men without faults are apt to be men without force. The faults of his great and generous nature were the shadows which his vir

man.

tues cast.

On Tuesday, February 12th, Mr. Parsons went to Kansas City on business, where two days later he was taken seriously ill. His physician advised him to remain there; but the thought of being sick away from home he could not endure. Taking the first train, he reached Iowa City February 15th. and was taken directly to his home, where medical skill and loving hands did all that could be done to overcome the ravages of the disease. But his bodily strength was not sufficient to hold out against the malady, and he passed quietly away February 28th, surrounded by his family.

Thus closed the life of one who was a friend to everybody, and had everybody for his friend. His life, though lost to us, like the crystal stream, flows on. It was not absorbed by the hot sands of any sordid ambition, but it "fell over the rock-edged precipice of mortality and sought the sea level of the infinite."

BANCROFT.

BY ISADORE BAKER.

NAME endeared to time and history,
In bond of brotherhood to all mankind,
Who seek in truth and spirit highest good:
Interpreter of great events and deeds,
In lofty prose of chaste and classic mold,
The statesman, scholar, patriot, and sage.
As from the painter's canvas live again
The old Greek heroes of a golden age,
So men of great colonial type look down
From rare Pantheon of immortal words!
Nor greater monument hath man than this,-
The love and homage of his century,

As one who with unfailing purpose wrought
The just fulfillment of ideal task;

The later Iliad of a nobler Troy

Than fabled epic of Olympian days.

THE IOWA DELEGATION IN THE REPUBLICAN NATIONAL CONVENTION OF 1860.

DES MOINES, Iowa, May 4th, 1895.

To The Iowa Historical Record:

Y attention has been called to an article published in The Chicago Tribune within the past few weeks, purporting to be taken from The Marshall Times-Republican, in which the statement is made that the State of Iowa, by its representation in the Chicago Convention that nominated Mr. Lincoln, in 1860, was not favorable to Mr. Lincoln's nomination, but was for Mr. Seward, and the writer of the article gives, as a reason for this supposed fact, that the Chicago press at that time had not so much influence in Iowa as now, but that our people were in the habit of reading, and were largely influenced by, the political views of the New York press.

Now that history has canonized the memory of Mr. Lincoln in the hearts of the American people, I think it important that the facts should be correctly stated with reference to the position of Iowa's delegation in the Chicago Convention.

The State Convention that nominated the delegates to the National Republican Convention of 1860, in order to fully represent the views of the various portions of the State, selected thirty-two delegates to represent the State and cast the eight votes to which Iowa was entitled in the National Republican Convention. The following is a list of these delegates as taken from the official record published by authority of the Convention:

At Large-Wm. Penn Clarke, Iowa City; L. C. Noble, West Union; John A. Kasson, Des Moines; Henry O'Connor, Muscatine; J. F. Wilson, Fairfield; J. W. Rankin, Keokuk; M. L. McPherson, Winterset; C. F. Clarkson, Metropolis; N. J. Rusch, Davenport; H. P. Scholte, Pella; John Johns, Fort Dodge.

Districts-Alvin Saunders, Mount Pleasant; J. C. Walker, Fort Madison; Jos. Caldwell, Ottumwa; M. Baker, Congdon; Benj. Rector, Sidney; Geo. A. Hawley, Leon; H. M. Hoxie, Des Moines; Jacob Butler, Muscatine; Thos. Seeley, Guthrie Center; C. C. Nourse, Des Moines; Wm. M. Stone, Knoxville; J. B. Grinnell, Grinnell; Wm. A. Warren, Bellevue; John W. Thompson, Davenport; John Shane, Vinton; Wm. Smythe, Marion; Wm. B. Allison, Dubuque; A. F. Brown, Cedar Falls; Reuben Noble, McGregor; E. G. Bowdoin, Rockford; W. P. Hepburn, Marshalltown; J. J. Brown, Eldora.

The State was entitled to cast only eight votes, and the Convention decided that the smallest fractional vote that might be cast for any candidate should be one-half of a vote. We had in the delegation nine original Seward men. Among these nine, I recollect distinctly, were William Penn Clarke, the Chairman of the delegation; Henry O'Connor, of Muscatine; Reuben Noble, of Clayton County, and Jacob Butler, of Muscatine.

Of the original Lincoln men in the delegation we had eight entitled to cast two votes. Among these, I recollect distinctly, were Mr. Alvin Saunders, since Territorial Governor, and United States Senator from Nebraska; James F. Wilson, of Fairfield, since a member of Congress and United States Senator from Iowa; Thomas Seeley, of Guthrie; Wm. M. Stone, since Governor of Iowa; and the writer of this article.

Mr. Kasson was for Bates, of Missouri. Governor Kirkwood, elected in 1859 Governor of Iowa, was present in Chicago at the time, and was very active in laboring for the nomination of Mr. Lincoln.

I see the name of Mr. Allison, of Dubuque, among the delegates, and also Mr. Hepburn, but I cannot now recall their position with reference to the candidates.

I remember distinctly there was a controversy between the Lincoln and Seward men as to whether or not Mr. Seward should receive more than two votes on the first and second ballots. The Lincoln men in the delegation, however, were very anxious that Mr. Seward's vote should not appear larger than that of Mr. Lincoln, and as a fractional one-fourth could not be counted, that fraction was given to one of the other candidates. It is not correct to say that a majority of the delegates were in favor of Mr. Seward's nomination.

The vote of Iowa on the first ballot stood as follows: Lincoln, 2; Seward, 2; Cameron, 1; Bates, 1; McLean, 1; Chase, I.

On the second ballot the vote of Iowa stood as follows: Lincoln, 5; Seward, 2; Chase, 2; McLean, 1⁄2.

On the third ballot the vote of Iowa stood as follows: Seward, 2; Chase, 2; Lincoln, 5%.

Before the result was announced by the Chairman of the Convention, the delegates began to change their votes, and Iowa cast its entire eight votes for Mr. Lincoln.

The statement, therefore, that the Iowa Republicans were influenced by the New York press at that time, and that that fact accounted for their preference of Mr. Seward, is not

correct, because Mr. Seward never was the choice of a majority of the delegates, and the New York paper that was most extensively read in Iowa by Republicans at that time was the New York Tribune, then edited by Horace Greely, and he and his paper were laboring zealously for the nomination of Mr. Bates, of Missouri, and were hostile to the nomination of Mr. Seward.

I write this to keep history straight. Whatever of honor Iowa is entitled to for having contributed to Mr. Lincoln's nomination she ought not to be deprived of by misapprehension of the facts.

No

I doubt if any delegate who voted for Mr. Lincoln's nomination realized how well and wisely he was choosing. one could have foreseen the crisis through which the Nation was to pass, and the high qualities of the patriot we were calling to the responsible duties that devolved upon our nomiThere is no doubt a special and overruling Providence gave us the man so necessary to our safety as a Nation. But even if it was by accident that we guessed what was best, we are still entitled to cherish the memory of a duty so well performed.

nee.

C. C. NOURSE.

EARLY METHODISM IN NORTHWEST IOWA.

BY REV. W. AVERY RICHARDS, MERRILL, IOWA.

T is a matter of deep regret that in the work of forming and establishing Church Organizations, other enterprises and institutions, as well as Commonwealths, whose influence for good is to be felt perhaps for all time to come, that the founders have often failed to forecast the Future, so as to realize the importance of noting down and seeking to preserve names, dates, and striking incidents, as historic data, of such vital interest to coming generations.