Page:History of Iowa From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century Volume 4.djvu/126

 their way to the Chinese Capital and relieved the besieged ministers, who with their families and other Christiana had been shut up for weeks in the British legation buildings fighting day and night for their lives, subsisting a part of the time on mule meat. All through the terrible ordeal Major Conger was one of the bravest of the defenders and his wise counsel in the dire extremity was acknowledged by all to have aided materially in saving the little garrison from extermination. Returning home for a few months' rest Major Conger and family met with a hearty reception. After consultation with the President he returned to his post in China. JOHN CONNELL was born in Paisley, Scotland, on the 16th of March, 1824. His parents emigrated to the United States in 1831, settling in Connecticut, where the son remained until 1852, when he came to Iowa and located in Tama County. He lived on a farm near Buckingham and later moved to Toledo, being one of the early settlers in the county which helped to organize it. In 1864 he was the Whig candidate for Representative in the Fifth General Assembly for the Twenty-third Representative District composed of the counties of Poweshiek, Jasper, Benton and Tama, was elected and, when the Whig party ceased to exist, Mr. Connell united with the new Republican party. In September, 1862, he was appointed lieutenant-colonel of the Twenty-eighth Iowa Volunteer Infantry. In March, 1863, he was promoted to colonel and took command of the regiment. He was in Bank's Red River campaign, and at the Battle of Sabine Cross Roads lost his left arm and was taken prisoner. He retired from the service in March, 1866. In 1867 he was appointed Assessor of Internal Revenue for the Fourth District, serving until 1877, when he became collector of the same District. JAMES P. CONNOR was born January 27, 1861, in Delaware County, Indiana. When a child the family moved to Black Hawk County, Iowa, where he grew to manhood. He worked in the fields and attended the district school until the age of sixteen when he entered Upper Iowa University where, for four years, he earned the means to pay his expenses. In 1872 he entered the Law Department of the State University, graduating in June, 1873, beginning to practice the same year at Denison, which has since been his home. In 1880 he was elected District Attorney for the Thirteenth District, holding the office for four years, when he was chosen circuit judge, retaining that position until the change in the judicial system. In 1886 he was elected judge of the Sixteenth Judicial District, serving four years, when he resumed the practice of law. In 1900 Judge Connor was elected Representative in Congress from the Tenth District, and in 1902 he was reëlected, for a second term. He has been an active Republican and in 1892 was a delegate from Iowa to the National Republican Convention.