Page:History of Iowa From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century Volume 4.djvu/152

 association by default. Mr. Devin was present and asked permission of the judge to appear for the association of which he was president. The judge consented and upon explanation by Mr. Devin, he refused to have a default entered and postponed the case until the attorney could be present. At another time a bond of $50,000 was required to be given by the association and Mr. Devin soon made it up through his influence among business men who had implicit confidence in his management and judgment. Mr. Devin raised the money to pay for the first car load of wire to start the farmers' free factory and all through the struggle with the syndicate was a tower of strength to the association. He was active, alert, full of resources to meet and overcome all obstacles and never for a moment contemplated or feared defeat. In 1878 he was nominated by both the Democrats and Greenback party for State Treasurer but the Republican majority was too large to be overcome and he was not elected, although he received a large vote. WILLIAM DEWEY was born on the 26th of March, 1811, in the town of Sheffield, Massachusetts, was educated at West Point Military Academy and later studied law with his father and was admitted to the bar of Indiana in 1830. After practicing law a few years he studied medicine at the St. Louis Medical College, then came to Iowa, becoming a resident of Wapello County in 1842. In 1850 he was one of the commissioners appointed to settle the disputed boundary line between Iowa and Missouri. After completing that work he removed to Sidney, Fremont County, where he was engaged in the practice of medicine when the Rebellion began. Early in 1861 he assisted Colonel Hugh T. Reid to raise the Fifteenth Iowa Infantry, was commissioned lieutenant-colonel and was with it in the Battle of Shiloh and the siege of Corinth. In August, 1862, he was promoted to colonel of the Twenty-third Iowa Infantry. While in command of that regiment at Patterson, Missouri, he died of erysipelas on the 30th of November, 1862. PETER A. DEY was born at Romulus, Seneca County, New York, January 27, 1825. He received his education in the public schools and at Geneva College, New York. He became a civil engineer and moved to Iowa City, Iowa, where he followed his profession in railroad construction. It was while in the line of his profession that a supreme test of the character of the man was made. The notorious “Credit Mobilier of America” had been organized by Thomas C. Durant, Oliver Ames, Oakes Ames and other capitalists for the purpose of constructing the Pacific Railroad. The Government subsidies granted for the construction of the road amounted to the enormous sum of $64,000 a mile for a part, and $96,000 a mile for the remainder. Peter A. Dey was the chief engineer of the construction, and having made a survey of the first hundred miles reported that it could be