Page:History of Iowa From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century Volume 4.djvu/324

 editor of the Iowa City Republican, He was a delegate to the convention of 1856 which organized the Republican party of Iowa. He was one of the first regents of the State University, helped to organize that institution and was chairman of the committee which selected the faculty. He served for seven years as treasurer of the University. In 1856 Mr. Lathrop sold the Republican and moving onto a farm began to experiment in fruit raising. He was one of the founders of the State Horticultural Society and for more than half a century was a contributor to its work. He was for many years librarian of the State Historical Society and the author of many valuable historical articles for the Annals of Iowa and the Historical Record. Mr. Lathrop's most enduring work in history and biography is the “Life and Times of Samuel J. Kirkwood,” a book of four hundred and seventy-four pages, published in 1893. It is an exceedingly valuable contribution to the annals of the most important and exciting period of our State's history. JACOB G. LAUMAN was born in Tarrytown, Maryland, on the 20th of January, 1813. He came to Iowa in 1844, locating at Burlington where he engaged in mercantile business. At the beginning of the Rebellion he was active in raising military companies and on July 7, 1861, was commissioned colonel of the Seventh Regiment of Volunteer Infantry. His first battle was at Belmont where the Seventh Regiment was greatly distinguished for gallant conduct and suffered greater loss than any other regiment taking part in the engagement, amounting to more than four hundred in killed, wounded and missing. Colonel Lauman was among the wounded. At the Battle of Fort Donelson he was placed in command of a brigade and again greatly distinguished himself, receiving promotion to the rank of Brigadier-General. He commanded a brigade at Shiloh and at the Hatchie. At the Battle of Jackson he commanded a division and through a misunderstanding of orders it met with very heavy loss. At the close of the engagement General Lauman was relieved of his command and this closed his military career. ALBERT M. LEA, who gave the name to Iowa before it had an organized existence as a Territory or State, was born in east Tennessee in 1807. With a common school education he entered the Military Academy at West Point in 1827 from which he graduated in 1831. He was appointed second lieutenant in the artillery service. In 1832 he was detached on topographic work and in 1834 was transferred to the First Dragoons, in the company commanded by Captain Jesse B. Browne. The regiment was sent to the upper Mississippi with headquarters at old Fort Des Moines (now Montrose) in Lee County, Iowa. It was from here in 1835 that Lieutenant Lea accompanied the exploring expedition under Captain Boone which marched through the wild regions bordering on the