Page:History of Iowa From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century Volume 4.djvu/346

 resignation of Kirk wood. The term ended March 4, 1883. Judge McDill was again appointed Railroad Commissioner for three years from April, 1884. He was appointed by President Harrison one of the members of the Inter-State Commerce Commission, which place he held at the time of his death which occurred on the 28th of February, 1894. W J McGEE was born in Dubuque County, Iowa, April 17, 1853. In youth he worked on a farm and in a blacksmith shop and became a land surveyor. He was a student, securing a good knowledge of Latin and higher mathematics. Early in the seventies he went to Farley where he invented and had patented several mechanical devices, chiefly improvements in agricultural implements. About this time he began to take an interest in geology and archeology and made an amateur geological survey, covering 17,000 square miles in northeastern Iowa, being the most extensive survey ever made at private expense. From 1883 to 1893 he was in charge of the coastal plain operations of the United States Geological Survey, compiling many geological maps and making personal surveys covering more than 300,000 square miles. He has published several volumes and many papers on geological and anthropological subjects. Professor McGee has established various new principles in glacial and general geology, as well as tracing the beginnings of agriculture, marriage, domestication of animals, etc., in the field of anthropology. In addition to his official position in charge of the Bureau of American Ethnology at Washington, Professor McGee is non-resident professor of anthropology in the State University of Iowa and was representative of the United States Geological Survey in the International Geological Congress at Berlin in 1887; acting president of the American Association for Advancement of Science, 1897; president of the Anthropological Society of Washington, 1897-99; vice-president of the National Geographic Society, 1898-9; first president of the American Anthropological Association and vice-president of the Ordicalogical Institute of America. He is a member of leading scientific and historical societies, being founder of Columbia Historical Society and first editor of the Geological Society of America. JOHN F. McJUNKIN was born in Washington County, Pennsylvania, September 23, 1830. He attended the public schools until qualified to teach, when for several years he earned by that occupation enough to secure an excellent education. In 1857 he began to study law and was admitted to the bar in 1858. The following year he located in Washington County, Iowa, and entered upon the practice of his profession. He was elected to the State Senate in the fall of 1863 on the Republican ticket, serving in the Tenth and Eleventh General Assemblies. Mr. McJunkin was the author of the joint resolutions adopted by the Tenth General Assembly instructing our Senators and Representatives in Congress to