Page:History of Iowa From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century Volume 4.djvu/425

 Assemblies, and as chairman of the judiciary committee in the session of 1868. At the close of his term in the Senate Mr. Powers was elected District Attorney for the Ninth Judicial District, serving by reëlections for ten years. ALFRED N. POYNEER was born in Connecticut in 1831 where he was reared on a farm and received his early education. In 1861 he removed to Iowa, locating on a farm in Tama County where the remainder of his life was spent. He took an active interest in public affairs and was a member of the Republican party. In 1881 he was elected to the State Senate from the district composed of the counties of Tama and Poweshiek. He served in this position for eight years and was one of the influential members of that body. In 1889 he was the Republican candidate for Lieutenant-Governor and was elected, while his associate on the ticket for Governor was defeated. After serving two years as President of the Senate, Governor Poyneer was appointed one of the commissioners to revise the revenue laws of the State. He died at Montour, August 28, 1897. GILBERT B. PRAY was born at Michigan City, Indiana, April 27, 1847. His father located at Webster City, Iowa, in 1856, where the son received his education in the public schools. He enlisted in the Sixteenth Iowa Volunteer Infantry in 1864, participated in the Battle of Nashville and in General Sherman's campaigns. At the close of the war he entered the law office of Judge D. D. Chase, pursuing his studies three years and was admitted to the bar in 1868, then entering upon the practice of his profession. In 1882 he was elected Clerk of the Supreme Court, holding the position for twelve years by successive reëlections. He served many years on the Republican State Central Committee, and was twice chairman, conducting important political campaigns successfully. In 1886 in association with Ex-Governor Frank D. Jackson and Sidney A. Foster and other gentlemen, he assisted in organizing the Royal Mutual Union Life Insurance Company at Des Moines, of which he was chosen treasurer. In 1897 he was appointed by President McKinley Surveyor-General of Alaska, but declined. He was soon after appointed a special agent of the Indian Bureau and entered upon the duties of the office. HENRY O. PRATT was born in Foxcroft, Maine, February 11, 1838. He was educated at the academy of his native village and at Harvard, where he graduated in the Law Department. Mr. Pratt removed to Iowa in 1862, enlisted as a private in the Union army and served through the War of the Rebellion. He returned to Charles City where he entered upon the practice of law. In 1868 he was elected to the Iowa Legislature on the Republican ticket and reëlected at the close of his first term. He