Page:History of Iowa From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century Volume 4.djvu/467

 public school winters. He entered Cornell College at sixteen, supporting himself while pursuing his studies. In 1878 he began the study of law in the office of Charles A. Bishop and two years later was admitted to the bar and began practice at La Porte. In 1889 he removed to Vinton and soon became a prominent leader in the Democratic party, serving on the State Central Committee, and was for seven years secretary or chairman of the executive committee. In 1887 he was chairman of the committee, and in 1888 was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention. In 1892 he was again a delegate and served as secretary of the National Convention. In 1893 he was president of the Democratic State Convention. In 1894 he was appointed by President Cleveland United States Attorney for the Northern District of Iowa. In 1899 he was again president of the Democratic State Convention and in 1900 chairman of the Iowa delegation in the National Democratic Convention at Kansas City. Mr. Sells served on the staff of Governor Boies for four years and in 1892 was elected trustee of the State College of Agriculture.  ELIJAH SELLS was born in Franklin County, Ohio, February 14, 1814. His father served under General Harrison in the War of 1812. The son came to Iowa in 1841, locating at Muscatine, where he engaged in business. He took a deep interest in the free soil movement and at one of the early Whig conventions secured the adoption of resolutions declaring it to be the duty of Congress to prohibit slavery in the Territories. This was the first convention in the State to make the declaration which afterwards became the cardinal doctrine of the Republican party. In 1844 he was a member of the First Constitutional Convention. He was elected a member of the First General Assembly of the State and again in 1852 served in the House. Mr. Sells was a delegate to the convention which organized the Republican party, was nominated for Secretary of State and elected. He was twice reëlected, serving six years. In 1863 he was appointed paymaster in the army and afterwards held a position in the navy. He also served as Third Auditor of the Treasury. In 1865 he was appointed superintendent of Indian Affairs in one of the southern districts and removed to Kansas. He served three terms in the Kansas Legislature and in 1878 removed to Utah. In 1889 he was appointed Secretary of Utah Territory, serving four years. Mr. Sells died at Salt Lake City, March 13, 1897. JOSHUA M. SHAFFER was born in Washington, Pennsylvania, September 13, 1830, where he attended the common schools, graduating from the Medical Department of the Pennsylvania University. He has received the degrees of A. B., A. M. and M. D. In 1852 he came to Iowa, making his home at Fairfield, in Jefferson County, where he practiced medicine. In 1854 he was one of the organizers of the State Agricultural