Page:History of Iowa From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century Volume 4.djvu/527

 interest in the freedom of a republican government which welcomed them as citizens. When the Civil War came they were a unit in support of the Government which wiped out the blot of slavery. Mr. Varga and many of the Hungarian patriots joined the Union army and again fought for freedom. He held many official positions in his new home and was a great admirer of the American Government. He had been admitted to the bar in Hungary in 1840 and practiced his profession for sixty-one years. He died at Leon on the 5th of April, 1902. PHILIP VIELE was born in Pittstown, New York, on the 10th of September, 1709. He graduated at Union College and studied law. An eloquent public speaker he became famous as the “boy orator” in the Jackson campaign. In 1837 he emigrated to the “Black Hawk Purchase,” making the long journey by stage coach and river steamer. He located at Fort Madison which became his permanent home. In 1840 he left the Democratic party and took the stump for General Harrison for President. He was chosen probate judge in 1846, serving six years and in 1852 was nominated by the Whigs for Representative in Congress and made a vigorous campaign but was defeated by Bernhart Henn, Democrat. He was a delegate in 1856 to the convention which organized the Republican party of Iowa and presided over its deliberations. In his opening address he suggested the policy which was adopted by the new party. In 1859 he was chosen a member of the State Board of Education and served two years. HENRY VOLLMER was born in Davenport, Iowa, in 1867. He received his education in that city, the Iowa State University and Georgetown University at Washington, D. C. He took a thorough law course, was admitted to the bar and began practice in Davenport. He early developed a talent for public speaking which brought him into prominence as one of the young leaders of the Democratic party. In 1893 he was first chosen mayor of Davenport and at once applied himself to the inauguration of municipal reforms. He was the youngest mayor in a city of the first class in the United States. He was three times reëlected and secured the erection of a fine city hall without an increase of taxation. In 1893 he was chosen president of the Democratic State Convention and delivered an address which for eloquence and ability gave him more than a State-wide reputation as a public speaker. He was one of the leaders of what is termed the sound money wing of the Democratic party of Iowa in the presidential campaign of 1896. CHARLES WACHSMUTH, crinoid specialist, was born in Hanover, Germany, September 13, 1820. From early youth his health was delicate and at the age of sixteen he was obliged to abandon study. In 1852 he