Page:History of Iowa From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century Volume 4.djvu/558

 THOMAS F. WITHROW was born in Kanawha County, West Virginia, on the 6th of March, 1833. His father was a strong opponent of slavery and removed to the free State of Ohio when his son was a boy. Thomas received a good education and at the age of twenty-one became the editor of the Mt. Vernon Republican. In 1855 he removed to Janesville, Wisconsin, where he was one of the editors of the Free Press. He began the study of law and the year following removed to Fort Madison, Iowa, and entered the law office of Miller & Beck and was admitted to the bar in 1857. Governor Lowe selected him for his private secretary in 1858 when he entered upon the duties of the executive office and at the close of his term, when the Governor became one of the Supreme Judges, Mr. Withrow was appointed Reporter of the Supreme Court, a position which he held seven years. During that time he compiled and published thirteen volumes of reports. When he entered upon the practice of his profession, the firm of Withrow, Gatch & Wright was formed which continued until 1872. In 1866, Mr. Withrow was chosen chairman of the Republican State Committee and for several years was one of the influential managers of the party. In 1873 he was appointed general solicitor of the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad Company and removed to Chicago which became his permanent home. For twenty years he held the important position which took him from Iowa, becoming one of the great lawyers of the west. He died suddenly in the zenith of his intellectual powers, on the 3d of February, 1893. ANNIE TURNER WITTENMYER, an Iowa woman who won the enduring gratitude of hundreds of soldiers during the Civil War, was born at Sandy Springs, Adams County, Ohio, on the 26th of August, 1827. She developed remarkable gifts for writing, before she was thirteen years of age. Her poetry at that time attracted attention and she became a regular contributor some years later to various publications. She was married in 1847, and three years later came with her husband to Iowa, locating in Keokuk. There were no public schools in the village at that time and Mrs. Wittenmyer opened a free school for children of the poor. With the help of other women this school was maintained for many years, accomplishing great good. When the War of the Rebellion began, she was one of the first to assist in organizing Soldiers' Aid Societies which did so much in relieving the wants of soldiers in the field and hospitals. She visited the army in the field early in 1861 and began to collect and distribute supplies for camps and hospitals. She wrote letters from the army to the newspapers telling the needs of the soldiers and soon had her entire time occupied in receiving and distributing the contributions of the generous people of the State. A record of her work during the war would fill a volume. She was appointed one of the State Sanitary Agents for Iowa and during her administration collected and distributed more than $160,000 worth of sanitary supplies. She was active in securing