Delazon Smith was a Democrat in politics, but becoming dissatisfied with the course of the Democratic party in Iowa and not being in sympathy with Thompson's candidacy for the office from which he had just been excluded, he determined to bolt the party at this crisis and become a candidate for the office for which Miller and Thompson were both again to be contestants. Whether Smith entertained seriously the thought that he really stood a good chance for election to Congress, or simply hoped to draw enough votes from the Democrats to defeat Thompson and elect Miller can not be judged with any degree of certainty. But whatever his real motives were, Smith's entrance into the field as an independent candidate was the cause of considerable anxiety to the Democrats.

Delazon Smith was, as a matter of fact, an astute political manager, an orator of exceptional ability, and a man of prepossessing personality.215 Some idea of his ability and influence may be gained from the fact that he was Thompson's competitor for the Democratic nomination for Congress in 1848, and that after figuring prominently in Iowa politics in these early years, he emigrated to Oregon where in 1857 he was elected a delegate to the convention which adopted the Oregon Constitution and in 1859 was elected as one of the first United States Senators from that State.216

Smith's independent candidacy for Congress at this juncture was well summed up by the editor of the Muscatine Journal as follows:

The above-named gentleman, generally known as "Delusion Smith", or the "lost Tyler Man," is creating quite an uproar in the household of the faithful. He has been living on "hope deferred" long enough, and has announced himself as an independent Democratic candidate for Congress, in the First District. The election to fill the vacancy occasioned by the ejection of Thompson from the 215 Statement of Judge C. C. Nourse to the writer.

216 Annals of Iowa (Third Series), Vol. IV, p. 624.

seat which he acquired by fraud and theft, is, according to the proclamation of Gov. Briggs, to take place on the 24th day of September, 1850. David [Daniel] F. Miller will be the Whig candidate; it is supposed that Thompson will receive the locofoco nomination. Smith, knowing the dissatisfaction which exists among the locos in reference to Thompson, has concluded that there will be a chance for him has entered the field and is now engaged in stumping the District. As a man of talent, he is far in advance of Thompson, and, indeed, as a stump orator, the Locos have no man in their ranks that will equal him.217

The triangular campaign which followed, though short, was nevertheless an exciting one. A number of speeches were delivered by Delazon Smith. The party editors renewed the already familiar lines of attack and ridiculed the independent candidacy of Smith. No special incidents, however, marked the campaign. As the day of election approached there was much speculation as to the outcome. It was freely predicted that Miller would win.

The election was held on September 24th. The vote, as announced officially from Iowa City by the Board of Canvassers, stood as follows: Daniel F. Miller, 5463; William Thompson, 4801; Delazon Smith, 365; and scattering, 24. Miller therefore had a majority of 662 votes over Thompson and was elected to represent the First Congressional District of Iowa in the Second Session of the Thirty-first Congress. Miller carried thirteen of the twenty-one counties in the district while Thompson carried the remaining eight. Pottawattamie County (now organized) gave Miller 273 votes and Thompson 56. Smith's candidacy did not affect the general result, for even if the vote given to him be added to the vote received by Thompson, Miller would still have a majority over Thompson of 297 votes. The following table gives the vote by counties for Miller and Thompson and the third party candidate in both the regular congres217 Muscatine Journal, Vol. II, No. 15, August 31, 1850.

sional election of 1848 and the special congressional election of 1850:

The election returns were slow in coming in, and it was several weeks before the result was officially declared. The announcement that Miller was elected evoked from the editor of the Keokuk Register the following comment: "Let 662 be the handwriting on the wall, to strike terror to the hearts of Poll-book thieves in all time to come when they shall present themselves for the suffrages of an honest people. ''219 Other Whig editors expressed themselves in

218 Election returns as found in the Archives at Des Moines.

219 Quoted from the Keokuk Register in the Muscatine Journal, Vol. II, No. 25, November 16, 1850.

similar fashion. The Democratic editors had nothing to say.

Immediately after the official announcement, Daniel F. Miller hastened to Washington. On December 20th he presented his certificate of election duly certified by the Governor of Iowa and was admitted to his seat in the House. Thus ended the most famous contested congressional election case in the history of Iowa and one of the most famous in the history of the nation.

THE IOWA STATE COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE AND MECHANIC ARTS AMES IOWA

LOUIS B. SCHMIDT

THE SEALS OF IOWA

[The following brief statement concerning the seals of the Territory and State of Iowa was compiled by Mr. Jacob Van der Zee, Research Associate in The State Historical Society of Iowa.- EDITOR.]

THE SEAL OF THE TERRITORY OF IOWA

The great seal of the Territory of Iowa originated in the year 1838. Its design is credited to William B. Conway, first Secretary of the Territory, and the engraving was the work of a Pennsylvanian, William Wagner.1 In compliance with the request of the Legislative Council, Mr. Conway transmitted a die of the new seal and some impressions on wax and paper, together with the following communication: 2

The device is believed to be simple; and, with the highest deference to the good taste and sound criticism of the Honorable Council, it is regarded as perfectly expressive of a distinct idea, intimately associated with the history of the delightful country which we have the happiness to inhabit; and for which it is the sacred duty and lofty privilege of the Legislative Authorities, to provide wise, equitable, and salutary laws.

The slightest examination of the seal will disclose to the Honorable Council, the Eagle, the proud and appropriate emblem of our national power, bearing in its beak, an Indian arrow, and clutching, in its talons, an unstrung bow; and while the idea thus delicately evolved, is so well calculated to make the eye glisten with patriotic pride, and cause the heart to beat high with the pulsations of conscious superiority, it nevertheless presents a touching appeal to our manly sensibilities, in contemplating the dreary destiny of a de

1 This is the name given by Mr. Theodore S. Parvin in the Annals of Iowa, Vol. I-V, p. 264. The same writer has another article in the Iowa Historical Record, Vol. VII, p. 41, and he there refers to a Mr. Wagoner of Pittsburgh. See also the Journal of the House of Representatives, 1838-1839, p. 58.

2 Journal of the Legislative Council, 1838-1839, p. 45.