Mr. George W. Martin, who for fourteen years has been the Secretary of the Kansas State Historical Society, resigned on February 16, 1914, because of ill health and advanced years. To Mr. Martin, more than to any other one man, is the Society indebted for its growth and prosperity during the past decade. He is a man of strong personality — enthusiastic, energetic, and persevering; and not only has he given his time and labor unsparingly to the cause of history in his State, but he has always been ready to do his share in promoting historical activities in the Mississippi Valley as a whole. Mr. William E. Connelly, a man whose name is well known through his numerous writings, has succeeded Mr. Martin as Secretary.

THE STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF IOWA

The volume on The Quakers of Iowa, by Dr. Louis T. Jones, has been distributed to members.

A volume of nearly three hundred pages on the History of Township Government in Iowa, written by Dr. Clarence R. Aurner, Research Associate in the Society, has been put to press.

Mr. C. J. Fulton of Fairfield, Iowa, a member of the Society, is engaged in writing a history of Jefferson County.

Mr. Jacob Van der Zee, Research Associate in the Society, has nearly completed a series of articles covering the history of eastern Iowa before the year 1833. These articles will appear in The Iowa Journal of History and Politics during the coming year.

Mr. Hugh L. Cooper, a member of the Society, having completed the water power development of the Mississippi River Power Company at Keokuk, has opened offices in New York City where he will engage in the practice of general hydraulic engineering.

The Rev. John F. Kempker, a member of the Society, has been appointed Assistant in the St. Patrick's Church at Dubuque. A large part of his time will be devoted to the writing of a comprehensive history of the Catholic Church in Iowa, a task for which he is well fitted. He has been intimately connected with that

church in this State for nearly half a century, and he has already written and published many pages of Iowa history.

A new and enlarged edition of the Iowa Program for Study Clubs has recently been issued by The State Historical Society of Iowa under the new title of One Hundred Topics in Iowa History. The compiler is Dan Elbert Clark, Assistant Editor in the Society.

Mr. F. L. Vandegrift, a member of the Society, is the writer of a sketch of Kretzinger, the School Teacher, which appeared in the Keokuk Gate City of November 30, 1913. Mr. Vandegrift is the editor of a periodical known as The Earth, published in Chicago.

Four members of The State Historical Society of Iowa died during the past quarter, namely: Mr. C. C. Redfield of Blair, Nebraska; Mr. A. H. Wallace of Washington, Iowa; Hon. George D. Perkins of Sioux City, Iowa; and Dr. J. L. Pickard of Cupertino, California.

The following persons have recently been elected to membership in the Society: Mr. L. D. Daily, Milford, Iowa; Hon. W. P. Hepburn, Washington, D. C.; Mr. Seth E. Shenton, Indianola, Iowa; Mr. John E. Briggs, Iowa City, Iowa; Mr. Seine B. De Pree, Sioux Center, Iowa; Mr. J. L. Myers, South Bend, Washington; Mr. Glenn N. Merry, Iowa City, Iowa; Miss Franc Moon, Iowa City, Iowa; Mr. Bernard Murphy, Vinton, Iowa; Mr. O. K. Patton, Iowa City, Iowa; Mr. Jacob Sachs, Des Moines, Iowa; Mr. Leigh H. Wallace, Washington, Iowa; Mr. Charles F. Wennerstrum, Des Moines, Iowa; Mr. Redmond S. Cole, Pawnee, Oklahoma; Mr. H. M. Eicher, Washington, Iowa; Miss Ruth Fall, Albia, Iowa; Mr. W. W. Felkner, Iowa City, Iowa; Mr. C. S. Macy, Adel, Iowa; Mr. H. H. Sturges, Charter Oak, Iowa; Mr. Arthur A. Zimmerman, Ackley, Iowa.

MEETING OF THE SOCIETY ON FEBRUARY 24, 1914

A meeting of The State Historical Society of Iowa was held in the rooms of the Society on Saturday, February 21, 1914. In the afternoon there was a Conference-Seminar on methods of his

torical research and writing, the discussion being led by Dr. John C. Parish of Denver, Colorado, who for many years was actively connected with the work of the Society. Those who participated in the Conference-Seminar, in addition to the regular staff of the Society and members of the faculty of the State University, were: Dr. Milo M. Quaife, Superintendent of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin; Mr. Johnson Brigham, State Librarian of Iowa; Professor F. E. Haynes of Morningside College, Sioux City; Professors Louis B. Schmidt and John E. Brindley of the Iowa State College at Ames; and Professor Olynthus B. Clark of Drake University, Des Moines. The conference was held under the joint auspices of the Society and of the Department of History of the State University of Iowa.

In the evening Laenas Gifford Weld, formerly a Curator of the Society and now President of Pullman Institute in Chicago, delivered an entertaining and scholarly address on Some Decisive Episodes in Western History.

NOTES AND COMMENT

The Hamilton County Bar Association held a memorial meeting early in March in honor of the late Percival Knowles.

Citizens of Fairfield, Iowa, have asked the State Fair Association to appropriate money for the marking of the site in Fairfield where the first State Fair was held in 1854.

Mr. Charles Grilk has been elected president of the Davenport Academy of Sciences to succeed Mr. Edward K. Putnam.

Millard F. LeRoy, member of the lower house of the General Assembly of Iowa from Delaware County, died on February 21, 1914.

On March 2, 1914, occurred the death of Luman H. Weller, who from 1883 to 1885 was the Representative in Congress from the Fourth Congressional District of Iowa.

The city manager plan of municipal government has now been in successful operation for some time in Clarinda, Iowa, a city which in 1910 had a population of 3,832.

Funds have been raised for the erection of a granite boulder on the spot where the first election in Dallas County, Iowa, was held.

A memorial service was held in the town of Farley, Iowa, on January 16, 1914, in honor of the late Dr. W J McGee, who was born on a farm two miles north of that place.

The Old Trails Association is an organization with headquarters at Kansas City which has among its objects the preservation and improvement of the principal roads of pioneer days.

A special meeting of the League of Iowa Municipalities was held at Des Moines on February 11th for the purpose of considering the question of home rule for cities. Resolutions were adopted favor

ing legislation giving to cities and towns greater powers in the management of local affairs.

The Woman Teachers' Club of Dubuque is taking a great interest in local history and has asked the people of the city to contribute to a collection of historical material relating to Dubuque and vicinity.

Hereafter the small admittance fee which has been charged by the Davenport Academy of Sciences on certain days of the week will be discarded, and the institution will be open to the public, without charge, throughout the entire week.

A petition has recently been circulated and signed by many prominent Iowa people asking Congress to take favorable action on a bill for the erection of a suitable memorial to General Nathaniel Lyon.

A movement is on foot among the Swedish people of the State to raise money for the erection of a monument on the new capitol grounds at Des Moines to John Ericsson, the designer of the federal gun-boat, the Monitor.

Philo M. Jewell of Decorah, died on January 8, 1914. Mr. Jewell was a member of the House of Representatives in the Thirty-second and Thirty-third General Assemblies of Iowa and a State Senator during the two succeeding sessions.

A movement has been inaugurated among the newspaper men of the State to secure funds for the erection of a memorial to the late George D. Perkins on the capitol grounds at Des Moines.

A conference on child welfare, arranged by the Department of Economics and Sociology, was held at the State University of Iowa on March 31st, the principal speaker being Owen R. Lovejoy, General Secretary of the National Child Labor Committee.

A valuable discovery was recently made when the original journal kept by Sergeant John Ordway from May 14, 1804, to September 30, 1805, while on the Lewis and Clark Expedition, was found among the Nicholas Biddle papers. The journal is now in the