1875 A. T. Andreas Atlas
1880 Dubuque County History
Honorable William B. Allison
Eugene Anderson
Sanford A. Atherton
Honorable Isaac W. Baldwin
Dickson Beatty
F. E. Behrens
Henry Bockenstedt
John Bomacke
General Caleb Hoskins Booth
Nicholas Bray, M. D.
William Bray, M. D.
Edward Brown
John D. Bush
Edward Butler
Cascade Biographies
Dr. Rodolphus Clark
Bernhard Claus, Jr.
Frank W. Coates
Honorable Dennis Nelson Cooley
Reverend Mark Cooney
Hugh Corrance
Patrick F. Cunningham
Mell H. Cushing
Peter Dawson
John Driscoll
Charles Henry Eighmey
Jesse P. Farley
George Fengler
Mrs. Catherine Fries
Albert Gasser
Henry Gehrig
A. P. Gibbs
Theodor Goerdt
John R. Goldthorp
Honorable Julius Graves
Charles H. Gregoire
Ezra Gregory
Daniel Hallahan
Nicholas Hansen
Honorable Thomas Hardie
Henry Henkels
Rev. James Hill
Nancy R. Hill, M. D.
Asa Horr, M. D.
James Howie
Edward R. Jackson, M. D.
Francis Jaeger
Henry J. Jecklin
Reverend Clement Johannes
Evan E. Jones
General George Wallace Jones
John Kantlehner
Joseph K. Kaufmann
James Kelly
John Kleinschmidt
F. H. Klostermann
A. R. Knight
Honorable Frederick M. Knoll
Paul Lattner
Honorable Wendelin Lattner
Thomas Lochner
Christian Loetscher
Norton J. Loomis
Delos E. Lyon
J. E. Maguire, M. D.
W. A. Manhart
George Marshall
M. H. Martin
Honorable James McCann
Benjamin McCluer, M. D.
Susan Ann McCraney
A. S. McDermott
James and Martha McGee
James McGrath
M. F. McNamara
Jacob Michel
Charles Miller
Adam Mink
George Mollart
William J. Morgans
James Mullin
Dorrance Dixon Myers
Nicholas P. Nicks
Frederick R. Nitzsche, M. D.
J. J. E. Norman
Honorable Peter Olinger
Bernard J. O'Neill
John P. Page
Frank Paley
John Palmer
Rev. Frederick William Pape
Thomas Phillips
Joseph Platz
Andrew Rahe
Honorable James Rowan
Reverend Roger Ryan
George Salot
Colonel C. J. W. Saunders
John Sauser, Jr.
Joseph Schemmel
George Schmitt
Short Biographies
Joseph Simones
John F. Sloan
Charles F. Smyth
Johanna (Baker) Specht
Ralph Spensley
Daniel Stallard
J. Peter Stendebach
Honorable William W. Stewart
Oren Stuart, M. D.
James Sweeney
John Tibey
Paul Traut
Matthew Tschirgi
Hon. Christian Anton Voelker
Chester H. Walker
William Watson, M. D.
F. W. Wieland
Louis Witter
Jacob Zollicoffer

DISCLAIMER:

You are free to use the information found on Dubuque Genealogy for research purposes. It is not for resale.

Dubuque Genealogy Coordinator

HOME

Logo by Ginger Cisewski

HON. DENNIS NELSON COOLEY, deceased, was a man endowed with courage, endurance, a clear head and a large heart. He sprang from one of the oldest and best New England families, dating his paternal ancestry back to the advent of the first Scotch Protestants in this country. His grandfather, Aaron Cooley, was a Major in the Revolutionary War. His maternal ancestors were French-English, and were noted for their courage, manliness and undying adherence to principle. Sprung from such sturdy stock, Mr. Cooley began life equipped for its battles by his priceless inheritance. Left fatherless at two years of age, his early life was one of privation, but obstacles were overcome by energy, and hardships were cheerfully met. The New England fireside, hillside and schoolhouse furnished him his education, and when he began work on the farm he won from nature her secrets, and gained for his future, habits of industry, self-reliance and perseverance. Ambitious for a broader field of action, and cherishing the hope of becoming a lawyer, he worked and gained both time and money, until 1844 found him equal to the examination for West Point, an appointment that he received but declined. He was also ready for Dartmouth College, with money enough saved to enter business, and a surplus to buy a private law library. By working days and studying nights he fitted himself for his chosen profession, and previous to his admission to the Bar he held various positions of trust, early showing those diversified talents in political life, social and intellectual intercourse, which have marked him already in his professional and commercial relations. In 1852 he came to Iowa, then a trackless prairie, and the battle of life, entered upon among the rugged New England hills, was then waged on the broad prairies. He won success, not by chance, but because his plans of action were carried out with wise foresight and unflagging endeavor. He always took his stand and held it on a political question or a religious belief, never leaving his position to conjecture. His patriotism was ever too ardent to lend its ear to the voice of mere policy. He was a stanch Republican, but conceded to others the right of opinion. His judgment strengthened and enlightened by close attention to questions of the day, his love of study. His close application during years of public trust to questions of finance, legislation, social and religious life, his ability to logically uphold the views which he believed sound, his clear perception and expression of thought, marked him as a conversationalist of rare power. His knowledge of men and the world, gained by wide travel and life filled with opportunities of mingling with the world's best minds. Together with a personal magnetism of exceptional strength, made him a friend of rich and poor alike, and he is mourned by countless hearts who have been cheered or helped by his sympathy or bounty.

A lawyer by birth and profession, Mr. Cooley attained distinction in the business world as a capitalist and banker, and in public life as Commissioner to South Carolina, Commissioner of Indian Affairs and as State Senator for Iowa, being most prominent politically for many years. In educational matters one of the foremost men in Iowa, giving unstintedly of his wealth, he was also a generous giver to the church, and was its representative in many positions of power and honor. A Christian gentleman, peerless in his purity, unsullied in his reputation, his daily life adorned his profession and was without reproach. As a man of broad, liberal cultures, a model representative of that class of solid and progressive men to which he pre-eminently belonged. Judge Cooley left behind him a name to be revered, a career to serve as a model for the many young men whose feet he has turned into paths of usefulness. In religious work, in the social world, in business centers and along educational lines, he is greatly missed, for he was prominent and helpful in all. His life has that highest tribute due it, success, because it was lived for others, because its whole tendency was for good.

To his family Judge Cooley was idol and ideal. For his children he devoted himself to the study of everything that would foster and prosper their best interests. He called his life well spent and his duty well done only as he sought to render his wife and children happy, and to make their lives of brighter promise and more abundant fulfillment. Were we to build his monument, the base would be strong and deep, like his life purpose; no frost could heave it, no tempest move; its shaft would be like his life, beautiful, white, perfect.

Having spoken of the character of Mr. Cooley, we wish to add some statistics. He was born in Lisbon, Grafton County, N. H., November 7, 1825. His grandfather, Aaron Cooley, who was a Major in the Revolution, died at the age of ninety-one. His Grandfather Taylor was employed in the same war as a wagon boy when fourteen years of age. He lived in Lisbon, N. H., to the advanced age of ninety-seven, and was one of the few men who voted for both Washington and Lincoln. When fifteen years of age Judge Cooley left home, and after studying in the Newbury Seminary of Vermont, prepared for college. In 1850 he entered the office of Hon. H. F. Stoughton, and after studying law three years, was admitted to the Bar in 1854. In Dubuque he practiced as a member of the firm of Samuels &; Cooley; Cooley, Samuels & Allison; Cooley, Blatchley & Adams and Cooley & Eighmey. In 1864 President Lincoln Commissioner to South Carolina, and at the same time acted as special Commissioner to settle titles and the right to possession of the city of Charleston appointed him. In July 1865, he was appointed by President Johnson Commissioner of Indian Affairs, and in September 1866, resigned, and later practiced law in Washington for eight years. For twenty-one years he was President of the First National Bank of Dubuque, and in 1873 was elected on the Republican ticket in a Democratic district as State Senator. The same year he was appointed Commissioner to the Vienna Exposition. He was President of the Board of Cornell College for many years, and was also President of the Northwestern Agricultural and Mechanical Association. In September 1850, he married Miss Clara Aldrich, a lady of high attainments. They had four children. Clara became the wife of F. W. Becker, of Chicago, and graduated at Cornell College, Iowa; Minnie E., who was a student at Wesley. Graduated at Vassar College, became the wife of John F. Douglas, of New York City; Mary, a Vassar graduate, became the wife of Charles W. Bassett, of Pittsburg and Harlan W., who graduated from Yale College, is now an attorney of Chicago. Judge Cooley passed away on the 13th of November 1892, in New York City, and Rev. Dr. Ames, delivered the following address on the 15th of November, at New York:

"Twice I have sustained to Judge Cooley and his family the relation of pastor. These periods were separated by a long interval of years, very critical and momentous years, during which character was maturing; the results of plans and purposes were manifesting themselves, and life was reaching its fruitage. The relation both in the periods and in the Intervening interval was more than official and formal. It involved a close acquaintance with him and his family life. It has, therefore, been thought appropriate that I should undertake the responsibility of presenting to you on this occasion an epitome of his character and acts.

"My acquaintance began when the stream of his fortunes, after passing through straightened banks. He was beginning to widen into success, when the studies, labors, self-denial and activity of his early professional life were just commencing to reach their reward in the promise of competence, position and future prosperity. When the robust body was in its ripest vigor and capable of enduring all the strain which his energy and industry exacted of it. When the daughters were in their earliest childhood, the son yet unborn, the mother with the arduous and responsible duties of parentage. Exercising her care, her wisdom and her piety; when the commencement was being made of that family home which was thereafter to be the Mecca toward which hearts and hopes might fondly turn; and when many, if not the most, of his near relatives were living. Since then, the changes, which are incident to family life, and constitute its epochs, have occurred. The children are now wives and husband; the relatives have been called to the silent land; the home has been bereft, one by one, of its inmates. The years of invalidism and sickness have come; the mother sits in the sorrow and grief of widowhood, and the husband has ceased from the activities of earth. Finding him one of the most influential or the laymen of the church over which I was called to preside, and his family among the controlling factors of its religious, intellectual, social and financial life, my acquaintance with him and them soon ripened into intimate contact and friendship. From that time until now we have ever been in mutual touch find correspondence with each other.

"The first impression, which Judge Cooley made upon the minds of those who came into acquaintance with him, was that of his uncommon mental vigor. He was through in whatever he unc1ertook, and formed his opinions always upon reason and convictions. Up to the latest period lie kept up with the activities, literary and otherwise, of the times. He was a critical observer of men, not at all credulous, shrewd and discriminating, not easily imposed upon, loving society, nothing of a recluse, his travels frequent and wide, embracing not only the various sections of this, but extending to other countries as well. He was an entertaining, companion, agreeable in conversation, with broad views of men and things, able to convey his impressions accurately, and capable of maintaining his opinions by argument. His activity, industry and ability made him successful in business. Whatever he touched throve. Any enterprise in which he engaged quickly felt his presence. He abhorred idleness, loved work, exacted labor of all under his control, and soon put into the channels of prosperity whatever he associated himself with. In his profession as a lawyer, cases, pleas, arguments; in his financial operations, banks, quarries, mills, farms, stocks; in his church relations, finances, music, the societies of the congregation, all things were handled with masterly ability, and were carried to a successful issue under his skillful and energetic management.

"He was, I think, desirous of fame, eager for the good opinion of others, and in an entirely legitimate and proper way an aspirant for position. He filled, therefore, various public offices, in every one of which he served with credit to himself and usefulness to others.

“He received during the Civil War from President Lincoln a commission as Judge in South Carolina. With the particular view to the settlement of claims to cotton, so important a factor at that time to the operations of the war, a position in which his legal requirements, his business talents, his shrewdness in detecting fraud, his fertility of resource in foiling the efforts of the designing and hypocritical, were all put into valuable exercise. He was at one time Secretary of the National Republican Committee. Here his mastery of details, his habits of order, his systematic exactitude, his discernment of the currents of popular sentiment, soon converted what had been a sinecure into a center of intense zeal, earnestness and work, and contributed largely to the favorable result that followed. He was also appointed Commissioner of Indian Affairs during the administration of President Johnson, and in this office showed the same foresight, industry and capacity of talent as in every other responsibility, which he was asked to assume. He was also elected to the State Senate of Iowa, representing his district with such ability as to be thought worthy, in the minds of many, of political preferment still more exalted and responsible.

“For many years of his later life he was President of the First National Bank of Dubuque, and was engaged in I know not how many enterprises, exposing himself, I thought, to the risk of over-exertion and to the detriment of his health, but finding that busy employment without which his mind and body could not be content.

“When his religious life began I am not aware. He was an influential office bearer in the church at my first acquaintance, and continued such throughout his days. The type of religious character, which he represented, was that of active worker. Judge Cooley's inclination and efforts were al ways toward the practical side of things. And to the church of which he was a member he was ever and consistently loyal to the core, and imbued his children with the same spirit. In whatever could contribute to its growth or promote its interests, he took a leading part, and his impression upon the congregation of Main Street, Dubuque, has been deep and will be lasting. He was honored by it with high official position, filling a place on most of the important committees, and being prominent always in the work of pulpit supply, the financial needs of the church, and in whatever could help its intellectual and social influence. He was elected a delegate to the General Conference at a critical juncture in the history of the church took an active part in the settlement of some vexed questions, and was prominent in the choice of those elected to the Episcopacy. He was brought in contact with many of the most influential lay and clerical members of the denomination, and retained his fellowship and intercourse with them to the close of his life.

In his temperament Judge Cooley was very sympathetic. His emotional nature was strong and easily aroused. He responded very quickly to whatever touched his feelings. Very often during the services of the Sabbath the tears would trickle down his cheeks, and he was a stimulating and attentive hearer. His liberality was large and generous whenever the cause seemed to him worthy, and while in business matters he was wary and circumspect, in whatever touched his feelings he was kind, beneficent and open-handed. He was a hospitable host, a warm friend, retaining his friendships tenaciously. His purse was open to the call of charity, and many have been the bountiful acts that have brightened clouded pathways and comforted sorrowing hearts. For years he has supported a professorship in Cornell College, Iowa, and in all public and private schemes of liberality he has borne a conspicuous place.

His family life has been one of ideal tenderness, truth and love. Between him and the partner of his joys and sorrows was an identity, a harmony, a mutual trust, confidence and devotion that blended two hearts into one and gave to the common life the strength, the faith, the purity and the power of both. His home was indeed a sanctuary into which no breath of division, reserve or discord penetrated; a holy shrine, sacred and secluded, where the atmosphere was full of peace, of confidence, of tranquil bliss and of assured hope. To his children he was the most devoted, self-sacrificing and tenderest of fathers. To equip them for the work and warfare of life, to surround them with the most favorable conditions and circumstances, to furnish them with the most complete education---traveling to Europe to see if in foreign lands were any opportunities beyond what could be enjoyed here---this was the labor of his waking hours and the dream of his nights. No sacrifice was too great to make for their comfort and happiness, and in all their studies, recreations, plans for life, inclinations for work, he was their trusted counsellor, their ready sympathizer.

The end has not been unexpected by those of us who have known him well; the only surprise is that of the strength of vitality, which so long resisted the inroads of disease. For years past it has been our apprehension that in some of his numerous and exhausting journeys, where body and mind were stretched to their utmost tension, the demise would happen in absence from home. Providence, which presides over our dying as well as our lives, has chosen more kindly. In the home of a loving daughter and son-in-law, with the ever-devoted wife by his side, in the presence of most of his children, with every comfort which wealth could secure, affection suggest or skill devise, clasping the hands of all and whispering words of cheer while bidding tender farewells, he has crossed the bar, and there was no moaning of the tide as he passed. He was conscious of the inevitable and approaching end, and expressed his readiness to meet it. Acknowledging mistakes and errors, but confessing that in all he meant to do the right and be the best that appeared to his judgment, with trust in the unseen but ever present Christ, he has passed away from earth. To him, with his strong life, the act of dying must have brought more than usual of natural dread. But the radiance, which in the last hours overspread his countenance and lit with golden light the peaks as the sun went down behind the curtain of night. Will be to the loved ones who saw it a blessed memory that shall take away from his departure all gloom and shadow and surround the chamber of death with a glory that none but Christ can give, and none can now take away."