from a distance, and was eaten on the the shade of the trees.

grass under

The Twelfth Annual Reunion of the Association, held on August 5, 1889, was memorable for its recognition of the semi-centennial of the organization of Boone County. Formal papers were read: An Historical Sketch of the County; The Pioneer Lawyer; Pioneer Merchant; Pioneer Press; Pioneer Farmer; etc. The program seems to have been thoughtfully planned and ably carried out. The thought arises that there might well be added a paper upon Necrology of the Year by some one charged at the meetings with this prospective duty for the year to come.

The Fifteenth Annual Reunion was held jointly with the reunion of the surviving members of Company D., Veterans of the ThirtySecond Iowa Volunteer Infantry, it being the anniversary of their "swearing-in" on the same grounds for the War for the Union. The record is quite brief. Perhaps the intensity of recollections upon such an occasion was impossible to record. It must have been a day of "sentiment" chiefly.

The record of the Sixteenth Reunion is given in but four lines; and that of the year following not at all. Evidently the time had arrived for organization on new lines.

In July, 1906, steps were taken to re-organize under modern methods. Some preliminary meetings of members who had shown continuous interest in the Old Settlers' Association were held; and committees were appointed on organization, the framing of a constitution, and the preparations for holding a mass meeting of the old settlers at an early day. The result was the adoption by the mass meeting, held August 19, 1906, in the court house park, of a constitution and by-laws, following closely the model constitution published by The State Historical Society, at Iowa City. What the fruits may be, it is too early to predict. There are some embarrassments arising from lack of funds (an incident not unusual under similar circumstance with the launching of an association not designed primarily for gain) which it is believed may be successfully overcome. The enterprise has the hearty approval of the pioneers and the general public, which it is believed is an earnest of its eventual success.

Mr. MARSH W. BAILEY (writing for the Washington County Historical Society): -On June 6, 1905, Howard A. Burrell, David J. Palmer, A. H. Wallace, John Alex. Young, Samuel W. Neal, Charles H. Wilson, Charles H. Keck, Charles J. Wilson, Henry M. Eicher, Alex. R.

Miller, J. Orville Elder, Frank Stewart, Wm. B. Bell, A. Anderson, Joseph H. Hull, Hiram Scofield, and Marsh W. Bailey met at the Jane A. Chilcote Library and organized the Washington County Historical Society. The organization was effected by adopting articles of incorporation under Section 1642 of the Code of Iowa, 1897.

The business and object of this corporation were declared to be to discover, collect, embody, arrange, and preserve in authentic form, a library and museum of original manuscripts, books, pamphlets, maps, charts, surveys, field books, genealogies, papers, letters, journals, paintings, pictures, statuary, relics, souvenirs, and other articles and materials illustrative of the United States, and particularly of Washington County, and to save from oblivion the memory of its early pioneers; to obtain and preserve narratives of the exploits, perils and hardy adventures, to secure facts and statements relative to the history, genius and progress of the American people; to faithfully exhibit the antiquities and past and present resources of the United States, State of Iowa, and Washington County; and to aid in the publication of such collections of the Society as will be of value and interest to the present and succeeding generations, and establish and illustrate the history of

Washington County and any other portion of the United States; and, to perform such other duties and functions as are in keeping with the general object of the Society.

At this meeting the following officers were elected: President, Marsh W. Bailey; Vice President, Charles H. Keck; Secretary, Alex. R. Miller; Treasurer, John Alex. Young; Curator, Charles J. Wilson; Directors, Howard A. Burrell, A. H. Wallace, Frank Stewart, Wm. B. Bell, Samuel W. Neal, and Charles H. Wilson.

The Board of Supervisors of Washington County set apart and redecorated a commodious room in the Court House for the use of the Society. In this room have been gathered together and placed in suitable cases the diaries of pioneers, account books and property lists, old addresses and sermons, letters written by pioneers to relatives and friends in the East, newspapers and magazines, photographs and pictures, maps and atlases, books and pamphlets, documents and manuscripts, souvenirs and curios, relics and any other articles or material which relate to any of the early pioneers or the history of the county.

Hon. Charles K. Needham has kindly presented the Society with the office file of the Washington Gazette, which ceased publication in 1906. This file is very valuable, among other

reasons, for it contains a history of Washington County written by Hon. N. Littler.

Hon. Irving C. Keck has donated to the Society a large assortment of books and papers including a set of the Annals of Iowa in which appeared a history of Washington County which he wrote many years ago when many of the incidents therein referred to were fresh in his memory.

The Society has collected the names of the leading citizens of the county during its history; and has selected the person best fitted to write a suitable biography of each. These several biographical sketches will be collected and filed in the Society's room; and from them and other material it is hoped the Society will soon publish a history of the county, which will contain much useful and authentic information about Washington County and the men and women who have helped make this part of the great Commonwealth of Iowa.

Mr. WARREN S. DUNGAN (writing for the Lucas County Historical Society): - This was the first county historical society organized in the State of Iowa. It dates from June 10, 1901.

In the spring of 1901 Mr. Charles Aldrich, Curator of the Historical Department of Iowa, suggested to the writer the formation of county