The Dean Families of Muscatine County, Iowa

R. HENRY MUNSON DEAN, physician and surgeon, of Muscatine, and the eldest son of Henry and Almira (Munson) Dean, was born in Canaan, Litchfield Co., Conn., on the 8th day of November, 1836, and is descended on both sides from English ancestry. His paternal great-grandfather emigrated from England and settled in Canaan soon after the Revolution, where a large colony of his descendants still reside. His material ancestors emigrated at an early period to America, and some of them fought under Washington in the war for independence.

Our subject received his primary education in the public schools of his native village, and when thirteen years of age was sent to a private academy in the vicinity, where he studied the usual branches of learning, including the Latin language and higher mathematics. At the age of eighteen years he taught a district school, following that profession during that winter, and spending the summer months upon a farm. He commenced the study7 of medicine in 1857, under the direction of Dr. L. H. Aiken, at Falls Village, Conn., and subsequently attended two courses of lectures at the medical department of Columbia College, College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York City, from which institution he was graduated with honors on the lath of March, 1861. He soon afterward commenced the practice of his chosen profession at Canaan Center, some two miles from the residence of his father, where he remained until 1862.

At that time Dr. Dean offered his services to the Government as a volunteer medical officer, and on being examined at New York City by a board of medical men, consisting of Dr. Valentine Mott, President; W. H. Van Buren, Secretary7; Thomas

H. Markoe, Austin Flint and H. B. Sands, he was ordered to Fortress Monroe, and thence was sent to Gen. McClellan at Harrison’s Landing, where he was assigned to the ist Massachusetss Infantry. He remained with that regiment, excepting a few days that he was with the 2d New York Infantry at the battle of Malvern Hill, until after the second battle of Bull Run, when, the 3d Corps Hospital being organized at Ft. Lyon, near Alexandria, Va., he was assigned to duty at that institution. He there remained until the spring of 1863, when the hospital was removed, and he was ordered to report to the medical director at Washington, D. C., by whom he was placed on duty in the Lincoln United States General Hospital of that city, on the 5th of February, 1863. He remained in that hospital over two years, the last six months having charge of Barrack Branch Hospital of over

I, 000 beds, which, although one-fourth of a mile nearer the capitol, was considered a portion of that institution. On the 20th of February, 1865, by order of the War Department, he was appointed Assistant Surgeon of the United States Veteran Volunteers, and assigned to duty with the ist Regiment, ist Brigade, and ist (Hancock's) Army Corps, and was with them in the field, where he was appointed Surgeon in Chief of the operating bureau of the corps, and remained as such until after the close of the war. He subsequently had charge of several military hospitals connected with the defense of Baltimore, including Fts. McHenry and Federal Hill, then under command of Gen. Hancock, until he was mustered out of service on the loth of January, 1866, having served in all some three years and six months.

As a military surgeon the record of Dr. Dean is second to that of no other man in the service. His fame as a successful operator was spread far and wide, and whenever a critical and peculiarly delicate operation in surgery7 was to be performed, Dr. Dean’s services were brought into requisition, if at all available. He was transferred from ward toward in Lincoln Hospital, as the exigencies of his service seemed to require, and his skill and success became so noted that he was ultimately placed in charge of the wards appropriated to disabled officers, and the most severe surgical cases. He served as Medical Inspector of Lincoln Hospital, as Superintendent of the pathological department of the hospital, as President of the board of officers for the examining of men recommended for furloughs, veteran reserve corps, for duty7 or for discharge from the service, and for pensions, and as a leading member of the council of the board of administration of the hospital. He was one of the most prominent and distinguished surgeons of his years and experience in the institution. In addition to his official duties in the hospital, which were of a most exacting nature. Dr. Dean prepared and furnished to the United States Army Medical Museum as large a number of rare and valuable specimens as any other contributor. Among the many items bearing his name in the great 6atalogue of the mu scum are the smallest and the largest hearts, the former weighing only five and a half ounces, and the largest seventeen and a quarter ounces. The body from which the smallest was taken weighed 160 pounds, and that from which the largest was taken weighed 155 pounds. Both men had been perfectly healthy and died from injuries received in the army. Dr. Dean is also credited with having contributed to the museum the only specimen of hernia of the stomach through the diaphragm into the left thoracic cavity. He has performed successfully nearly every operation hitherto known in military surgery. The testimonials as to his efficiency, skill and professional qualifications, contained in "general orders," and his private letters from those in highest rank, are both numerous and flattering, and may well be a source of just pride and gratification to himself and friends.

On retiring from the array Dr. Dean located at Sandwich, Ill., where he remained in practice for nine months, and on the 30th of February, 1867, moved to the city of Muscatine, which has since been his home, and where he has built up a large and a lucrative practice. He has held several honorable positions since coming to this city, among which is that of surgeon of the G. A. R. Post located here, which position he held as long as the organization lasted. At the reorganization he was again given the position, and he was also the first surgeon of the Veteran Association of Muscatine County. He was instrumental in organizing the Muscatine Medical Society, of which he has been Secretary, Treasurer and President. He has also been President of the Iowa and Illinois Central District Medical Society, which meets alternately at Davenport and Rock Island, and of the Eastern Iowa Central District Medical Society. He is now Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Iowa State Medical Society, is also a member of the American Medical Association, and was on two occasions one of the examiners of the medical department of the Iowa University. He is surgeon of the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific, and the Burlington, Cedar Rapids & Northern Railroads at this point, and is also surgeon of four accident insurance companies: The Travelers’, of Hartford, Conn.; the United States, of New York City; the AVorld’s Industrial, of Dubuque, Iowa; and the South Bend, formerly the American; also is the examiner for several life insurance companies. For twenty years Dr. Dean has been United States Pension Examiner at this place, and President of the board wherever there has been one. Politi call, he is a supporter of the Republican party.

On the 20th of June, 1866, the Doctor was united in marriage with Miss Emma Johnson, of

Phdadelphia, Pa., and by their union three children have been born — Harry Johnson, Lee Wallace and Ray Herbert. Dr. and Mrs. Dean are members of the Congregational Church.

To the most thorough qualifications as a physician, Dr. Dean adds promptness and energy in professional duty, and is ever ready, regardless of distance or weather, to render immediate attention to calls. An honest, upright man, fearless of censure, strong in the right, he not only enjoys the confidence and respect of the citizens of Muscatine County, but is held in the highest regard in the medical world wherever he is known.

As printed in the source¹. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.

IRA DEAN, manufacturer of boots and shoes. Second street; Mr. Dean was born in Orange, Essex Co., N. J., June 17, 1826. Jan. 8, 1849, he married Miss Phoebe Ann Swann, a native of Chatham, N. J. During the war of the rebellion, Mr. Dean served as Wagonraaster at Camp Nelson, Ky. He removed to Muscatine from Ohio in 1873, and has since been a resident. Himself and wife are members of the M. E. Church. They have had four children, two of whom are living— Sarah (now Mrs. E. Dawson, of Muscatine), and Byroa B.; Byron B. is married, and is Train-Dispatcher at Newark, Ohio. Mr. Dean, politically, was originally a Whig; on the organization of the Eepublican party, he adopted the principles of that party, and still gives them his support.

As printed in the source². Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.

HENRY CLAY DEAN.

Henry Clay Dean was born in Fayette county, Pennsylvania, October 27, 1822. He was a graduate of Madison College, Pennsylvania, taught for a time and studied law. In 1845 he joined the Methodist Episcopal conference of Virginia and began to preach in the mountain region of that state, where he remained for four years. In 1850 he removed to Iowa, locating at Pittsburg, Van Buren county, where he preached to the Keosauqua circuit, joining the Fairfield conference. It was a short time after that that he was stationed at Muscatine. He preached here but a short time but made a lasting impression. The Methodist church was not a large one at that time but Dean would fill it every Sunday. Through the influence of General George W. Jones, one of the first United States senators from Iowa, he was chosen as chaplain of the senate. He was one of the trustees of the Iowa Wesleyan University at Mt Pleasant, Iowa. Mr. Dean was admitted to the bar but did not practice law. He was a public speaker of rare eloquence and was frequently invited to deliver lectures, among which was a Reply to IngersoU, The Constitution, Declaration of Independence and many other topics. During the Civil war he was arrested for disloyal utterances and confined in prison for several months by order of government officials. Upon his release he wrote and published a book with the title Crimes of the Civil War. It was a bitter assault upon President Lincoln and the administration in the great work of subduing the rebellion. 'He removed to a farm in Putnam county, Missouri, which he named Rebel Cove. It was four miles from a station on the Burlington railroad, where a postoffice was named Dean. There he spent his last days, reading and writing. His great library was destroyed by fire at that place. He died on his farm in 1887, and thus passed a geat character of history.

As printed in the source³. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.