opinion

Evans: Many could be honored who aren’t traitors

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The sun was drooping close to the tree line as the day wound down in southern Pennsylvania eight years ago. A retired U.S. Army officer, now a historian, led a group of business people from across the nation – I was one of them – onto the hallowed ground there in Gettysburg. The national cemetery was our final stop on an afternoon-long, on-the-scene lecture about the great Civil War battle and the leadership lessons it teaches. We had walked the fields and high ground where Union and Confederate forces squared off 149 years earlier. There were places with names like Pickett’s Charge, Little Round Top and the Peach Orchard.

Abraham Lincoln

The Time Abe Lincoln Defended An Iowa Preacher

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When Nixon “Nick” Denton died in January 1878, his friends in Manchester, Iowa, reminded people of a story Nick liked to tell about an encounter he had with a man who became president of the United States. Nick had been involved in the building of the Illinois Central Railroad (ICRR) through Iowa in the 1850s. He had been hired by the company to survey land, and he was superintendent of construction of the lines. He had a sterling reputation, and a newspaper described him as “one of the noblest looking men in the state.”

Iowa History, a weekly column, appears at IowaWatch on Saturdays. Cheryl Mullenbach is a former history teacher, newspaper editor, and public television project manager.

News Quizzes

News Quiz: Presidents’ Day in Iowa

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A Monday is set aside each February to note the Feb. 12 birthday of Abraham Lincoln and Feb. 22 birthday of George Washington. While Iowa plays a significant role in the country’s presidential elections it also has had an impact on the presidency in other ways. See how well you know Iowa’s presidential history.