History of Iowa From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century/4/James R. Lincoln
JAMES R. LINCOLN was born in Maryland, February 3, 1845, and was educated at Landon Military Academy in his native State, and in the Pennsylvania Military College. When the Civil War began he enlisted in the Confederate army serving through the war. In 1867 he came to Iowa, locating at Boonsboro where he was superintendent of a coal mining company, and served as mayor of the city. He removed to Ames in 1884 and was elected Professor of Military Tactics in the State College of Agriculture when General Geddes was displaced by the trustees. In 1892 he was steward of the college and later Professor of Commercial Law and Mining Engineering. He was Inspector-General of the Iowa National Guard when the Spanish War began and was placed in command of Camp McKinley at Des Moines. In May, 1898, he was promoted to Brigadier-General of Volunteers.