LEWIS W. ROSS was born in Butler County, Ohio, October 15, 1827. At the age of twenty he left his father's farm with but a district school education and studied two years at Farmers College, near Cincinnati. He then entered Miami University, Oxford, from which he graduated in 1852. He then began the study of law at Hamilton, Ohio, gaining admission to the bar in 1854. Two years later he came to Cass County, Iowa, where in 1858 he began to practice law. In 1861 he removed to Council Bluffs and was elected to the State Senate in 1863 to represent the district consisting of the counties of Fremont, Mills, Cass and Pottawattamie. He served in the Tenth and Eleventh General Assemblies, taking especial interest in educational legislation. In 1864 he was chosen a regent of the State University, serving altogether about twelve years. In 1880 he became a professor of law in the University and the following year was elected Chancellor of the Law Department. As a regent he was largely instrumental in establishing the law, medical and homœopathic medical departments. Chancellor Ross was the author of “An Outline of Common Law and Code Pleading,” and “An Outline of the Law of Real Property.” He died at Council Bluffs, November 22, 1902.
GEORGE W. RUDDICK was born in Thompson, Sullivan County, New York, May 11, 1835. He worked on his father's farm until fourteen, when he spent two years at an academy in Kingsville, Ohio, supplementing this with a similar course of instruction at Monticello, New York. At eighteen he began the study of law graduating from the Albany Law School in 1856. He then came to Iowa, locating at Waverly which became his permanent home. In 1857 Mr. Ruddick was elected Prosecuting Attorney for Bremer County, holding the office until the adoption of the new Constitution. In 1859 he was elected Representative in the House of the Eighth General Assembly for the district composed of the counties of Chickasaw and Bremer, serving in the regular session of 1860 and the war session of 1861. He was elected county judge in 1862, serving two years; in 1867 he was elected circuit judge and two years later was chosen District Judge of the Twelfth District, serving from 1870 to 1892. At one time he received strong support for Judge of the Supreme Court, as he always ranked high as a jurist.
JOHN N. W. RUMPLE was born near Fostoria, Ohio, March 4, 1841. In 1853 he came to Iowa in an emigrant wagon, taking up his residence on a farm near Geneva Bluffs, Iowa County. He attended the district school and in 1857 entered Ashland Academy in Wapello County. Later he continued his studies in Western College and the Normal Department of the State University, teaching meanwhile to defray his expenses in college. In 1861 he enlisted in Company H, Second Iowa Cavalry as a private, remaining in the service until 1865 when he was mustered out a
