Convention Member Harvey Skiff

Convention Member
Republican
Born in Alleghany County, New York, on February 5, 1821, and died at Newton, Iowa, November 12, 1901. He was educated at the Academy in Wyoming, New York, and later attended Amherst College, Massachusetts, from which he graduated in 1846. He studied law in the office of Fillmore and Havens in Buffalo. Mr. Skiff migrated to Iowa, reaching Oskaloosa in 1849. He removed to Newton in 1851, where he engaged in the practice of the law, in which he continued until 1861, when he enlisted in the army, becoming a member of Co. B, 13th Iowa Infantry. This was the regiment organized and commanded by Col. M. M. Crocker. Mr. Skiff was in the service for three years, serving most of the time as Captain of the Company. After his return he engaged in mercantile pursuits, his hearing having failed so that it was impossible for him to practice his profession as a lawyer. He was chosen a member of the Constitutional Convention of 1857, and is believed to have been the last survivor of that body, instead of the late Dr. John J. Selman, as heretofore erroneously stated. The proceedings of the Convention show that he was a prominent and useful member of that body. His later years were marked by great quiet, due perhaps to the loss of his hearing. To the end of his days he enjoyed the highest respect of the people of Newton and Jasper County.