Councilor Stephen Hempstead View All Years

Compiled Historical Information

Date of Death: 2/16/1883

Birth Place: New London, Connecticut

Party Affiliation: Democrat

Assemblies Served:
Senate: LA1 (1838) - LA2 (1839)
LA7 (1845) - LA8 (1845)

Home County: Dubuque

President Video:

Stephen Hempstead

Dubuque County

Born on October 1, 1812, in New London, Connecticut. He is the eighth son of Joseph and Celinda Hempstead. At the age of thirteen, his family moved to St. Louis and settled a farm. After discovering his dislike of farm life, he left the farm in 1830 to work in a store in Illinois. Soon after, he was enlisted in the Black Hawk War, where he served in the artillery company until the conflict was resolved. After the war, Mr. Hempstead studied law in Jacksonville. In 1836, he was admitted to the bar, and soon became the first practicing lawyer in Dubuque. In 1837, he married a woman from Baltimore named Lavinia Moore Lackland, and together they had three sons and three daughters. Mr. Hempstead was elected to represent Dubuque County in the First, Second, Seventh and Eighth Iowa Legislative Councils, and was a delegate to the 1844 Constitutional Convention held in Iowa City. In the second assembly, he was elected to lead the Legislative Council as president until 1846, when Mr. Hempstead was elected as one of the three commissioners in charge of revising Iowa’s laws. These revisions were accepted into Iowa’s law in 1851. In 1850, he ran for governor under the democratic ticket against Whig candidate James L. Thompson, and Mr. Hempstead ended up winning the election. He served as governor from 1850 through 1854. Under Hempstead, Iowa’s population considerably increased after he strongly encouraged incomers to live in Iowa. Fifty two new counties were also formed while he was in office, and the state of Iowa practiced financial conservation. Mr. Hempstead also strongly opposed banks, which was reflected in his actions while in office. The Iowa Constitution of 1846 prohibited banking in Iowa, and twice he vetoed any attempt to appeal this law. Temperance was also a large issue. Many prohibition supporters petitioned in favor of prohibition in Iowa, but he simply took no action, and left this issue up to local authorities. When his term as governor ended on December 9, 1854, he attempted to run for the United States Congress, but lost due to his opinion over prohibition. Later, Hempstead was repeatedly elected to and served as Dubuque’s county judge until 1867. He also served as an auditor in Dubuque from the year 1869 until 1873, and also was honored as justice of the peace in 1882 until his death in 1883.

Council District 8

Committees
LA2 GA (1839)