His father was Judge Charles H. Test, of Rush County, Ind., where Col. Test was born, in June, 1827. In 1850, he emigrated to Burlington, Iowa, arriving without funds, and obtaining employment in a wholesale drug house. He remained there until 1853, when his adventurous spirit brought him to Council Bluffs. Judge Jefferson P. Casady had just made this his home, and he, Hadley D. Johnson and Col. Test entered into a partnership to deal in real estate. Mr. Johnson and Judge Casady were both members of the bar, and Col. Test, having read law with them during their partnership, was duly admitted to practice in the courts. In 1854, Col. Test was elected a member of the State Senate, and, in 1860, was one of the Breckenridge candidates for elector in Iowa. When the gold excitement in Colorado broke out and became epidemic, he went to Central City, in what was then the Territory, and spent several years in profitable mining operations. He eventually returned to Council Bluffs, and made it his home until his death. He was married to Mary J. Grovenor, daughter of the late Col. A S. Grovenor, but his wife died after a short married life. He was a man of most generous impulses, and cordial and winning address. He was an eloquent public speaker, and possessed a splendid physique. As a political writer for the newspapers, to which he frequently contributed as an amateur, he was sometimes bitter and caustic, being a warm and uncompromising partisan.
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