Representative Caleb H. Booth View All Years

GEN. CALEB HOSKINS BOOTH, one of the leading citizens of Dubuque, after a residence of sixty-two years, died in that city June 19, 1898. He was born December, 1814, in Chester, Pennsylvania, his ancestors being Quakers. After receiving an excellent classical and legal education he came west while Iowa still remained part of Michigan territory, reaching Dubuque, then a small mining camp, July 3, 1836. During a long career his business interests have been wide and varied. In early days he was engaged in lead mining and smelting; later he turned his attention to milling, shot manufacture, banking and railroad interests. He brought the first steam engine into Dubuque. He invented the Booth Dredge Pump, which has been widely used in engineering and railroad work. Gen. Booth was elected the first mayor of Dubuque, in 1841; he was a member of the Territorial Assembly that convened in 1841 in Iowa City; during the administrations of Presidents Polk and Taylor he was surveyor-general of the land district including the states of Iowa, Wisconsin and Minnesota. He was elected to the Fourteenth General Assembly as a member of the House of Representatives. Gen. Booth as early as 1848 helped to found the Episcopal Church at Dubuque. He was also one of the oldest Masons in the State, having joined the Dubuque Lodge in 1843.