D. C. Cloud

Born David Caesar Cloud in Champaign County, Ohio, on January 29, 1817, he moved to Muscatine in what was then Iowa Territory in 1839. He learned the carpenter’s trade, studied law largely on his own, and was admitted to the Iowa bar in 1846.

Cloud went on to serve as county attorney for Muscatine County, then became the first Attorney General of Iowa from 1853 to 1856. He also served in the Iowa House of Representatives and continued practicing law, building a public career that linked legal work, politics, and writing.

As an author, he wrote about major national issues, including monopolies and the president’s war powers. He later moved to Chicago because of age and health, and died there on July 10, 1903.