Marion Stookey was responsible for the acquisition of Carnegie funds for the Leon County library during his time as an Iowa State Senator (1904-1906). He, in conjunction with Senator John Dolliver, wrote to Carnegie in March of 1905 requesting a grant of $5,000 for a library. It was approved by the summer for a total of $6,000. [1]

 

Marion Floyd Stookey was born in Kosciusko county, Indiana, March 19, 1846, and died at his home in Leon, Iowa, April 2, 1919, aged 73 years and 13 days. With his parents he moved from Indiana to Linn county, Iowa, in the fall of 1857, where they settled on a farm. His education was acquired in the district, supplemented by a term in the high school at Cedar Rapids and a year at Western College. He then spent the winters teaching and the summers working on a farm. He enlisted in Company C. Forty-Seventh Iowa, during the Civil War and served until that regiment was discharged, on September 28th, 1864. [2] He graduated from the law department of the State University of Iowa in 1877, and immediately settled in Leon, Iowa, where he then continued the practice of law.

 

Shortly after his relocation to Leon he formed a partnership with E. W. Haskett which terminated several years later, when Mr. Haskett was appointed U. S. District Attorney for Alaska. As a lawyer, Stookey was known throughout the county as a safe counselor and he soon developed a broad and deep comprehension of the fundamental principles of the law. He always enjoyed a lucrative practice which furnished evidence of his integrity and ability. In addition, he served as mayor and city attorney of Leon, county attorney of Decatur county, and was elected to the state Senate in 1903 and served during the Thirtieth, Thirty-first and Thirty-second General Assemblies, during which time he was responsible for the acquisition of Carnegie funds for the Leon library.

 

On September 1, 1881, he was married to Miss Elizabeth Brooks, at Leon, Iowa, who along with their daughter, Mrs. M. E. Wasson, of Des Moines, and his brothers, Nelson of Palo, and Charles of Shellsburg, and his sister, Mrs. Margaret Lightfoot, of Palo, survive him.

For many years he was one of the owners of the Decatur County Journal. Under his influence and management the paper prospered and its sphere of usefulness was greatly extended. The editorials were widely quoted and it became one of the ablest and strongest defenders of the principles of the republican party in the eighth congressional district. Stookey believed in the fundamental principles of Christianity, which heavily influenced his work. He believed that religion is essential and indispensable to the welfare of men and governments. [3]

 

Marion Stookey served the city of Leon for over forty years and held honored positions in county, city, and state. During his long and varied tenure as a public servant, he was responsible for acquiring Carnegie funds for the Leon Public Library.

-Mav Kaye

[1]  https://dlc.library.columbia.edu/carnegie/cul:kwh70rxxxv

 

[2] https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/Iowa_Civil_War_Union_Infantry_Units

 

[3] https://www.legis.iowa.gov/legislators/legislator?ga=30&personID=3430