He was the fortunate possessor of a splendid frame, being nearly six feet in height, and had a large, well formed head--his carriage erect and movements stately and deliberate. He was a model christian gentleman, courtly and polite, with a winning personality. He too was a man of affairs and left a comfortable estate to his family. Colonel I. M. Preston, born in 1813, was in many respects a remarkable man. Thrown on his own resources when quite young, he learned the trade of carpenter and joiner, but read law while working at his trade, was admitted when about thirty years of age, came to Marion, opened an office, and at once took a position in the front rank of trial lawyers. He was particularly successful as a criminal lawyer. He possessed a very quick, subtle, and keen mind, and was remarkably resourceful in expedients in the trial of cases. Some lawyers were better pleaders others more learned in the law, but none more apt in furnishing the facts to fit the case, and but few, if any, excelled him in marshalling those facts in his presentation to the jury. In time he acquired great fame throughout the state as a lawyer and public speaker. He was early appointed district attorney for the district in which he lived, and in 1846 was commissioned by Governor Clark colonel of an Iowa regiment of militia. He also served as county judge of Linn county, and at different times served in both branches of the legislature. He was the father of Judge J. H. Preston and E. C. Preston, both members of the bar, and residents of the city of Cedar Rapids. N. M. Hubbard, later known as Judge Hubbard, was certainly the most brilliant and noted lawyer that ever lived in or graced the bar of this county. He was appointed in 1865 judge of the district court, and served till January 1, 1867. With a mind keen, bright and luminous, a sound understanding, a rich store of observation, an unparalleled command of language, a readiness in repartee, and unlimited power of invective, he was unsurpassed by any man in the state, and by but few in the nation. He was for thirty years general attorney for the C. & N. W. Railway Company in Iowa, and upon his death left a generous estate. Hubbard's early partner, R. D. Stephens, while a good lawyer, was certainly a past master in finance, and was better known as a banker than lawyer. He established the First National Bank at Marion, and the Merchants National Bank in Cedar Rapids. He died several years ago, quite wealthy. Both Hubbard and Stephens came to Linn county from the state of New York in 1854. In the political campaign of 1856, Hubbard edited the _Linn County Register_, predecessor to the _Marion Register_.