Mills & Keeler were in partnership a number of years, mostly engaged in railway litigation. Mr. Keeler became known outside the confines of the state, and died scarcely past middle life at the head of the legal department of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway, with offices in Chicago. Mr. Keeler was short of stature, with black hair and beard, and in a law suit very nervous. It is said that during the Bever will trial Colonel Clark, in the midst of the trial, said to Keeler, "If you will only put a feather in your hair, Charley, you would make an ideal Mephistopheles without any further makeup." Mr. Keeler was a shrewd, wide-awake lawyer, whose mental constitution peculiarly fitted him for the practice of law, who possessed the faculty of crowding the salient features of a case in a few words, and who knew better than most lawyers what the law ought to be if he could not cite a case in point. He was cold-blooded and had few warm friends, but everyone acknowledged his abilities. His restless brain simply burnt up his tissues long before his time. Mr. Bowman excelled as a brilliant jury lawyer, who by his magnetic personality knew how to handle a jury and to obtain a favorable verdict, especially on the defense in a criminal suit where he could appeal to the sympathies of the jury. Mr. Bowman possessed the magnetic quality to attract persons to him, and was one of the most resourceful lawyers at the bar. Of the early practitioners at the bar all have passed away or have retired except Judge J. H. Preston, a son of Colonel Preston, still in practice in Cedar Rapids, and Major William G. Thompson.