Cassius Clay Dowell (February 29, 1864 – February 4, 1940) was a Republican
U.S. Representative
The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...
from
Iowa
Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...
. He served from 1915 to 1935, and again from 1937 until his death in 1940, with the interregnum caused by an unsuccessful campaign for reelection in 1934.
Biography
Born on a farm near the unincorporated town of Summerset, Iowa (in
Warren County Warren County is the name of fourteen counties in the USA. Some are named after General Joseph Warren, who was killed in the Battle of Bunker Hill in the American Revolutionary War:
* Warren County, Georgia
* Warren County, Illinois
* Warren County ...
, near
Indianola) Dowell attended the public schools, Baptist College in
Des Moines, Iowa
Des Moines () is the capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small part of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines, ...
, and
Simpson College
Simpson College is a private Methodist liberal arts college in Indianola, Iowa. It is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission and has about 1,250 full-time and 300 part-time students. In addition to the Indianola residential campus, Simpso ...
in
Indianola, Iowa
Indianola is a city in Warren County, Iowa, United States, located south of downtown Des Moines, Iowa. The population was 15,833 at the time of the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Warren County. Indianola is home to the National Balloon ...
. In 1886, he graduated from the
liberal arts
Liberal arts education (from Latin "free" and "art or principled practice") is the traditional academic course in Western higher education. ''Liberal arts'' takes the term ''art'' in the sense of a learned skill rather than specifically the ...
department of
Drake University
Drake University is a private university in Des Moines, Iowa. It offers undergraduate and graduate programs, including professional programs in business, law, and pharmacy. Drake's law school is among the 25 oldest in the United States.
Hi ...
in
Des Moines, Iowa
Des Moines () is the capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small part of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines, ...
, and graduated from
Drake University Law School
Drake University Law School is a professional graduate law school of Drake University, located in Des Moines, Iowa. The school has over 330 full-time students. The school is led by Dean Jerry Anderson. Founded in 1865, Drake Law School is one of t ...
the following year. He was
admitted to the bar
An admission to practice law is acquired when a lawyer receives a license to practice law. In jurisdictions with two types of lawyer, as with barristers and solicitors, barristers must gain admission to the bar whereas for solicitors there are dist ...
in 1888 and commenced practice in Des Moines.
From 1894 to 1898, Dowell served as member of the
Iowa State House of Representatives
The Iowa House of Representatives is the lower house of the Iowa General Assembly, the upper house being the Iowa Senate. There are 100 seats in the Iowa House of Representatives, representing 100 single-member districts across the state, formed ...
. He served in the
Iowa State Senate
The Iowa Senate is the upper house of the Iowa General Assembly, United States. There are 50 seats in the Iowa Senate, representing 50 single-member districts across the state of Iowa with populations of approximately 60,927 per constituency, . ...
from 1902 to 1912.
In 1914, Dowell was elected as a
Republican
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
to represent
Iowa's 7th congressional district
Iowa's 7th congressional district is a former congressional district in Iowa. It was eliminated after the 1970 election, leaving Iowa with six congressional districts. The state has since been reduced to four congressional districts.
Redistrict ...
. He was re-elected to this seat eight times, until reapportionment between 1930 and 1932 moved his home county into
Iowa's 6th congressional district
Iowa's 6th congressional district is a former U.S. congressional district in the State of Iowa. It existed in elections from 1862 to 1992, when it was lost due to Iowa's population growth rate being lower than that of the country as a whole.
T ...
, prompting him to run for the seat in that district. He won the 1932 race by more than 13,000 votes, surviving the Roosevelt landslide. Yet he was surprised two years later, when former Iowa Supreme Court Justice
Hubert Utterback
Hubert Utterback (June 28, 1880 – May 12, 1942) served very briefly on the Iowa Supreme Court, then was elected as a Democrat to the United States House of Representatives, serving only one term.
Personal background
Born on a farm near Hayesvi ...
upset him by over 4,000 votes. He had served nearly twenty years, in the
Sixty-fourth and the nine succeeding Congresses (March 4, 1915 – January 3, 1935). He had served as chairman of the Committee on Elections (in the
Sixty-sixth and
Sixty-seventh Congresses), and on the Committee on Roads (in the
Sixty-eighth through
Seventy-first Congresses).
Dowell returned to Des Moines to practice law, and
reclaimed his seat two years later in 1936, when Utterbeck ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate. Utterbeck tried to regain his House in 1938, but Dowell
defeated him decisively.
Dowell filed for re-election in the 1940 race, but died due to
heart disease
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a class of diseases that involve the heart or blood vessels. CVD includes coronary artery diseases (CAD) such as angina and myocardial infarction (commonly known as a heart attack). Other CVDs include stroke, hea ...
in
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
, on February 4, 1940.
["Dowell, Veteran Congressman of 6th District Dies," Waterloo Daily Courier, 1940-02-05, at 2.] He was interred in Glendale Cemetery,
Des Moines, Iowa
Des Moines () is the capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small part of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines, ...
.
In reporting his death, an Iowa newspaper reported that "only rarely did he participate in house debate but his influence upon legislation was strong. He was instrumental in securing
veterans' hospitals for Des Moines and Knoxville, in the establishment of
Camp Dodge
Camp Dodge is a military installation in the city of Johnston, Iowa, Johnston, Iowa. Centrally located near the capital of Iowa, it currently serves as the headquarters of the Iowa National Guard.
History
Original construction of the post began i ...
during wartime, and in the erection of an $800,000 federal building on Des Moines' waterfront."
[
After his death, Republican ]Robert K. Goodwin
Robert Kingman Goodwin (May 23, 1905 – February 21, 1983) was a Republican U.S. Representative from Iowa from a March 1940 special election until the end of his term in January 1941.
Born in Des Moines, Iowa, Goodwin attended the public schools ...
won the special election to complete his term, and Republican Paul Cunningham won the 1940 general election for a full term.
See also
*
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dowell, Cassius Clay
1864 births
1940 deaths
American Disciples of Christ
People from Indianola, Iowa
Drake University alumni
Republican Party members of the Iowa House of Representatives
Republican Party Iowa state senators
Iowa lawyers
Politicians from Des Moines, Iowa
Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Iowa
Drake University Law School alumni