Edwin Hurd Conger (March 7, 1843 – May 18, 1907) was an American Civil War soldier, lawyer, banker, Iowa congressman, and United States diplomat. As the United States' minister to China during the

Boxer Rebellion The Boxer Rebellion, also known as the Boxer Uprising, the Boxer Insurrection, or the Yihetuan Movement, was an anti-foreign, anti-colonial, and anti-Christian uprising in China between 1899 and 1901, towards the end of the Qing dynasty, by ...

, Conger, his family, and other western diplomatic legations were under siege in Beijing until rescued by the

China Relief Expedition The China Relief Expedition was an expedition in China undertaken by the United States Armed Forces to rescue United States citizens, European nationals, and other foreign nationals during the latter years of the Boxer Rebellion, which lasted f ...

Personal background and war service

Born in Knox County, Illinois, Conger graduated from Lombard College in 1862. During the Civil War, he enlisted as a

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...

in Company I of the

102nd Illinois Volunteer Infantry Regiment The 102nd Illinois Volunteer Infantry was an infantry regiment in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Service The 102nd Illinois Infantry was organized at Knoxville, Illinois, and mustered in for three years service on September ...

. He was promoted to

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

and brevetted

major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

. At the close of the war, he studied law. He graduated from Albany Law School in 1866 and was admitted to the bar, commencing practice in Galesburg, Illinois. Conger moved to Dexter, Iowa, in south-central Iowa, in 1868 and engaged in banking, livestock, and

agricultural Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating Plant, plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of Sedentism, sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of Domestication, domesticated species created food ...

pursuits. Conger was married to Sarah Pike, also from Iowa, an author, a Christian Scientist, and a leader of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union who accompanied him to China, and would be later known for befriending China's Empress Dowager Cixi.

Political activity

After winning two terms as treasurer of Dallas County, Iowa in 1877 and 1879, he was elected Iowa State Treasurer in 1880, and reelected in 1882. In 1884, the incumbent Republican U.S. Representative of Iowa's 7th congressional district, John A. Kasson, declined to seek re-election. Conger won the Republican nomination to succeed him, and the general election (although Kasson's early resignation to accept an ambassadorship, and the election of

Hiram Y. Smith Hiram Ypsilanti Smith (March 22, 1843 – November 4, 1894) was a nineteenth-century Republican politician, lawyer and clerk from Iowa. For three months, he represented Iowa's 7th congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives, after ...

to serve out Kasson's term, caused Conger to succeed Smith instead). Conger was re-elected twice (in 1886 and 1888). In Congress, he served as chairman of the Committee on Coinage, Weights, and Measures from 1889 to 1890. In 1890, he entered the race for a fourth term in Congress.

Foreign service

In September 1890, less than two months before the general election, Conger resigned his Congressional seat and abandoned his re-election campaign, in order to accept appointment by President Benjamin Harrison as U.S. Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Brazil (a post that today would be called the United States Ambassador). He served until September 1893, when he was replaced by an appointee of incoming Democratic president Grover Cleveland. He returned to that position in 1897 following the election of the next Republican president, William McKinley, serving from August 9, 1897, to February 6, 1898. In 1898, President McKinley appointed Conger as Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to China, where he served as the United States' ambassador to the

Qing Empire The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...

to handle foreign affairs with China as well as governing the de jure American concession of Tianjin. McKinley had initially nominated

Charles Page Bryan Charles Page Bryan (October 2, 1855 – March 13, 1918) was an American lawyer, politician, and diplomat. Biography Bryan was born in Chicago, Illinois, on October 2, 1855. He was the son of Thomas Barbour Bryan. Through his father, he was a memb ...

for the China post, but when Bryan's lack of relevant experience prompted objections in Congress, McKinley chose Conger for China and nominated Bryan for Conger's former position in Brazil. Conger's arrival in July 1898 coincided with the emergence of a violent anti-foreign, anti-Christian movement, the Society of Righteous and Harmonious Fists in China (known as "Boxers" in English). In June 1900, Boxer fighters gathered in Beijing to besiege the foreign embassies, in what became known outside of China as the

. Sensationalist American newspapers initially reported, in screaming headlines, that Conger was "undoubtedly dead," together with his staff consisting of H. G. Squires, William E. Bainbridge and

Fleming D. Cheshire Fleming Duncan Cheshire (March 4, 1849 – June 13, 1922), also known as Fleming D. Cheshire, was an American businessman, foreign language interpreter and Consul-General of the United States to China. As the Chinese Secretary to legation during t ...

as well as all other foreigners in Beijing. Americans and other westerners retreated to the Beijing Legation Quarter, where they were under siege for fifty-five days (see. Siege of the International Legations) until the

Eight-Nation Alliance The Eight-Nation Alliance was a multinational military coalition that invaded northern China in 1900 with the stated aim of relieving the foreign legations in Beijing, then besieged by the popular Boxer militia, who were determined to remove fo ...

brought 20,000 troops to their rescue. After receiving a hero's welcome on return to the United States in 1901, Conger resumed his duties in China for several more years, serving until 1905. His wife became a friend of Cixi, the Empress Dowager, and an outspoken critic of Western encroachments on Chinese sovereignty and interference in its internal affairs. In 1905, Conger was appointed by President Theodore Roosevelt as Ambassador to Mexico. His service in that position was brief; it began on June 15 and ended on August 3, 1905, when President Roosevelt chose Conger for a different post. Roosevelt appointed him to perform a special mission to China made necessary when the United States' interpretation of the Chinese Exclusion Act, and failure to build the Hankow railroad, prompted a boycott of American goods in China. However, a week later, Conger declined the appointment, and resigned his appointment in Mexico effective two months later. He died in

Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district. I ...

, on May 18, 1907, and was interred in Mountain View Cemetery in Altadena, California. His death was attributed to a disease contracted in China.Ex-Minister Conger Dead
" New York Times, 1907-05-19 at p. 7.

In popular culture

Edwin H. Conger was portrayed by Peter in the 2006 Chinese television series '' Princess Der Ling''.

References

External links

Retrieved on 2008-02-14 * {{DEFAULTSORT:Conger, Edwin H. 1843 births 1907 deaths Ambassadors of the United States to Brazil Ambassadors of the United States to China Ambassadors of the United States to Mexico State treasurers of Iowa Iowa lawyers Illinois lawyers Union Army officers Albany Law School alumni People from Knox County, Illinois People from Pasadena, California People of Iowa in the American Civil War Lombard College alumni American people of the Boxer Rebellion Illinois Republicans California Republicans Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Iowa People from Dallas County, Iowa 19th-century American politicians Military personnel from California Military personnel from Illinois