George Meade Bowers (September 13, 1863 – December 7, 1925) was an American politician who represented

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...

in the

United States House of Representatives 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 house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

from 1916 to 1923.

Biography

Bowers was born in

Gerrardstown, West Virginia Gerrardstown is an unincorporated community village located along W.Va. Route 51 in Berkeley County in West Virginia's Eastern Panhandle region in the lower Shenandoah Valley. History Originally established as Middletown on November 22, 1787, by ...

. He was educated by private tutors and attended high school. Later, he engaged in

banking A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets. Because ...

. Bowers served as a member of the

West Virginia House of Delegates The West Virginia House of Delegates is the lower house of the West Virginia Legislature. Only three states—Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia—refer to their lower house as the House of Delegates. Organization Regular sessions begin with ...

from 1883 to 1887. He was the supervisor of the United States

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...

for West Virginia in 1890 and a delegate to the

Republican National Convention The Republican National Convention (RNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1856 by the United States Republican Party. They are administered by the Republican National Committee. The goal of the Repu ...

in 1892. He was a member and treasurer of the board of World’s Fair commissioners for West Virginia in 1893 and as the United States Commissioner of Fish and Fisheries led the United States Commission of Fish and Fisheries (widely referred to the

United States Fish Commission The United States Fish Commission, formally known as the United States Commission of Fish and Fisheries, was an agency of the United States government created in 1871 to investigate, promote, and preserve the fisheries of the United States. In 1 ...

) from 1898 to 1903 and its successor organization, the

United States Bureau of Fisheries United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two fi ...

, from 1903 to 1913, when he resigned. Bowers was elected as a Republican to the

Sixty-fourth Congress The 64th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from March 4, 1915, to M ...

to fill the vacancy caused by the death of William G. Brown, Jr. and was reelected to the Sixty-fifth, Sixty-sixth, and Sixty-seventh Congresses and served from May 9, 1916, to March 3, 1923. He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1922 to the

Sixty-eighth Congress The 68th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1923, ...

. After leaving Congress, he was president of the People’s Trust Company. He died in

Martinsburg, West Virginia Martinsburg is a city in and the seat of Berkeley County, West Virginia, in the tip of the state's Eastern Panhandle region in the lower Shenandoah Valley. Its population was 18,835 in the 2021 census estimate, making it the largest city in the E ...

, in 1925 and was buried in the Presbyterian Cemetery, Gerrardstown, West Virginia. The specific name of the

parrotfish Parrotfishes are a group of about 90 fish species regarded as a Family (biology), family (Scaridae), or a subfamily (Scarinae) of the wrasses. With about 95 species, this group's largest species richness is in the Indo-Pacific. They are found ...

'' Chlorurus bowersi'', described in 1909 by

John Otterbein Snyder John Otterbein Snyder (August 14, 1867 – August 19, 1943) was an American ichthyologist and professor of zoology at Stanford University. History As a student he met David Starr Jordan who inspired him to enter zoology. He eventually became a zoo ...

, honours Bowers.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bowers, George Meade 1863 births 1925 deaths American bankers Businesspeople from West Virginia Republican Party members of the West Virginia House of Delegates People from Berkeley County, West Virginia United States Fish Commission personnel United States Bureau of Fisheries personnel Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from West Virginia Burials at Green Hill Cemetery (Martinsburg, West Virginia) 20th-century American politicians