James Wilson McDill (March 4, 1834February 28, 1894) was an American lawyer, state-court judge,

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 ...

United States 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 ...

and

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

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 ...

, state railroad commissioner, and member of the

Interstate Commerce Commission The Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) was a regulatory agency in the United States created by the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887. The agency's original purpose was to regulate railroads (and later trucking) to ensure fair rates, to eliminat ...

. Born in

Monroe, Ohio Monroe is a city in east central Butler and west central Warren counties in the southwestern part of the U.S. state of Ohio. The population was 15,412 at the 2020 census. Monroe is a part of the Cincinnati metropolitan area. History Monroe was l ...

, he attended the common schools,

Hanover College Hanover College is a private college in Hanover, Indiana, affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA). Founded in 1827 by Reverend John Finley Crowe, it is Indiana's oldest private college. The Hanover athletic teams participate in the H ...

, and South Salem Academy (in

South Salem, Ohio South Salem is a village in Ross County, Ohio, United States. The population was 204 at the 2010 census. History In 1842, local Presbyterian minister Hugh Stewart Fullerton orchestrated the establishment of a school in southwestern Ross County ...

). He graduated from

Miami University Miami University (informally Miami of Ohio or simply Miami) is a public research university in Oxford, Ohio. The university was founded in 1809, making it the second-oldest university in Ohio (behind Ohio University, founded in 1804) and the 10 ...

(in

Oxford, Ohio Oxford is a city in Butler County, Ohio, United States. The population was 23,035 at the 2020 census. A college town, Oxford was founded as a home for Miami University and lies in the southwestern portion of the state approximately northwest ...

) in 1853. He studied law in

Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, and t ...

, and was admitted to the

bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar (u ...

in 1856. McDill then moved to

Afton, Iowa Afton is a city in Union County, Iowa The population was 874 at the time of the 2020 census. Its peak of population was in 1880, at 1,231 residents, when numerous European immigrants and migrants from the eastern United States settled here for the ...

, in southwestern Iowa, and commenced practice. He was elected

superintendent Superintendent may refer to: *Superintendent (police), Superintendent of Police (SP), or Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), a police rank *Prison warden or Superintendent, a prison administrator *Superintendent (ecclesiastical), a church exec ...

Union County, Iowa Union County is a county located in the southern part of the U.S. state of Iowa. As of the 2020 census, the population was 12,138. The county seat is Creston. Organized at a time of tensions before the Civil War, the county was named in 1853 ...

, in 1859 and was elected county judge in 1860. He was a clerk in the office of the Third

Auditor An auditor is a person or a firm appointed by a company to execute an audit.Practical Auditing, Kul Narsingh Shrestha, 2012, Nabin Prakashan, Nepal To act as an auditor, a person should be certified by the regulatory authority of accounting and au ...

of the

Treasury A treasury is either *A government department related to finance and taxation, a finance ministry. *A place or location where treasure, such as currency or precious items are kept. These can be state or royal property, church treasure or in p ...

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, ...

, from 1862 to 1865, when he resigned and returned to Iowa. He was elected circuit judge in 1868, and later district judge of the third judicial circuit of Iowa. In 1872, he was elected as a Republican to represent

Iowa's 8th congressional district Iowa's 8th congressional district existed from 1873 to 1963. The district was configured five times. Although the district encompassed four different areas of Iowa in its ninety-year existence, it was always predominantly rural, and elected a R ...

in the U.S. House. He initially served in the Forty-third Congress. He was re-elected two years later, to the

Forty-fourth Congress The 44th 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, 1875, ...

. He declined to be a candidate for renomination in 1876. In all, he served in the House from March 4, 1873, to March 3, 1877. McDill resumed the practice of law in Afton. He was a member of the Board of Railroad Commissioners of the State of Iowa from 1878 to 1881. In March 1881, he was appointed by Governor

John H. Gear John Henry Gear (April 7, 1825 – July 14, 1900) served as the 11th Governor of Iowa, a United States representative and a member of the United States Senate. Biography Born in Ithaca, New York, he attended the common schools and moved to Gal ...

to fill the U.S. Senate vacancy caused by the resignation of

Samuel J. Kirkwood Samuel Jordan Kirkwood (December 20, 1813 – September 1, 1894) was an American politician who twice served as governor of Iowa, twice as a U.S. Senator from Iowa, and as the U.S. Secretary of the Interior. Early life and career Samuel Jordan ...

, whom President

James A. Garfield James Abram Garfield (November 19, 1831 – September 19, 1881) was the 20th president of the United States, serving from March 4, 1881 until his death six months latertwo months after he was shot by an assassin. A lawyer and Civil War gene ...

had appointed

Secretary of the Interior Secretary of the Interior may refer to: * Secretary of the Interior (Mexico) * Interior Secretary of Pakistan * Secretary of the Interior and Local Government (Philippines) * United States Secretary of the Interior See also

*Interior ministry ...

.Dan Elbert Clark,
History of Senatorial Elections in Iowa
" p. 190 (1913). McDill was required to stand for election in the next session of the

Iowa General Assembly The Iowa General Assembly is the legislative branch of the state government of Iowa. Like the federal United States Congress, the General Assembly is a bicameral body, composed of the upper house Iowa Senate and the lower Iowa House of Repres ...

, in 1882.

James F. Wilson James Falconer "Jefferson Jim" Wilson (October 19, 1828April 22, 1895) was an American lawyer and politician. He served as a Republican U.S. Congressman from Iowa's 1st congressional district during the American Civil War, and later as a two-te ...

was elected to the "long term" Senate seat (for 1883 to 1889), which McDill did not seek, but McDill was elected to continue holding the seat in the short run (until March 1883). In all, he served in the Senate from March 8, 1881, until March 3, 1883. After his term ended, he was again appointed Railroad Commissioner for three years beginning in April 1884.Benjamin F. Gue, " History of Iowa From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century," Vol. 4 (James W. McDill), pp. 175-76 (1902). In 1892, he was appointed by President

Benjamin Harrison Benjamin Harrison (August 20, 1833March 13, 1901) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 23rd president of the United States from 1889 to 1893. He was a member of the Harrison family of Virginia–a grandson of the ninth pr ...

a member of the Interstate Commerce Commission and served until his death in

Creston, Iowa Creston is a city in and the county seat of Union County, Iowa. The population was 7,536 at the time of the 2020 Census. History Creston was originally settled in 1868 as a survey camp for the Burlington and Missouri Railroad. It was named ...

, in 1894. He was interred in Graceland Cemetery.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McDill, James W. 1834 births 1894 deaths People from Monroe, Ohio Iowa state court judges People of the Interstate Commerce Commission Miami University alumni Republican Party United States senators from Iowa Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Iowa People from Union County, Iowa 19th-century American politicians 19th-century American judges