John Albert McShane (August 25, 1850 – November 10, 1923) was an American

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

politician. He was the first Democrat to be elected to 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 Nebraska. McShane was born in New Lexington, Ohio, on August 25, 1850. In 1871, he moved to the Wyoming Territory, and in 1874 he moved to

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest cit ...

. He started out in the livestock business but eventually became a director of the

First National Bank of Omaha First National Bank Omaha is a bank headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska. The namesake and leading subsidiary of First National of Nebraska, it is the third largest privately held bank subsidiary in the United States with $17 billion in assets and 43 ...

. McShane was elected to the Nebraska state house of representatives in 1880 and to the state senate in 1882, serving there until 1886. That year he ran for and won the seat in

Nebraska's 1st congressional district Nebraska's 1st congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Nebraska that encompasses most of its eastern quarter, except for Omaha and some of its suburbs, which are part of the 2nd congressional district. It includ ...

, serving in the

Fiftieth United States Congress The 50th 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, 1887, ...

from March 4, 1887, to March 3, 1889. In 1888, he ran for

Governor of Nebraska The governor of Nebraska is the head of government of the U.S. state of Nebraska as provided by the fourth article of the Constitution of Nebraska. The officeholder is elected to a four-year term, with elections held two years after presidential e ...

but lost

the election ''The Election'' () is a political drama series produced by Hong Kong Television Network (HKTV). With a budget of HK$15 million, filming started in July 2014 and wrapped up on 28 October 2014. Popularly voted to be the inaugural drama of ...

John Milton Thayer John Milton Thayer (January 24, 1820March 19, 1906) was a general in the Union Army during the American Civil War and a postbellum United States Senator from Nebraska. Thayer served as Governor of Wyoming Territory and Governor of Nebraska. T ...

. After retirement McShane worked against the right of women to vote. He was a member of the Nebraska

Men's Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage The Men's Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage was an American organization active in the 1910s that was Anti-suffragism, opposed to legal voting by women and open exclusively to men. It was made up of loosely affiliated state and local chapters ...

, which desired to restrict voting to white men of high social class. McShane died in Omaha on November 10, 1923; he was buried in Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in Omaha.

References

* * * * 1850 births 1923 deaths Democratic Party members of the Nebraska House of Representatives Democratic Party Nebraska state senators People from New Lexington, Ohio Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Nebraska {{Nebraska-politician-stub