Madison Miner Walden (October 6, 1836 – July 24, 1891) was a Civil War officer, teacher, publisher, farmer, the

Lieutenant Governor of Iowa This is a list of lieutenant governors of the U.S. state of Iowa. History Prior to 1990, the governor and lieutenant governor were elected in separate elections; since then they have run together on the same ticket. List See also * List of g ...

, and a one-term 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's 4th congressional district, then located in southeastern Iowa.

Biography

Born near

Brush Creek Township, Scioto County, Ohio Brush Creek Township is one of the sixteen townships of Scioto County, Ohio, United States. The 2020 census counted 1,114 people in the township. Geography Located in the western part of the county, it borders the following townships: * Rarden ...

, Walden moved to Iowa in 1852. He attended Denmark Academy in Lee County, Iowa, and Iowa Wesleyan College in Mount Pleasant, Iowa, and graduated from Ohio Wesleyan College in Delaware, Ohio, in 1859. He settled in

Centerville, Iowa Centerville is a city in and the county seat of Appanoose County, Iowa, Appanoose County, Iowa, United States. The population was 5,412 in the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, a decline from 5,924 in 2000 United States Census, 2000. After ...

(in

Appanoose County Appanoose County is a county in the U.S. state of Iowa. As of the 2020 census, the population was 12,317. Its county seat is Centerville. History Appanoose County was formed on February 17, 1843, from open territory. It was named for the ...

). After the outbreak of the Civil War, he served in the Union Army, as captain in the

6th Iowa Volunteer Infantry Regiment The 6th Iowa Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. The regiment was organized at Burlington, Iowa on July 17, 1861, and mustered out of service on July 21, 1865, in Louisville, Ken ...

and the 8th Regiment Iowa Volunteer Cavalry, from May 1861 to May 1865. He was taken prisoner in an engagement at

Newnan, Georgia Newnan is a city in Metro Atlanta and the county seat of Coweta County, Georgia, about southwest of Atlanta. Its population was 42,549 at the 2020 census, up from 33,039 in 2010. History Newnan was established as county seat of Coweta Coun ...

, in July 1864,Benjamin F. Gue, " History of Iowa From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century," Vol. 4 (Madison M. Walden), p. 278 (1902). known as the Battle of Brown's Mill during " McCook's Raid.""For Speaker," Eldora Register, 1889-12-05, at p. 2. He later escaped from a prison camp at

Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina, the county seat of Charleston County, and the principal city in the Charleston–North Charleston metropolitan area. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint o ...

, and returned to his company. By the end of the War he had been promoted to the rank of major. Returning from the War, he taught school, and published the ''Centerville (Iowa) Citizen'' from 1865 to 1874. He served as member of the Iowa House of Representatives in 1866 and 1867, and in the Iowa Senate, representing the

4th District Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...

, in 1868 and 1869. In 1869 he was elected as Lieutenant Governor of Iowa, starting his term in 1870. In the 1870 Republican district convention for Iowa's 4th congressional district, Walden upset incumbent Fourth District Congressman

William Loughridge William Loughridge (July 11, 1827 – September 26, 1889) was a pioneer attorney, judge, and three-term United States Congressman from Iowa. He was born in Youngstown, Ohio, where he attended the common schools. After studying law, he was ...

in the race for the Party's nomination for Loughridge's seat. Walden won the general election, and served in the

42nd United States Congress The 42nd 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, 1871, ...

from March 4, 1871 to March 3, 1873. However, when Walden ran for renomination in 1872 (in what was reapportioned in 1871 as

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 ...

), Loughridge turned the tables on Walden, ousting Walden."Radical Trouble," Dubuque Herald, 1872-08-01 at p. 1. After his defeat, Walden engaged in agricultural pursuits and coal mining in Centerville. In 1890 he was again a member of the Iowa House from Appanoose County. He returned to Washington, D.C. in 1889 when he was appointed chief clerk in the office of the Solicitor of the Treasury, and served until his death in Washington on July 24, 1891. He was interred in Oakland Cemetery in Centerville, Iowa.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Walden, Madison Miner 1836 births 1891 deaths People of Iowa in the American Civil War Union Army officers Iowa lawyers Republican Party members of the Iowa House of Representatives Republican Party Iowa state senators Lieutenant Governors of Iowa People from Scioto County, Ohio Ohio Wesleyan University alumni People from Centerville, Iowa Educators from Iowa Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Iowa 19th-century American politicians Educators from Ohio 19th-century American lawyers 19th-century American educators