Thomas Bowman (May 25, 1848 – December 1, 1917) was a local official, newspaper publisher, and one-term Democratic

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 9th congressional district. Benefiting from an electoral backlash in 1890 against Republicans for their support of the

McKinley Tariff The Tariff Act of 1890, commonly called the McKinley Tariff, was an act of the United States Congress, framed by then Representative William McKinley, that became law on October 1, 1890. The tariff raised the average duty on imports to almost fift ...

, Bowman's election was a rare nineteenth century Democratic win in traditionally Republican southwestern Iowa. Born in

Wiscasset, Maine Wiscasset is a town in and the seat of Lincoln County, Maine, United States. The municipality is located in the state of Maine's Mid Coast region. The population was 3,742 as of the 2020 census. Home to the Chewonki Foundation, Wiscasset is ...

, Bowman moved to Council Bluffs, Iowa, in 1868. A bachelor, he engaged in mercantile pursuits. In 1875, 1877 and 1879 he was elected treasurer of Pottawattamie County. He served as mayor of Council Bluffs in 1882. In 1883, he purchased a controlling ownership of the ''Council Bluffs Globe'' newspaper. Under his ownership, the ''Globe'' identified itself as a Democratic newspaper. While publishing and editing the ''Globe'', he was appointed postmaster of Council Bluffs in 1885, serving until his resignation in 1889. In 1890 two Democrats other than Bowman ran for their party's nomination for the U.S. House seat then held by Republican

Joseph Rea Reed Joseph Rea Reed (March 12, 1835 – April 2, 1925) was an Iowa Supreme Court justice, one-term Republican U.S. Representative from Iowa's 9th congressional district in southwestern Iowa, and chief justice of a specialized federal court. Biog ...

. However, at the 9th district's convention, Bowman was drafted and nominated instead. After defeating Reed in the general election as part the Democratic Party's first nationwide congressional landslide against the Republican Party (and first majority in Iowa's House delegation), Bowman served in the Fifty-second Congress. He was not a candidate for renomination in 1892, explaining that "my private business demands my undivided attention and I can only continue in public office at a great personal sacrifice.""Bowman Withdraws," Cedar Rapids Evening Gazette, 1892-05-09 at p. 2. In all, he served in Congress from March 4, 1891 to March 3, 1893. After returning to Council Bluffs and the ''Globe'', he was again the postmaster of Council Bluffs from 1904 to 1908. He also engaged in railroad contracting. Bowman died in Council Bluffs, on December 1, 1917. He was interred in Pine Grove Cemetery in Dresden Mills, Maine.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bowman, Thomas 1848 births 1917 deaths People from Wiscasset, Maine Mayors of places in Iowa Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Iowa 19th-century American politicians People from Council Bluffs, Iowa