Thomas Jefferson Steele (March 19, 1853 – March 20, 1920) was a 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 11th congressional district Iowa's 11th congressional district existed from 1883 to 1933, when Iowa sent eleven members of Congress to the United States House of Representatives. The district covered northwestern Iowa. Makeup The district was created in 1881 (effective 18 ...

in northwestern Iowa. Steele was the first and only Democrat elected to represent the 11th district in its fifty-year history (from 1883 to 1933). Born near Rushville, Indiana, Steele attended the public schools and Axline Seminary in

Fairfax, Iowa Fairfax is a city in Linn County, Iowa, United States. The population was 2,828 at the time of the 2020 census. It is part of the Cedar Rapids Metropolitan Statistical Area. History Fairfax was laid out in 1863 when the railroad was extended ...

. He taught school in central and western Iowa, and studied law in Sheldon, Iowa. He engaged in the hardware business and in banking at Wayne, Nebraska, and served as

county clerk A clerk is a white-collar worker who conducts general office tasks, or a worker who performs similar sales-related tasks in a retail environment. The responsibilities of clerical workers commonly include record keeping, filing, staffing service ...

of Wayne County, Nebraska, from 1884 to 1886. In 1897, Steele moved to Sioux City, Iowa, where he became a livestock commission merchant. His livestock brokerage firm became very profitable, and he gained a good reputation in town. He may have influenced the decision of his architect nephew,

William L. Steele William LaBarthe Steele (May 2, 1875 – March 4, 1949) was an American architect from Chicago, Illinois. He is considered a principal member of the Prairie School Architectural Movement during the early 20th century. Career After graduating f ...

(1875–1949), to relocate from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to Sioux City in 1904. The elder Steele certainly was influential in assisting his nephew in securing some of his early commissions. This included the Sioux City Livestock Exchange Building (1914), which was among the first of the architect's designs in the

Prairie School Prairie School is a late 19th- and early 20th-century architectural style, most common in the Midwestern United States. The style is usually marked by horizontal lines, flat or hipped roofs with broad overhanging eaves, windows grouped in ...

style of architecture for which he would become famous. In 1914, Steele upset incumbent Republican Congressman

George Cromwell Scott George Cromwell Scott (August 8, 1864 – October 6, 1948) was a United States representative from Iowa's 11th congressional district for just over four years, and was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the No ...

in the race to represent Iowa's 11th congressional district in the Sixty-fourth Congress. One rural newspaper explained, "the central feature of the Steele campaign was personal solicitation of votes and personal publicity concerning the candidate." By contrast, "Mr. Scott remained in Washington until ten days before the election and put in only one week of campaigning." (quoting the Sioux City Journal) Steele's win was particularly surprising because it occurred in a year in which Iowa Republicans swept all statewide offices and recaptured all seats in Congress held by Democrats. Steele ran for re-election in 1916, and Scott again ran against him. This time, Scott campaigned more vigorously, and recaptured the seat from Steele in a very close race. Steele unsuccessfully contested the election. In all, Steele served in Congress from March 4, 1915, to March 3, 1917. Steele resumed business as commission merchant. Steele ran again for his former seat in the next election in 1918. Steele won the Democratic nomination, but lost in the general election to William D. Boies. Steele died in Sioux City on March 20, 1920. He was interred in Graceland Park Cemetery in Sioux City.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Steele, Thomas Jefferson 1853 births 1920 deaths Politicians from Sioux City, Iowa People from Wayne, Nebraska People from Rushville, Indiana People from Sheldon, Iowa Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Iowa People from Linn County, Iowa