Martin James McGowan Jr. (October 28, 1920 – August 13, 2009) was an American politician and newspaper editor.

Early life and education

Born in

Appleton, Minnesota Appleton is a city in Swift County, Minnesota, Swift County, Minnesota, United States. Its population was 1,412 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. The town is home to a vacant medium-security prison, the Prairie Correctional Facili ...

, McGowan went to the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac (known simply as Notre Dame; ; ND) is a Private university, private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1842 by members of the Congregation of Holy Cross, a Cathol ...

from 1938 to 1941 and then received his bachelor's degree from the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou or MU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri, United States. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Univers ...

in 1942.

Career

McGowan was the editor and publisher of the ''Appleton Press'', the ''Swift County Monitor-News'' and three other weekly newspapers in Minnesota. The Appleton Press was then a well written and well thought out small town newspaper that reported on the intimate details of local life, such as a visit by a citizen's out of town relative. A selection of his columns spanning those newspapers relate samples of his writing. On the occasion of his 80th birthday, he wrote a biographic article on his life growing up in a local newspaper family, his schooling, working with his father, traveling with the US Navy, and raising a family. McGowan served on the

Blue Earth, Minnesota Blue Earth is a city in Faribault County, Minnesota, United States, at the confluence of the east and west branches of the Blue Earth River. The population was 3,174 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Faribault County. It is home ...

Planning Commission and the Appleton, Minnesota Library Board. From 1959 until 1967, McGowan served in the

Minnesota House of Representatives The Minnesota House of Representatives is the lower chamber of the U.S. state of Minnesota's Minnesota Legislature, legislature. It operates in conjunction with the Minnesota Senate, the state's upper chamber, to write and pass legislation, whic ...

as a Democrat. His nephew Rick Nolan also served in the Minnesota Legislature and six terms in the U.S. House of Representatives. His son Martin James McGowan III graduated in Mechanical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1966. McGowan died in

Minneapolis, Minnesota Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

.John Carlton-Foss, Personal knowledge and MIT Alumni Directory.

References

1920 births 2009 deaths People from Appleton, Minnesota University of Notre Dame alumni University of Missouri alumni Editors of Minnesota newspapers Democratic Party members of the Minnesota House of Representatives 20th-century members of the Minnesota Legislature {{Minnesota-MNRepresentative-Democratic-stub