Augustus C. Dodge

Augustus C. Dodge

Augustus Caesar Dodge (born January 2, 1812 in Sainte Genevieve , Sainte Genevieve County , Missouri , †  November 20, 1883 in Burlington , Iowa ) was an American politician ( Democratic Party ). He was one of the first two US Senators from Iowa after the state was founded in 1846.

Augustus Dodge, who was educated at home and grew up without any real schooling, moved to Illinois with his father Henry Dodge in 1827 , where the family settled in Galena . He was employed there in his father's lead mines. As a soldier he fought in the Black Hawk War, among other things .

In 1837 Dodge settled in Burlington, Iowa . There he worked for the Land Office from 1838 to 1840 . From October 28, 1840, he represented the territory as a non-voting delegate in the US House of Representatives in Washington . After three re-elections, he remained there until December 28, 1846, when Iowa was promoted to the state.

On December 7, 1848, Dodge moved to the US Senate as Iowa's representative. At that point in time his father, who represented the state of Wisconsin , was already a member . This was the only case in the history of the Senate where father and son belonged to the Chamber of Parliament at the same time. Augustus Dodge remained in the Senate until 1855 when he resigned and accepted the appointment of Ambassador to Spain by US President Franklin Pierce .

In 1859 Dodge returned to the United States. He ran for governor of Iowa in October of that year , but was defeated by Republican Samuel Jordan Kirkwood . From 1874 to 1875 he was Mayor of Burlington, where he died in 1883. The Dodge County in Nebraska was named in his honor after him, as well as the Dodge Street in Omaha .

Augustus Dodge was the son of Henry Dodge (1782-1867), who was among other things congressional delegate and governor of the Wisconsin Territory . He was also a nephew of US Senator Lewis F. Linn (1795–1843)

Web links

• Augustus C. Dodge in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)

• Augustus C. Dodge in the database of Find a Grave (English)