Augustus C. Dodge

Augustus Caesar Dodge
United States Ambassador to Spain
In office February 22, 1855 – March 12, 1859
President	Franklin Pierce
Preceded by	Pierre Soulé
Succeeded by	William Preston
United States Senator from Iowa
In office December 7, 1848 – February 22, 1855
Preceded by	(none)
Succeeded by	James Harlan
Delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives from Iowa Territory's at-large congressional district
In office October 28, 1840 – December 28, 1846
Preceded by	William W. Chapman
Succeeded by	Serranus Clinton Hastings (from Iowa's at-large congressional district)
Personal details
Born	(1812-01-02)January 2, 1812 Ste. Genevieve, Missouri, US
Died	November 20, 1883(1883-11-20) (aged 71) Burlington, Iowa, US
Political party	Democratic
Profession	Politician
Military service
Service/branch	United States Army
Battles/wars	Black Hawk War

Augustus Caesar Dodge (January 2, 1812 – November 20, 1883) was one of the first set of United States Senators to represent the state of Iowa after it was admitted to the Union as a state in 1846. Dodge, a Democrat, had also represented Iowa Territory in Congress as its delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives from 1840 to 1846.

He was born in what is now Ste. Genevieve, Missouri (then in Louisiana Territory). Self-educated, he moved to Illinois in 1827, settled in Galena, and was employed there in various capacities in his father's lead mines. He served in the Black Hawk War and other Indian wars. In 1837, he moved to what is now Burlington, Iowa (then in Wisconsin Territory), where he served as register of the land office until 1840.

Delegate

Congress created Iowa Territory in 1838, from what was formerly the Iowa District of Wisconsin Territory. As a result of the Act of March 3, 1839,^[1] the position of Iowa Territory's Delegate to the U.S. House would become vacant on October 27, 1840, and Dodge was elected to fill it. After initially serving in the Twenty-sixth United States Congress, he was re-elected in 1840 (to the Twenty-seventh Congress), 1842 (to the Twenty-eighth Congress), and 1844 (to the Twenty-ninth Congress). He served as delegate until Iowa became a state in December 1846, and his role was replaced by two voting Representatives.

Senator

For its first two years, the Iowa General Assembly failed to choose Iowa's first U.S. Senators, due to a three-way split that prevented any candidate from earning the required number of 30 legislators' votes.^[2] However, after the 1848 elections gave the Democratic Party a greater share of Iowa legislators, Dodge (and George W. Jones) were elected as Iowa's first two U.S. Senators.^[2] By drawing lots, Dodge received the seat with the shorter term (to expire in 1849), but was re-elected that year to a full six-year term.^[2] While in the Senate, he served as chairman of the Committee to Audit and Control the Contingent Expenses (in the Thirty-first and Thirty-second Congresses), the Committee on Pensions (in the Thirty-first Congress), the Committee on Revolutionary Claims (in the Thirty-second Congress), and the Committee on Public Lands (in the Thirty-third Congress).

In 1854, as Dodge's second term was near its end, the Iowa General Assembly chose Free Soil Party member (and future Republican) James Harlan, rather than Dodge.^[2] Dodge was the preferred choice of Democratic legislators, whose ranks had declined. But in a failed effort to defeat Harlan by uniting Democrats and nationalist Whigs behind a single candidate, Dodge dropped out after the fourth ballot.^[2]

Dodge served in the Senate from until February 22, 1855, when President Franklin Pierce appointed him to the post of minister to Spain. He served as the minister until 1859.

Live after the Senate

Dodge unsuccessfully ran for Governor of Iowa in 1859, losing to Republican Samuel J. Kirkwood. He served as mayor of Burlington, Iowa from 1874 to 1875.

In 1868, Dodge supported the candidacy of George H. Pendleton for the Democratic presidential nomination.^[3] Looking toward the 1872 presidential election, Dodge recommended Thomas A. Hendricks as a "worthy, able and excellent man." He believed that there was strong support throughout the Midwest for the Indianan, although he doubted that Hendricks would run well in the East.^[4]

He died in Burlington on November 20, 1883, and was interred in Aspen Grove Cemetery.

His father, Henry Dodge, served as a U.S. Senator from Wisconsin. They are the first, and so far only father-son pair to serve concurrently in the U.S. Senate. He was also the nephew of Lewis F. Linn. His brother-in-law James Clarke served as the third and last Governor of Iowa Territory.^[5]

Legacy

Dodge County, Nebraska^[6] and Dodge Street in Omaha, Nebraska^[7] were named after Augustus Dodge. His home in Burlington, Iowa is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Augustus Caesar Dodge House.^[8]

References

External links

• Augustus C. Dodge at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Augustus C. Dodge at Find A Grave

United States Senators from Iowa Class 2 Jones Grimes Howell Wright Kirkwood McDill J. Wilson Gear Dolliver Young Kenyon Rawson Brookhart Steck Dickinson Herring G. Wilson Gillette Martin Miller Clark Jepsen Harkin Ernst Class 3 Dodge Harlan Kirkwood Harlan Allison Cummins Stewart Brookhart Murphy Gillette Hickenlooper Hughes Culver Grassley

Chairmen of the United States Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources Public Lands (1816–1921) Morrow Williams Thomas Barton King Kane Poindexter Ewing Walker Smith Woodbridge Breese Felch Borland Dodge Stuart Johnson Harlan Pomeroy Sprague Oglesby McDonald Plumb Dolph Berry Dubois Hansbrough Nelson Smoot Chamberlain Myers Smoot Public Lands and Surveys (1921–1947) Smoot Lenroot Ladd Stanfield Nye Kendrick Wagner Adams Hatch Interior and Insular Affairs (1947–1977) Butler O'Mahoney Butler Cordon Murray Anderson Jackson Energy and Natural Resources (1977–) Jackson McClure Johnston F. Murkowski Bingaman F. Murkowski Bingaman Domenici Bingaman Wyden Landrieu L. Murkowski

Members of the U.S. House of Representatives from Iowa 1st W. Thompson Miller Henn A. Hall S. Curtis J. F. Wilson McCrary Stone McCoid B. Hall Gear Seerley Gear S. Clark Hedge Kennedy Kopp Eicher Martin Schwengel Schmidhauser Schwengel Mezvinsky Leach Nussle Braley Blum 2nd Leffler L. Clark J. P. Cook Thorington Davis Vandever Price Smyth W. Wolf Cotton Tufts Price Farwell Murphy Hayes G. Curtis Lane Rumple Wade Dawson Pepper Vollmer Hull Letts B. Jacobsen W. Jacobsen Talle L. Wolf Bromwell Culver Blouin Tauke Nussle Leach Loebsack 3rd Allison Donnan Ainsworth Burdick Updegraff Henderson Birdsall Pickett Connolly Sweet Robinson Willford Gwynne Gross Grassley Evans Nagle Lightfoot Boswell Latham Young 4th Grinnell Loughridge Walden Pratt Deering Weller Fuller Sweney Butler Updegraff Haugen Biermann Talle Le Compte Carter Kyl Bandstra Kyl N. Smith Ganske Latham King 5th Kasson G. Dodge Palmer J. Wilson R. Clark W. G. Thompson J. Wilson Frederick Kerr J. Hamilton Cousins Good Cole Thruston Le Compte Cunningham N. Smith Scherle Harkin Lightfoot Grandy Latham King 6th A. Hubbard Pomeroy Orr Loughridge Sampson Weaver Cutts J. C. Cook Cutts J. C. Cook Weaver Lacey White Lacey D. Hamilton Kendall Kirkpatrick Ramseyer Dowell Utterback Dowell Goodwin Cunningham Gilchrist J. I. Dolliver Coad Hoeven Greigg Mayne Bedell Grandy 7th Kasson Cummings E. Gillette Kasson H. Smith Conger Hays Hull Prouty Dowell Wearin Jensen Hansen Scherle 8th McDill Sapp Hepburn Anderson Flick Hepburn Jamieson Towner Evans Thurston Gilchrist Hoeven 9th Orr Oliver Carpenter Pusey Lyman Reed Bowman Hager McPherson W. Smith Green Vincent Swanson G. Gillette Harrington Narey 10th Holmes J. P. Dolliver Conner Woods Dickinson Gilchrist 11th Struble Perkins Thomas E. Hubbard Scott Steele Scott Boies Campbell AL Hastings and Leffler Terr Chapman A. Dodge