Augustus Caesar DODGE, Congress, IA (1812-1883)

DODGE, Augustus Caesar, (son of Henry Dodge, nephew of Lewis Fields Linn), a Delegate and a Senator from Iowa; born in Ste. Genevieve, Mo., January 2, 1812; self-educated; moved to Illinois in 1827, settled in Galena, and was employed there in various capacities in his father’s lead mines; served in the Black Hawk and other Indian wars; moved to Burlington, Iowa, in 1837, where he served as register of the land office 1838-1840; elected as a Democratic Delegate to the Twenty-sixth Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the act of March 3, 1839; reelected to the Twenty-seventh, Twenty-eighth, and Twenty-ninth Congresses and served from October 28, 1840, to December 28, 1846, when the Territory of Iowa was admitted as a State into the Union; was then elected as a Democrat to the United States Senate; reelected in 1849, and served from December 7, 1848, to February 22, 1855, when he resigned to accept a diplomatic post; chairman, Committee to Audit and Control the Contingent Expenses (Thirty-first and Thirty-second Congresses), Committee on Pensions (Thirty-first Congress), Committee on Revolutionary Claims (Thirty-second Congress), Committee on Public Lands (Thirty-third Congress); appointed Minister to Spain 1855-1859; unsuccessful candidate for Governor of Iowa in 1859; mayor of Burlington 1874-1875; withdrew from political activities and engaged in lecturing at pioneer gatherings; died in Burlington, Des Moines County, Iowa, November 20, 1883; interment in Aspen Grove Cemetery.

Bibliography

Dictionary of American Biography; Harmon, Sandra D. “Augustus Caesar Dodge and James W. Grimes, Iowa Spokesmen: 1840-1860.” Master’s thesis, Illinois State University, 1970; Pelzer, Louis. Augustus Caesar Dodge. Iowa City: The State Historical Society of Iowa, 1908.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present