Edward Prentiss COSTIGAN, Congress, CO (1874-1939)

COSTIGAN, Edward Prentiss, a Senator from Colorado; born near Beaulahville, King William County, Va., July 1, 1874; moved to Colorado in 1877 with his parents, who settled in Ouray, Ouray County; attended the public schools; studied law; admitted to the bar in Salt Lake City, Utah, in 1897; graduated from Harvard University in 1899; commenced the practice of law in Denver, Colo., in 1900; began his political life as a Republican; one of the founders of the Progressive Party in Colorado in 1912; unsuccessful Progressive candidate for Governor of Colorado in 1912 and 1914; appointed a member of the United States Tariff Commission by President Woodrow Wilson in 1917; and served until his resignation in March 1928; resumed the practice of law in Denver, Colo.; affiliated with the Democratic Party in 1930; elected as a Democrat to the United States Senate in 1930 and served from March 4, 1931, to January 3, 1937; was not a candidate for renomination in 1936; retired from professional and political activities and resided in Denver, Colo., until his death there on January 17, 1939; interment in Fairmount Cemetery.

Bibliography

American National Biography; Dictionary of American Biography; Costigan, Edward. Public Ownership of Government: Collected Papers of Edward P. Costigan. 1940. Reprint. New York: Kennikat Press, 1968; Greenbaum, Fred. Fighting Progressive: A Biography of Edward P. Costigan. Washington, D.C.: Public Affairs Press, 1971.

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