John Henry GEAR, Congress, IA (1825-1900)

GEAR, John Henry, a Representative and a Senator from Iowa; born in Ithaca, Tompkins County, N.Y., April 7, 1825; attended the common schools; moved to Galena, Ill., in 1836, to Fort Snelling, Iowa, in 1838, and to Burlington in 1843, where he engaged in mercantile pursuits; mayor of Burlington 1863; member, State house of representatives 1871-1873, serving as speaker two terms; Governor of Iowa 1878-1881; elected as a Republican to the Fiftieth and Fifty-first Congresses (March 4, 1887-March 3, 1891); unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1890; appointed by President Benjamin Harrison as Assistant Secretary of the Treasury 1892-1893; elected to the Fifty-third Congress (March 4, 1893-March 3, 1895); elected as a Republican to the United States Senate in 1894; reelected in 1900 and served from March 4, 1895, until his death on July 14, 1900, before the start of his second term; chairman, Committee on Pacific Railroads (Fifty-fourth through Fifty-Sixth Congresses); died in Washington, D.C.; interment in Aspen Grove Cemetery, Burlington, Iowa.

Bibliography

American National Biography; Dictionary of American Biography; U.S. Congress. Memorial Addresses for John Henry Gear. 56th Cong., 2nd sess., 1900-1901. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1901.

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