Simeon Davison FESS, Congress, OH (1861-1936)

FESS, Simeon Davison, a Representative and a Senator from Ohio; born on a farm near Harrod, Allen County, Ohio, December 11, 1861; attended the country schools; graduated from the Ohio Northern University at Ada in 1889; taught American history at Ohio Northern University 1889-1896, graduated from its law department in 1894, dean of the law department 1896-1900, and vice president of the university 1900-1902; graduate student and lecturer at the University of Chicago 1902-1907; president of Antioch College, Yellow Springs, Ohio, 1907-1917; editor and author; delegate to the State constitutional convention in 1912; elected as a Republican to the Sixty-third and to the four succeeding Congresses (March 4, 1913-March 3, 1923); chairman, Committee on Education (Sixty-sixth and Sixty-seventh Congresses); did not seek renomination, having become a candidate for Senator; chairman of the Republican National Congressional Committee 1918-1922; elected as a Republican to the United States Senate in 1922; reelected in 1928 and served from March 4, 1923, to January 3, 1935; unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1934; Republican whip 1929-1933; chairman, Committee on the Library (Sixty-ninth through Seventy-second Congresses); chairman of the Republican National Committee 1930-1932; engaged in literary pursuits; died in Washington, D.C., December 23, 1936; interment in Glen Forest Cemetery, Yellow Springs, Ohio.

Bibliography

Dictionary of American Biography; Fess, Simeon Davison. History of Political Theory and Party Organization in the United States. Boston: Ginn & Co., 1910; Nethers, John. Simeon D. Fess: Educator and Politician. Brooklyn: Pageant-Poseidon, 1973.

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