Thomas Hedge Explained

District:	1st
State:	Iowa
Term:	March 4, 1899-March 3, 1907
Preceded:	Samuel M. Clark
Succeeded:	Charles A. Kennedy
Birth Date:	24 June 1844
Birth Place:	Burlington, Iowa Territory
Death Place:	Burlington, Iowa, U.S.
Resting Place:	Aspen Grove Cemetery Burlington, Iowa, U.S.
Alma Mater:	Yale College Columbia College Law School
Children:	3
Allegiance:	United States
Branch:	Union Army
Rank:	Second lieutenant
Unit:	106th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment

Thomas Hedge (June 24, 1844 – November 28, 1920) was a four-term Republican U.S. Representative from Iowa's 1st congressional district, in southeastern Iowa.

Early life

Thomas Hedge was born on June 24, 1844, in Burlington, Iowa Territory, Hedge attended the common schools, including the North Hill school in Burlington, and Denmark (Iowa) Academy. He graduated from Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, in 1861, but his education was interrupted by the Civil War. In 1864 and 1865 he served as a private in Company E and as second lieutenant in Company G of the 106th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment.^[1]

He graduated from Yale College in New Haven, Connecticut, in 1867, where he was a member of Skull and Bones,^[2] and Columbia College Law School in New York City in 1869. He was admitted to the bar in New York in 1869, and returned to Iowa to practice law in Burlington.^[3]

Career

For twenty years, Hedge practiced in a partnership with Iowa Republican politician J.W. Blythe,^[3] with the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad as one of the firm's clients.^{[4] [5]}

In 1898, Hedge was elected as a Republican to the U.S. House seat for Iowa's 1st congressional district, then held by Republican Samuel M. Clark (who chose not to seek re-election). Hedge served in the Fifty-sixth and the three succeeding Congresses.^[6] In 1906 he did not seek re-nomination.^[7] In all, he served in Congress from March 4, 1899, to March 3, 1907.

After leaving Congress, he resumed the practice of law.^[8]

Personal life

Hedge married Mary Frances Cook of Burlington in January 1873. They had three children: Thomas Jr., Lyman Cook and Anna Louise.^[1]

Hedge died at his home in Burlington on November 28, 1920.^{[1] [8]} He was interred in Aspen Grove Cemetery.

Notes and References

1. News: Former U.S. Senator Dies . 1920-11-30 . Evening Times-Republican . 3 . . 2022-06-07.
2. Book: Catalogue of the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity . March 25, 2011 . 1910 . The Delta Kappa Epsilon council.
3. Editorial, "Thomas Hedge," Cedar Rapids Daily Republican, 1898-07-04 at p. 4.
4. Pool v. The C., B. and Q. Ry. Co., 6 F. 844 (D. Iowa 1881).
5. John Ely Briggs, "William Peters Hepburn," p. 289 (State Hist. Soc. of Iowa 1919).
6. Web site: S. Doc. 58-1 - Fifty-eighth Congress. (Extraordinary session -- beginning November 9, 1903.) Official Congressional Directory for the use of the United States Congress. Compiled under the direction of the Joint Committee on Printing by A.J. Halford. Special edition. Corrections made to November 5, 1903 . GovInfo.gov . U.S. Government Printing Office . 2 July 2023 . 31 . 9 November 1903.
7. "Hedge Going to Retire," Waterloo Daily Times-Tribune, 1906-03-03 at p. 1.
8. (30 November 1920). Thomas Hedge Was Well Known, Daily Gate City and Constitution (Keokuk, Iowa), reprint of obituary from the Burlington Gazette