John H. Gear

John Henry Gear
United States Senator from Iowa
In office March 4, 1895 – July 14, 1900
Preceded by	James F. Wilson
Succeeded by	Jonathan P. Dolliver
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Iowa's 1st district
In office March 4, 1887 – March 3, 1891
Preceded by	Benton J. Hall
Succeeded by	John J. Seerley
In office March 4, 1893 – March 3, 1895
Preceded by	John J. Seerley
Succeeded by	Samuel M. Clark
11th Governor of Iowa
In office January 17, 1878 – January 12, 1882
Lieutenant	Frank T. Campbell
Preceded by	Joshua G. Newbold
Succeeded by	Buren R. Sherman
Member of the Iowa House of Representatives
In office 1871-1877
Personal details
Born	April 7, 1825 Ithaca, New York
Died	July 14, 1900 (aged 75) Washington, D.C.
Political party	Republican

John Henry Gear (April 7, 1825 – July 14, 1900) served as the 11th Governor of Iowa, a United States Representative and a member of the United States Senate.

Biography

Born in Ithaca, New York, he attended the common schools and moved to Galena, Illinois, in 1836, to Fort Snelling, Minnesota, in 1838, and to Burlington, Iowa, in 1843, where he engaged in mercantile pursuits. He was elected mayor of Burlington in 1863 and as a member of the Iowa House of Representatives from 1871 to 1877, serving as Speaker for two terms.

Gear was Governor of Iowa from 1878 to 1882. He was elected as a Republican to represent Iowa's 1st congressional district in the U.S. House for the Fiftieth and Fifty-first Congresses, serving from March 4, 1887 to March 3, 1891. He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1890, but was appointed by President Benjamin Harrison as Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, serving from 1892 to 1893. He returned to the U.S. House for one final term, winning the 1892 1st district election, then serving in the Fifty-third Congress, from March 4, 1893 to March 3, 1895.

In 1894, Gear was elected by the Iowa General Assembly to the United States Senate. He was reelected in 1900. He served from March 4, 1895, until his death on July 14, 1900, before the start of his second term. He had been chairman of the United States Senate Committee on Pacific Railroads in the Fifty-fourth through Fifty-Sixth Congresses.

He died, aged 75, in Washington, D.C., and his interment was in Aspen Grove Cemetery in Burlington.

References

• John H. Gear at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• http://freepages.books.rootsweb.com/~cooverfamily/album_12.html