Thomas J. Steele

For other people of the same name, see Thomas Steele (disambiguation).

Thomas Jefferson Steele (March 19, 1853 – March 20, 1920) was a one-term Democratic U.S. Representative from Iowa's 11th congressional district in northwestern Iowa. Steele was the first, and only, Democrat elected to represent the 11th district in its fifty-year history (from 1883 to 1933).

Born near Rushville, Indiana, Steele attended the public schools and Axline Seminary in Fairfax, Iowa. He taught school in central and western Iowa, and studied law in Sheldon, Iowa. He engaged in the hardware business and in banking at Wayne, Nebraska, and served as county clerk of Wayne County, Nebraska from 1884 to 1886.

In 1897, Steele moved to Sioux City, Iowa, where he became a livestock commission merchant. His livestock brokerage firm became very profitable, and he gained a good reputation in town. He may have influenced the decision of his architect nephew, William L. Steele (1875–1949), to relocate from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to Sioux City in 1904. The elder Steele certainly was influential in assisting his nephew in securing some of his early commissions. This included the Sioux City Livestock Exchange Building (1914), which was among the first of the architect's designs in the Prairie School style of architecture for which he would become famous.^[1]

In 1914, Steele upset incumbent Republican Congressman George Cromwell Scott in the race to represent Iowa's 11th congressional district in the Sixty-fourth Congress.^[2] Explained one rural newspaper, "the central feature of the Steele campaign was personal solicitation of votes and personal publicity concerning the candidate."^[3] By contrast, "Mr. Scott remained in Washington until ten days before the election and put in only one week of campaigning."^[4] Steele's win was particularly surprising because it occurred in a year in which Iowa Republicans swept all statewide offices and recaptured all seats in Congress held by Democrats.^[4]

Steele ran for re-election in 1916, and Scott again ran against him. This time, Scott campaigned more vigorously, and recaptured the seat from Steele in a very close race. Steele unsuccessfully contested the election. In all, Steele served in Congress from March 4, 1915 to March 3, 1917.

Scott resumed business as commission merchant.

Steele ran again for his former seat in the next election in 1918. Steele won the Democratic nomination, but lost in the general election to William D. Boies.^[5]

Steele died in Sioux City on March 20, 1920. He was interred in Graceland Park Cemetery in Sioux City.

References

↑ Wilson, Richard Guy. "Promoting the Prairie School in the Heartland: William L. Steele of Sioux City, Iowa". Retrieved May 16, 2011.
↑ "Eleventh Iowa Elects a Demo," Waterloo Evening Courier, 1914-11-04 at p. 1.
↑ "Steel [sic] Victory Most Certain," Hospers Tribune, 1914-11-06 at p. 2.
1 2 "How Eleventh Was Lost," The Cedar Rapids Republican, 1914-11-08 at p. 20 (quoting the Sioux City Journal).
↑ "Iowa Politicians Playing the Game," Sumner Gazette, 1919-12-18, at p. 15.

External links

Thomas J. Steele at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
Thomas J. Steele at Find a Grave

United States House of Representatives
Preceded by George C. Scott	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Iowa's 11th congressional district 1915–1917	Succeeded by George C. Scott

Members of the U.S. House of Representatives from Iowa

1st	W. Thompson Miller Henn A. Hall S. Curtis J. F. Wilson McCrary Stone McCoid B. Hall Gear Seerley Gear S. Clark Hedge Kennedy Kopp Eicher Martin Schwengel Schmidhauser Schwengel Mezvinsky Leach Nussle Braley Blum

2nd	Leffler L. Clark J. P. Cook Thorington Davis Vandever Price Smyth W. Wolf Cotton Tufts Price Farwell Murphy Hayes G. Curtis Lane Rumple Wade Dawson Pepper Vollmer Hull Letts B. Jacobsen W. Jacobsen Talle L. Wolf Bromwell Culver Blouin Tauke Nussle Leach Loebsack

3rd	Allison Donnan Ainsworth Burdick Updegraff Henderson Birdsall Pickett Connolly Sweet Robinson Willford Gwynne Gross Grassley Evans Nagle Lightfoot Boswell Latham Young

4th	Grinnell Loughridge Walden Pratt Deering Weller Fuller Sweney Butler Updegraff Haugen Biermann Talle Le Compte Carter Kyl Bandstra Kyl N. Smith Ganske Latham King

5th	Kasson G. Dodge Palmer J. Wilson R. Clark W. G. Thompson J. Wilson Frederick Kerr J. Hamilton Cousins Good Cole Thruston Le Compte Cunningham N. Smith Scherle Harkin Lightfoot Grandy Latham King

6th	A. Hubbard Pomeroy Orr Loughridge Sampson Weaver Cutts J. C. Cook Cutts J. C. Cook Weaver Lacey White Lacey D. Hamilton Kendall Kirkpatrick Ramseyer Dowell Utterback Dowell Goodwin Cunningham Gilchrist J. I. Dolliver Coad Hoeven Greigg Mayne Bedell Grandy

7th	Kasson Cummings E. Gillette Kasson H. Smith Conger Hays Hull Prouty Dowell Wearin Jensen Hansen Scherle

8th	McDill Sapp Hepburn Anderson Flick Hepburn Jamieson Towner Evans Thurston Gilchrist Hoeven

9th	Orr Oliver Carpenter Pusey Lyman Reed Bowman Hager McPherson W. Smith Green Vincent Swanson G. Gillette Harrington Narey

10th	Holmes J. P. Dolliver Conner Woods Dickinson Gilchrist

11th	Struble Perkins Thomas E. Hubbard Scott Steele Scott Boies Campbell

AL	Hastings and Leffler

Terr	Chapman A. Dodge

This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.

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