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Permanent LinkIowa Constitution - Conventions
Iowa has held three constitutional conventions, in 1844, 1846, and 1857, all held in Iowa City, with the first proposed constitution rejected by the voters and the second and third constitutions ratified by the voters. The document proposed by the 1857 convention is the current, original Constitution of the State of Iowa.
Choose year of convention to access that convention's information.
Iowa’s first constitutional convention relating to statehood adopted a proposed constitution on 11/01/1844, which was presented to Congress but rejected by the voters on 04/07/1845, by a vote of 7,019 to 6,023. The proposed boundaries of the state were viewed disfavorably by some voters.
Convention Members
- Gideon Smith Bailey (D)
- Ralph R. Benedict (N)
- Samuel Augustus Bissell (D)
- Jesse Blankenship (W)
- Paul Brattain (N)
- John Brookbank (N)
- Robert Brown (N)
- Hardin Butler (N)
- Andrew Campbell (N)
- Caleb Campbell (N)
- William Chapman (D)
- Thomas Charlton (N)
- Ebenezer Cook (N)
- Theophilus Crawford (N)
- Elisha Cutler (N)
- John Davidson (N)
- Van Banks Delashmutt (D)
- Samuel Durham (D)
- Lyman Evans (D)
- Henry Felkner (D)
- David Ferguson (N)
- Jonathan Emerson Fletcher (D)
- William Galbraith (N)
- David Galland (N)
- Francis Gehon (D, District 10, Council)
- James Gower (N)
- James Grant (D)
- John Hale (N)
- Jonathan Chapin Hall (D)
- William Harrison (N)
- Joseph C. Hawkins (W)
- Stephen Hempstead (D)
- George Hepner (D)
- Joseph Hoag (N)
- George Hobson (N)
- Andrew Hooten (N)
- Alexander Kerr (R)
- Joseph S. Kirkpatrick (N)
- Edward Langworthy (D)
- Shepherd Leffler (D, District 3, Council)
- Enos Lowe (D)
- Ralph Lowe (R)
- Robert Lucas (D)
- James Marsh (N)
- Samuel McAtee (N)
- Samuel Henry McCrory (D)
- Thomas McKean (R)
- William Morden (N)
- James Murray (N)
- Samuel Baldwin Olmstead (N)
- Michael O’Brien (D)
- Ovando Peck (N)
- Calvin J. Price (N)
- Richard Quinton (N)
- John Randolph (N)
- John Ripley (D)
- Henry Robinson (D)
- Enoch Ross (N)
- Sulifand Ross (N)
- Henry Salmon (N)
- Elijah Sells (R)
- Stephen Bovell Shelledy (N)
- Charles Staley (N)
- Luman Strong (N)
- John Taylor (D)
- John Thompson (D)
- William L. Toole (N)
- Samuel Whitmore (D)
- Wright Williams (W)
- John Dunham Wright (D, District 3, House)
- Richard B. Wyckoff (D)