Representative Cassius Clay Dowell View All Years

CASSIUS C. DOWELL

MR. PRESIDENT: Your committee, which was appointed to prepare and report resolutions commemorating the character, service and life of the late Cassius C. Dowell, begs leave to submit the following report:

Cassius C. Dowell was born February 29, 1864, in a log cabin which stood upon Scotch Ridge in the northern part of Warren County, Iowa. He was reared there on the family farm·and acquired his early education in the public schools. Later, he attended Simpson College at Indianola, Iowa, and finally he was graduated from the Liberal Arts and the Law College of Drake University in Des Moines. He was admitted to the Bar of the State of Iowa in 1888. Immediately entering the practice of law in Des Moines, he continued in his chosen profession for twenty­six years.

In 1914, he forsook the law, upon election to the House of Representatives of the Congress of the United States, and thereafter devoted his full time and energy to public service.

Shortly after his admission to the Bar, he was appointed and served as Assistant County Attorney of Polk County, and thereafter in his private practice he was at various times associated with other leading members of the Bar of his County and State, handling much important litigation with credit to himself and satisfaction to his clients. Politics and public srevice, however, had a strong and early attraction for him.

Cassius C. Dowell was elected to the House of Representatives of the General Assembly of Iowa in 1893, and served in such body from 1894 to 1898. In 1901 he was elected to the Senate of the General Assembly of Iowa, where he served from 1902 to 1912. He rendered notable service in both bodies of the General Assembly as Chairman of the Judiciary Committees, and throughout his years of service in the General Assembly exhibited a broad knowledge of parliamentary and legislative procedure.

In 1914, Cassius C. Dowell was elected to the House of Representatives of the Congress of the United States, where he served continuously, except for the Seventy-fourth Congress, down to the date of his death. During his twenty-three years of service in that body, he served at various times on the Committee on Territories, the Judiciary Committee, the Committee on Elections No. 3 and the Committee on Roads. In 1919 he became Chairman of the Committee on Elections, which chairmanship he relinquished in 1921 to assume the chairmanship of the Committee on Roads, which chairmanship he held until 1933. As a member and Chairman of the Committee on Roads, he was responsible for much of the legislation pertaining to aid for the Federal Highway System and was Nationally known as a leader in the good roads’ movement. His service in the Congress was marked by his deep interest in the problems of agriculture, the Federal Highway System and the Nation’s territorial problems. In the Congress of the United States, as in the General Assembly of Iowa, he was recognized as a parliamentary authority. His devotion to office is attested to by his unfailing attendance upon the sessions of Congress and the fact that he never failed to vote upon matters coming before that body for consideration.

While his career at the Bar and in public office was marked by conservatism and caution, nevertheless it was equally recognized that he had the unfailing courage to act when the time for action came.

Cassius C. Dowell died at Washington, D. C., on February 4, 1940, while serving in the Congress of the United States, survived by his widow, Belle Riddle Dowell, who served as his Secretary during his years of service in this body, and by his sister, Sidna J. Dowell.

Cassius C. Dowell enjoyed the respect and affection of those with whom he served at the Bar and in public life. By his death, Iowa lost an able and faithful servant.

Therefore, Be It Resolved, That in the passing of the Honorable Cassius C. Dowell the State of Iowa mourns the loss of one of its most honored and distinguished citizens.

Be It Further Resolved, That a copy of this resolution be printed in the Journal of the Senate and that enrolled copies hereof be sent to the members of his family.

GEORGE M. FAUL,

JOHN R. HATTERY,

HUGH W. LUNDY,

Committee.

The resolution was unanimously adopted.