United States House of Representatives: History, Art, & Archives
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TOWNER, Horace Mann

TOWNER, Horace Mann
Collection of the U.S. House of Representatives
TOWNER, Horace Mann
1855–1937

Office

Representative

State/Territory

Iowa

Party

Republican

Congress(es)

62nd (1911–1913), 63rd (1913–1915), 64th (1915–1917), 65th (1917–1919), 66th (1919–1921), 67th (1921–1923), 68th (1923–1925)

Leadership Positions

Republican Conference Chair - 66th, 67th

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Biography

TOWNER, Horace Mann, a Representative from Iowa; born in Belvidere, Boone County, Ill., October 23, 1855; attended the public and high schools of Belvidere, the University of Chicago, and Union College of Law; was admitted to the bar in 1877 and commenced practice in Prescott, Adams County, Iowa; moved to Corning, Adams County, Iowa, in 1880, having been elected county superintendent of schools, in which capacity he served until 1884, when he resumed the practice of law; elected judge of the third judicial district of Iowa in 1890 and served until January 1, 1911; lectured on constitutional law in the University of Iowa 1902-1911; elected as a Republican to the Sixty-second and to the six succeeding Congresses and served from March 4, 1911, to April 1, 1923, when he resigned to become Governor of Puerto Rico, in which capacity he served until his resignation on September 29, 1929; chairman, Committee on Insular Affairs (Sixty-sixth and Sixty-seventh Congress); resumed the practice of law in Corning, Iowa, until his death on November 23, 1937; interment in Walnut Grove Cemetery.

View Record in the Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress

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External Research Collections

Boston Public Library

Boston, MA
Papers: 1 letter.

Library of Virginia
Archives Division

Richmond, VA
Papers: 1925, 1 leaf. A letter from Horace Mann Towner, Governor of Puerto Rico, to Senator Carter Glass, dated 15 April 1925, concerning the availability of a teaching position for Miss Estelle Frazier in the teaching corps in Puerto Rico.

State Historical Society of Iowa
Special Collections

Des Moines, IA
Papes: In the Lewis Miles Papers, 1898-1917, 1 folder. The papers include 19 letters (1899-1902) with Horace Mann Towner.

University of Iowa Libraries
Iowa Women's Archives

Iowa City, Iowa
Papers: In the Marion Federation of Women's Clubs, 1899-1957, 5 linear inches. Other authors include Horace Mann Towner.

University of Michigan
Michigan Historical Collections, Bentley Historical Library

Ann Arbor, MI
Microfilm: In the Manuel Luis Quezon papers, 1909-1944, 54 reels and 1 volume. Persons represented include Horace Mann Towner.
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Bibliography / Further Reading

Chepaitis, Joseph Benedict. "The First Federal Social Welfare Measure: The Sheppard-Towner Maternity and Infancy Act, 1918-1932." Ph.D. dissertation, Georgetown University, 1968.

Rude, Anna Elizabeth. The Sheppard-Towner Act in relation to public health. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1921.

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Office of the Historian: history@mail.house.gov
Office of Art & Archives, Office of the Clerk: art@mail.house.gov, archives@mail.house.gov