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Augustus Dodge
United States Ambassador to Spain
In office June 17, 1855 – March 12, 1859
President	Franklin Pierce James Buchanan
Preceded by	Pierre Soulé
Succeeded by	William Preston
United States Senator from Iowa
In office December 7, 1848 – February 22, 1855
Preceded by	Seat established
Succeeded by	James Harlan
Delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives from the Iowa Territory's at-large district
In office October 28, 1840 – December 28, 1846
Preceded by	Francis Gehon (Delegate-elect)
Succeeded by	Serranus Hastings (Representative)
Personal details
Born	Augustus Caesar Dodge (1812-01-02)January 2, 1812 Ste. Genevieve, Missouri, U.S.
Died	November 20, 1883(1883-11-20) (aged 71) Burlington, Iowa, U.S.
Resting place	Aspen Grove Cemetery Burlington, Iowa, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Parent	Henry Dodge (father)
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Branch/service	United States Army
Battles/wars	Black Hawk War

Augustus Caesar Dodge (January 4, 1812 – November 21, 1883) was a Democratic delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives from Iowa Territory, a U.S. minister to Spain, and one of the first set of United States senators to represent Iowa after it was admitted to the Union as a state. His father, Henry Dodge, served as a U.S. senator from Wisconsin; the two were the first and so far the only father-son pair to serve concurrently in the Senate, which they did from 1848 to 1855.

Augustus Dodge was born in what is now Ste. Genevieve, Missouri (then in Louisiana Territory). Self-educated, he moved to Illinois in 1827, settled in Galena, and was employed there in various capacities in his father's lead mines. He served in the Black Hawk War and other Indian wars. In 1837, he moved to what is now Burlington, Iowa (then in Wisconsin Territory), where he served as register of the land office until 1840.

Delegate

Congress created Iowa Territory in 1838, from what was formerly the Iowa District of Wisconsin Territory. As a result of the Act of March 3, 1839, the position of Iowa Territory's Delegate to the U.S. House would become vacant on October 27, 1840, and Dodge was elected to fill it. After initially serving in the Twenty-sixth United States Congress, he was re-elected in 1840 (to the Twenty-seventh Congress), 1842 (to the Twenty-eighth Congress), and 1844 (to the Twenty-ninth Congress). He served as delegate until Iowa became a state in December 1846, and his role was replaced by two voting Representatives.

Senator

For its first two years, the Iowa General Assembly failed to choose Iowa's first U.S. senators, due to a three-way split that prevented any candidate from earning the required number of 30 legislators' votes. However, after the 1848 elections gave the Democratic Party a greater share of Iowa legislators, Dodge (and George Wallace Jones) were elected as Iowa's first two U.S. senators. By drawing lots, Dodge received the seat with the shorter term (to expire in 1849), but was re-elected that year to a full six-year term. While in the Senate, he served as chairman of the committee to Audit and Control the Contingent Expenses (in the Thirty-first and Thirty-second Congresses), the Committee on Pensions (in the Thirty-first Congress), the Committee on Revolutionary Claims (in the Thirty-second Congress), and the Committee on Public Lands (in the Thirty-third Congress).

On December 14, 1853, Dodge introduced a bill to organize the new territory of Nebraska. Under the leadership of Illinois Senator Stephen Douglas, that bill eventually became the Kansas-Nebraska Act, which Dodge supported forcefully.

In 1854, as Dodge's second term was near its end, the Iowa General Assembly chose Free Soil Party member (and future Republican) James Harlan, rather than Dodge. Dodge was the preferred choice of Democratic legislators, whose ranks had declined. But in a failed effort to defeat Harlan by uniting Democrats and nationalist Whigs behind a single candidate, Dodge dropped out after the fourth ballot.

Dodge served in the Senate until February 22, 1855, when President Franklin Pierce appointed him to the post of minister to Spain. He served as the minister until 1859.

Life after the Senate

Dodge unsuccessfully ran for Governor of Iowa in 1859, losing to Republican Samuel J. Kirkwood. He served as mayor of Burlington, Iowa from 1874 to 1875.

In 1868, Dodge supported the candidacy of George H. Pendleton for the Democratic presidential nomination. During that same election year, Dodge himself had been mentioned for the vice-presidency. "His nomination", said The Democratic Watchman (Bellfontaine, Pennsylvania) "would probably give satisfaction to as many Democrats as that of any other western man." Looking toward the 1872 presidential election, Dodge recommended Thomas A. Hendricks as a "worthy, able and excellent man." He believed that there was strong support throughout the Midwest for the Indianan, although he doubted that Hendricks would run well in the East.

He died in Burlington, Iowa on November 20, 1883, and was interred in Aspen Grove Cemetery in Burlington.

Dodge was the nephew of Missouri Senator Lewis F. Linn. His brother-in-law James Clarke served as the third and last Governor of Iowa Territory.

Legacy

Dodge County, Nebraska and Dodge Street in Omaha, Nebraska were named after Augustus Dodge. His home in Burlington, Iowa is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Augustus Caesar Dodge House.

He is a renowned Politician and Inventor for example : In 1848, he is credited to have been the first person to use a pencil case., he also invented the Toaster, Surfine Polish and the Key and Lock mechanism.

Also, Augustus C. Dodge is numbered among the honored pioneers of Des Moines County, and during his life was among the most noted men. He sprang from good old Revolutionary stock, and the patriotism of his ancestors found an abiding-place in his heart.

References

1. ^ "biographies". www.dodgefamily.org. Retrieved 2024-01-28.
2. Statute III, March 3, 1839, ch. XCII, Section 2.
3. ^ Clark, Dan Elbert (1913). History of Senatorial Elections in Iowa. Iowa. pp. 17–46, 72–79.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
4. "SEYMOUR AND BLAIR.; The Nominations Formally Tendered the Democratic Candidates—Their Addresses—Speeches by Samuel J. Tilden, Gen, Geo, W.Morgan, Gen.Greene Clay Smith, Gen. A.C. Dodge, and Others" (PDF). The New York Times. 1868-07-11. p. 8. Retrieved 2010-04-23.
5. Augustus Caesar Dodge: A Study in American Politics – Google Books. State University of Iowa. 1909. Retrieved January 5, 2022.
6. "U.S. Senate: Thomas A. Hendricks, 21st Vice President (1885)". Archived from the original on 2017-08-01. Retrieved 2018-02-16.
7. "DODGE, Augustus Caesar". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved 2022-06-07.
8. "The Political Graveyard: Dodge family of Missouri and Iowa". politicalgraveyard.com. Archived from the original on 2008-12-03.
9. "Dodge County". Nebraska Association of County Officials. Archived from the original on 7 February 2012. Retrieved 30 August 2014.
10. "Street Names 4". Douglas County Historical Society. Archived from the original on 21 October 2007. Retrieved 30 August 2014.
11. M.H. Bowers. "Augustus Caesar Dodge House" (PDF). National Park Service. Retrieved 2015-12-07.
12. ^ Ultimate Guide to Shoe Polish: From History to Application Techniques - This Week in Libraries

External links

Archival collections

• Digitized Augustus C. Dodge and George W. Jones letters, MSS 4046 at L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University
• Transcription of above letters

Other links

• United States Congress. "Augustus C. Dodge (id: D000394)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
• Augustus C. Dodge at Find a Grave

v t e United States senators from Iowa
Class 2	Jones Grimes Howell Wright Kirkwood McDill J. Wilson Gear Dolliver Young Kenyon Rawson Brookhart Steck Dickinson Herring G. Wilson Gillette Martin Miller Clark Jepsen Harkin Ernst
Class 3	Dodge Harlan Kirkwood Harlan Allison Cummins Stewart Brookhart Murphy Gillette Hickenlooper Hughes Culver Grassley

v t e Chairmen of the United States Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
Public Lands (1816–1921)	Morrow Williams Thomas Barton King Kane Poindexter Ewing Walker Smith Woodbridge Breese Felch Borland Dodge Stuart Johnson Harlan Pomeroy Sprague Oglesby McDonald Plumb Dolph Berry Dubois Hansbrough Nelson Smoot Chamberlain Myers Smoot
Public Lands and Surveys (1921–1947)	Smoot Lenroot Ladd Stanfield Nye Kendrick Wagner Adams Hatch
Interior and Insular Affairs (1947–1977)	Butler O'Mahoney Butler Cordon Murray Anderson Jackson
Energy and Natural Resources (1977–)	Jackson McClure Johnston F. Murkowski Bingaman F. Murkowski Bingaman Domenici Bingaman Wyden Landrieu L. Murkowski Manchin

v t e 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 Finkenauer Hinson Miller-Meeks
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 Miller-Meeks Hinson
3rd	Allison Donnan Ainsworth Burdick Updegraff Henderson Birdsall Pickett Connolly Sweet Robinson Willford Gwynne Gross Grassley Evans Nagle Lightfoot Boswell Latham Young Axne Nunn
4th	Grinnell Loughridge Walden Pratt Deering Weller Fuller Sweney Butler Updegraff Haugen Biermann Talle LeCompte Carter Kyl Bandstra Kyl N. Smith Ganske Latham King Feenstra
5th	Kasson G. Dodge Palmer J. Wilson R. Clark W. G. Thompson J. Wilson Frederick Kerr J. Hamilton Cousins Good Cole Thurston LeCompte 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 Leffler
Terr	Chapman A. Dodge

v t e United States ambassadors to Spain
Ministers Plenipotentiary to Spain (1779–1825)	Jay Carmichael (chargé d'affaires) Short Humphreys Pinckney Erving Erving Forsyth Nelson
Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Spain (1825–1913)	Everett Van Ness Eaton Vail (chargé d'affaires) Irving Saunders Barringer Soulé Dodge Preston Schurz Koerner Hale Sickles Cushing Lowell Fairchild Hamlin Foster Curry Belmont Palmer Grubb Snowden Taylor Woodford Storer Hardy Collier Ide
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Spain (1913–present)	Willard Woods Moore Hammond Laughlin Bowers Matthews (chargé d'affaires) Weddell Hayes Armour Bonsal Culbertson (chargé d'affaires) Griffis MacVeagh Dunn Lodge Biddle Woodward Duke Wagner Hill Rivero Penn Stabler Todman Enders Bartholomew Zappala Capen Gardner Romero Argyros Aguirre Solomont Costos Buchan Pantaleón

• 1812 births
• 1883 deaths
• 19th-century American diplomats
• Ambassadors of the United States to Spain
• American people of English descent
• American people of the Black Hawk War
• Delegates to the United States House of Representatives from Iowa Territory
• Democratic Party United States senators from Iowa
• Iowa Democrats
• Mayors of places in Iowa
• People from Ste. Genevieve, Missouri
• Politicians from Burlington, Iowa
• United States Army soldiers
• 19th-century United States senators
• 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives