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Cassius Clay Dowell
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Iowa's 7th district
In office 1915–1933
Preceded by	Solomon F. Prouty
Succeeded by	Otha Wearin
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Iowa's 6th district
In office 1933–1935
Preceded by	C. William Ramseyer
Succeeded by	Hubert Utterback
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Iowa's 6th district
In office 1937 – February 4, 1940
Preceded by	Hubert Utterback
Succeeded by	Robert K. Goodwin
Personal details
Born	(1864-02-29)February 29, 1864 Near Summerset, Warren County, Iowa, U.S.
Died	February 4, 1940(1940-02-04) (aged 75) Washington, D.C., U.S.
Cause of death	Heart disease
Political party	Republican
Education	Drake University

Cassius Clay Dowell (February 29, 1864 – February 4, 1940) was a Republican U.S. Representative from Iowa. He served from 1915 to 1935, and again from 1937 until his death in 1940, with the interregnum caused by an unsuccessful campaign for reelection in 1934.

Biography

Born on a farm near the unincorporated town of Summerset, Iowa (in Warren County, near Indianola) Dowell attended the public schools, Baptist College in Des Moines, Iowa, and Simpson College in Indianola, Iowa. In 1886, he graduated from the liberal arts department of Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, and graduated from Drake University Law School the following year. He was admitted to the bar in 1888 and commenced practice in Des Moines.

From 1894 to 1898, Dowell served as member of the Iowa State House of Representatives. He served in the Iowa State Senate from 1902 to 1912.

In 1914, Dowell was elected as a Republican to represent Iowa's 7th congressional district. He was re-elected to this seat eight times, until reapportionment between 1930 and 1932 moved his home county into Iowa's 6th congressional district, prompting him to run for the seat in that district. He won the 1932 race by more than 13,000 votes, surviving the Roosevelt landslide. Yet he was surprised two years later, when former Iowa Supreme Court Justice Hubert Utterback upset him by over 4,000 votes. He had served nearly twenty years, in the Sixty-fourth and the nine succeeding Congresses (March 4, 1915 – January 3, 1935). He had served as chairman of the Committee on Elections (in the Sixty-sixth and Sixty-seventh Congresses), and on the Committee on Roads (in the Sixty-eighth through Seventy-first Congresses).

Dowell returned to Des Moines to practice law, and reclaimed his seat two years later in 1936, when Utterbeck ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate. Utterbeck tried to regain his House in 1938, but Dowell defeated him decisively.

Dowell filed for re-election in the 1940 race, but died due to heart disease in Washington, D.C., on February 4, 1940. He was interred in Glendale Cemetery, Des Moines, Iowa.

In reporting his death, an Iowa newspaper reported that "only rarely did he participate in house debate but his influence upon legislation was strong. He was instrumental in securing veterans' hospitals for Des Moines and Knoxville, in the establishment of Camp Dodge during wartime, and in the erection of an $800,000 federal building on Des Moines' waterfront."

After his death, Republican Robert K. Goodwin won the special election to complete his term, and Republican Paul Cunningham won the 1940 general election for a full term.

See also

• List of United States Congress members who died in office (1900–49)

References

1. ^ "Dowell, Veteran Congressman of 6th District Dies," Waterloo Daily Courier, 1940-02-05, at 2.

External links

• United States Congress. "Cassius C. Dowell (id: D000468)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
• Cassius C. Dowell at Find a Grave

v t e Chairs of the United States House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
Public Buildings and Grounds (1837–1947)	Towns Petrikin Boardman Pratt Ficklin Faran Houston Bowdon Stanton Craige Ball Keitt Train Rice Covode Hopkins Beatty Halsey Platt Holman Cook Shallenberger Stockslager Dibble Milliken Bankhead Milliken Mercer Gillet Bartholdt Sheppard Clark Langley Elliott Lanham
Rivers and Harbors (1883–1947)	Willis Blanchard Henderson Blanchard Catchings Hooker Cooper Burton Alexander Sparkman Small Kennedy Dempsey Mansfield
Roads (1913–1947)	Shackleford Dunn Dowell Almon Cartwright Robinson
Flood Control (1916–1947)	Humphreys Rodenberg Schall Reid Wilson Whittington
Transportation and Infrastructure* (1947–)	Dondero Whittington Buckley Dondero Buckley Fallon Blatnik Jones Johnson Howard Anderson Roe Mineta E. Shuster Young Oberstar Mica W. Shuster DeFazio Graves
Note	Alternately named Public Works in 80th through 93rd Congresses and Public Works and Transportation in 94th through 103rd Congresses.

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

 This article incorporates public domain material from the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress

• 1864 births
• 1940 deaths
• American Disciples of Christ
• People from Indianola, Iowa
• Drake University alumni
• Republican Party members of the Iowa House of Representatives
• Republican Party Iowa state senators
• Iowa lawyers
• Politicians from Des Moines, Iowa
• Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Iowa
• Drake University Law School alumni
• 20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives
• 19th-century members of the Iowa General Assembly
• 20th-century members of the Iowa General Assembly