Daniel Kerr (politician)

Daniel Kerr
Daniel Kerr
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives; from Iowa's 5th district
	In office; March 4, 1887 – March 3, 1891
Preceded by	Benjamin T. Frederick
Succeeded by	John Taylor Hamilton
Personal details
Born	June 18, 1836; Dalry, North Ayrshire, Scotland
Died	October 8, 1916 (aged 80); Grundy Center, Iowa, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Military service
Branch/service	Union Army
Years of service	1862–1864
Rank	First lieutenant
Unit	Company G, 117th Illinois Infantry Regiment
Battles/wars	Civil War;

Daniel Kerr (June 18, 1836 – October 8, 1916) was an American politician who served as a two-term Republican U.S. representative from Iowa's 5th congressional district in the 1880s.

Early life and education

Born near Dalry, Ayrshire, Scotland, Kerr emigrated to the United States with his parents, Hugh Kerr and Margaret Galt, settling in Madison County, Illinois, in 1841. He attended the common schools. Kerr graduated from McKendree College in 1858.

Career

After studying law, he was admitted to the bar in 1862 and commenced practice in Edwardsville, Illinois. He enlisted in the Union Army on August 12, 1862. He was promoted to second lieutenant, Company G, 117th Illinois Volunteer Infantry Regiment, in 1863 and to first lieutenant in 1864.

He served as member of the Illinois House of Representatives in 1868, serving until 1870.^[1] In 1870 he moved to Grundy Center, Iowa, where he continued to practice law, and also farmed.^[1] He was a school director in 1875.

Kerr was elected mayor of Grundy Center, Iowa, in 1877. He was elected to the Iowa House of Representatives in 1883.

In 1886, ran for the Republican nomination to Congress for Iowa's 5th congressional district. At the time of his election, he was the owner of the Grundy Center Argus, a Republican newspaper. A bitter fight in the convention left bruised feelings all around, and the leading Republican newspaper in Cedar Rapids, the Evening Gazette, charged the money-changers had brought about Kerr's nomination.^[2] Kerr was elected as a Republican to the 50th United States Congress, unseating incumbent Democrat Benjamin T. Frederick. After re-election in 1888 and service in the Fifty-first Congress, he declined to run for a third term in 1890. In all, he served in Congress from March 4, 1887, to March 3, 1891. After leaving Congress, Kerr resumed the practice of law.

Kerr had served as a delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1888 and 1896. In 1896 he indicated that he supported the free coinage of silver,^[3] a position closer to Democratic presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan than to his own party's candidate, William McKinley. Soon thereafter he switched parties, becoming a Democrat.^[4]

He was an unsuccessful Democratic candidate for election in 1900 to his former seat in Congress.^[5]^[6]

Personal life

On November 9, 1861, he married Clara Theresa Estabrook in Edwardsville, Illinois. He moved to Pasadena, California, in 1909 and lived there until 1916, when he returned to Grundy Center, where he died on October 8, 1916. He was interred in Rose Hill Cemetery.

References

^ ^a ^b Benjamin Gue, "History of Iowa: From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century," vol. IV, p. 153 (1903).
^ Dubuque Daily Herald, June 12, 1886; Cedar Rapids Evening Gazette, August 24, 30, November 26, 1886.
^ Editorial, Iowa State Register (Waterloo), 1896-09-11 at p. 5.
^ "Will Accept: Daniel Kerr as Silver Gubernatorial Candidate," Iowa State Register (Waterloo), 1897-04-22 at p. 1.
^ "Democrats Meet," Cedar Rapids Evening Gazette, 1900-09-04 at p. 2.
^ "May Indorse Candidacy," Waterloo Daily Courier, 1902-08-21 at p. 1.

United States Congress. "Daniel Kerr (id: K000134)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.

U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by Benjamin T. Frederick	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Iowa's 5th congressional district March 4, 1887–March 3, 1891	Succeeded by John T. Hamilton

[gue-1] Benjamin Gue, "History of Iowa: From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century," vol. IV, p. 153 (1903).

[2] Dubuque Daily Herald, June 12, 1886; Cedar Rapids Evening Gazette, August 24, 30, November 26, 1886.

[3] Editorial, Iowa State Register (Waterloo), 1896-09-11 at p. 5.

[4] "Will Accept: Daniel Kerr as Silver Gubernatorial Candidate," Iowa State Register (Waterloo), 1897-04-22 at p. 1.

[5] "Democrats Meet," Cedar Rapids Evening Gazette, 1900-09-04 at p. 2.

[6] "May Indorse Candidacy," Waterloo Daily Courier, 1902-08-21 at p. 1.

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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

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