Benjamin Pixley Birdsall (October 26, 1858 – May 16, 1916) was a three-term Republican

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

from

Iowa's 3rd congressional district Iowa's 3rd congressional district is a List of United States congressional districts, congressional district in the U.S. state of Iowa that covers its southwestern quadrant, which roughly consists of an area stretching from Des Moines, Iowa, Des ...

during the first decade of the 20th century.

Biography

Born in Weyauwega, Wisconsin, Birdsall attended the common schools of Iowa and the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (U of I, UIowa, or Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized int ...

Iowa City Iowa City is the largest city in Johnson County, Iowa, United States, and its county seat. At the time of the 2020 census the population was 74,828, making it the state's fifth-most populous city. The Iowa City metropolitan area, which enc ...

. He studied law, was

admitted to the bar An admission to practice law is acquired when a lawyer receives a license to practice law. In jurisdictions with two types of lawyer, as with barristers and solicitors, barristers must gain admission to the bar whereas for solicitors there are dist ...

in 1878 and practiced in

Clarion, Iowa Clarion is a city in and the county seat of Wright County, Iowa, United States. The population was 2,810 at the time of the 2020 census. History Clarion is the birthplace of the four-leaf clover emblem used by the 4-H Clubs of America, conc ...

. He served as district judge of the eleventh judicial district of Iowa from January 1893 to October 1900. In 1902, Birdsall was elected as a Republican to the Fifty-eighth Congress, after the incumbent,

Speaker of the United States House of Representatives The speaker of the United States House of Representatives, commonly known as the speaker of the House or House speaker, is the Speaker (politics), presiding officer of the United States House of Representatives, the lower chamber of the United ...

David B. Henderson chose not to run for re-election. Birdsall defeated former Iowa Governor Horace Boies in that race. He was re-elected twice, serving in the Fifty-ninth, and Sixtieth Congresses. According to the November 1903 Congressional Directory, Birdsall "has been twice married—his first wife, Bertha H. Shultz, deceased 1886; remarried in 1888 to Belle Johnston, of Clarion." In 1908, he filed for re-election a third time, but fellow Republicans Burton E. Sweet and Charles E. Pickett also sought the Republican nomination. In February 1908 Birdsall pulled out of the race, explaining that he wished to return to the practice of law. In all he served in Congress from March 4, 1903 to March 3, 1909. He resumed the practice of law in Clarion, where he died on May 16, 1916.Sioux City Journal May 1916
/ref> He was interred in Evergreen Cemetery.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Birdsall, Benjamin Pixley 1858 births 1916 deaths Iowa state court judges People from Weyauwega, Wisconsin People from Clarion, Iowa University of Iowa alumni Iowa lawyers Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Iowa 19th-century Iowa state court judges 19th-century American lawyers 20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives