Freeman Tulley Knowles (October 10, 1846 – June 1, 1910) was a veteran of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

, lawyer, journalist and social activist. From 1897 to 1899, he served one term in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, 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 Artic ...

as a

Populist Populism is a contested concept used to refer to a variety of political stances that emphasize the idea of the " common people" and often position this group in opposition to a perceived elite. It is frequently associated with anti-establis ...

Biography

Knowles was born in Harmony, Maine, and educated at the local schools and Bloomfield Academy in

Skowhegan Skowhegan () is the county seat of Somerset County, Maine, United States. As of the 2020 census, the town population was 8,620. Every August, Skowhegan hosts the annual Skowhegan State Fair, the oldest continuously held state fair in the Unite ...

Civil War

He enlisted for the

in 1862, joining the

16th Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment The 16th Maine Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. The regiment was one of five raised in answer to the July 2, 1862, call by Lincoln for 300,000 volunteers for three years. The ...

. He served until the end of the war, took part in several battles including the

Battle of Gettysburg The Battle of Gettysburg () was a three-day battle in the American Civil War, which was fought between the Union and Confederate armies between July 1 and July 3, 1863, in and around Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The battle, won by the Union, ...

, and attained the rank of

Corporal Corporal is a military rank in use by the armed forces of many countries. It is also a police rank in some police services. The rank is usually the lowest ranking non-commissioned officer. In some militaries, the rank of corporal nominally corr ...

Career

After the war Knowles moved to

Denison, Iowa Denison is a city in Crawford County, Iowa, United States, along the Boyer River, and located in both Denison Township and East Boyer Township. The population was 8,373 at the time of the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Crawford Count ...

, where he studied law and attained admission to the bar. He practiced in Denison from 1869 until 1886, when he moved to

Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...

to become publisher of the ''Ceresco Times''. Knowles moved to

Tilford, South Dakota Tilford is an unincorporated community located in Meade County, South Dakota, United States. Tilford is located at Exit 40 off I-90, approximately south of Sturgis, the county seat. Although Tilford is unincorporated, it has its own ZIP code ...

in 1888 to begin publication of the ''Meade County Times''. He subsequently moved to

Deadwood Deadwood may refer to: Places Canada * Deadwood, Alberta * Deadwood, British Columbia * Deadwood River, a tributary of the Dease River in northern British Columbia United States * Deadwood, California (disambiguation), several communit ...

to publish the ''Evening Independent''.

Congress

In addition to his activities in journalism, Knowles became active in the

Populist Party Populist Party may refer to: Asian and European political parties and movements *Croatian Popular Party (1919), a Croatian right-wing party also known as Croatian Populist Party * Indonesian National Populist Fortress Party, an Indonesian populist ...

. After running unsuccessfully for Seat A in 1894, in 1896 he was elected to Seat B, one of South Dakota's two at-large seats in the

. He served in the

55th United States Congress The 55th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C., from March 4, 1897, ...

, March 4, 1897 to March 3, 1899, and was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1898.

Later career

Knowles later became involved with the

Socialist Party of America The Socialist Party of America (SPA) was a socialist political party in the United States formed in 1901 by a merger between the three-year-old Social Democratic Party of America and disaffected elements of the Socialist Labor Party of America ...

, and made unsuccessful runs for

Governor of South Dakota The governor of South Dakota is the head of government of South Dakota. The governor is elected to a four-year term in even years when there is no presidential election. The current governor is Larry Rhoden, a member of the Republican Party ...

in 1904 and 1906. In addition, he started a

socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

newspaper, ''The Lantern'', and his editorials and stories on topics including

birth control Birth control, also known as contraception, anticonception, and fertility control, is the use of methods or devices to prevent pregnancy. Birth control has been used since ancient times, but effective and safe methods of birth control only be ...

labor rights Labor rights or workers' rights are both legal rights and human rights relating to labor relations between workers and employers. These rights are codified in national and international labor and employment law. In general, the ...

, and

labor unions A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

angered mine owners and other business leaders, which resulted in scrutiny by law enforcement agencies and other government officials. In 1908 he was charged with sending obscene material through the mails, and sentenced to a year in prison.

Death and burial

Knowles died in

Deadwood, South Dakota Deadwood (Lakota: ''Owáyasuta''; "To approve or confirm things") is a city that serves as the county seat of Lawrence County, South Dakota, United States. It was named by early settlers after the dead trees found in its gulch. The city had its ...

on June 1, 1910. He was buried at Mount Moriah Cemetery in Deadwood.

References

External links

* 1846 births 1910 deaths People from Harmony, Maine People's Party members of the United States House of Representatives from South Dakota South Dakota Populists People from Denison, Iowa People from Deadwood, South Dakota Union army soldiers Iowa lawyers 19th-century American journalists American male journalists Socialist Party of America politicians from South Dakota 19th-century American male writers 19th-century American lawyers Members of the United States House of Representatives from South Dakota 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives {{SouthDakota-politician-stub