Isaac Chapman Fowler (September 2, 1831,

Jeffersonville, Virginia Tazewell () is a town in Tazewell County, Virginia, United States. The population was 4,627 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Bluefield, WV-VA micropolitan area, which has a population of 107,578. It is the county seat of Tazewell County. ...

– April 29, 1905) was a

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

politician. He served as mayor of Bristol, Virginia, from 1871 to 1875,https://www.bristolhistoricalassociation.com/icfowler represented Washington County in the

Virginia House of Delegates The Virginia House of Delegates is one of the two parts of the Virginia General Assembly, the other being the Senate of Virginia. It has 100 members elected for terms of two years; unlike most states, these elections take place during odd-number ...

, and served as that body's

Speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** I ...

from 1881 until 1882 as a member of the

Readjuster Party The Readjuster Party was a bi-racial state-level political party formed in Virginia across party lines in the late 1870s during the turbulent period following the Reconstruction era that sought to reduce outstanding debt owed by the state. Readj ...

Virginia State Capitol complex - list of former Speakers of the House of Delegates

Early life and family life

Isaac Fowler was born to Thomas and Priscilla Fowler on September 23, 1831, in

Tazewell County, Virginia Tazewell County () is a county located in the southwestern portion of the U.S. state of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 40,429. Its county seat is Tazewell. Tazewell County is part of the Bluefield, WV-VA Micropolitan S ...

. He attended

Emory and Henry College Emory & Henry College (E&H or Emory) is a private liberal arts college in Emory, Virginia. The campus comprises of Washington County, which is part of the Appalachian highlands of Southwest Virginia. Founded in 1836, Emory & Henry College is ...

. He married Kezia McDonald Chapman on December 4, 1854. During the Civil War, he worked for the Commissary Department of the Confederate States under John Breckenridge. Fowler, along with his brother, Elbert, purchased the Bristol News from A.C. Smith in 1864. He became the paper editor until February, 1884.

Political career

Fowler's first delve into politics came when he served as Mayor of Bristol, Virginia, from 1871 to 1875. After his term as mayor was up, he won his first stint in the

Virginia General Assembly The Virginia General Assembly is the legislative body of the Commonwealth of Virginia, the oldest continuous law-making body in the Western Hemisphere, the first elected legislative assembly in the New World, and was established on July 30, 16 ...

where he served until 1879. During the 1877-79 General Assembly meeting, he served as Chairman of the Virginia House of Delegates Schools and Colleges Committee. He won his second stint in 1881 and was voted Speaker of the

during the 1881-82 General Assembly Meeting. As speaker, he oversaw legislation enacted that repealed the state's poll tax as a prerequisite to voting and liberalized appropriations for the state's public school system, which included the creation of

Virginia State University Virginia State University (VSU or Virginia State) is a public historically Black land-grant university in Ettrick, Virginia. Founded on , Virginia State developed as the United States's first fully state-supported four-year institution of hi ...

, passage of the

ReAdjusters The Readjuster Party was a bi-racial state-level political party formed in Virginia across party lines in the late 1870s during the turbulent period following the Reconstruction era that sought to reduce outstanding debt owed by the state. Readj ...

debt bill, and reform of tax laws.https://archive.org/details/williammahoneofv00blak/page/n485/mode/1up Pg.220 After his term as speaker was up, he served as Clerk of the U. S. District Court in Abingdon, until shortly before he died in 1904.https://history.house.virginia.gov/members/6208

Death and legacy

Fowler died on April 6, 1904. He is buried at

East Hill Cemetery East Hill Cemetery, also known as Maryland Hill, Round Hill, Rooster Hill, and City Cemetery, is a historic cemetery located at Bristol, Virginia. It is an American Civil War-era cemetery established in 1857, with sections for Confederate soldie ...

in Bristol, Virginia.

References

1831 births 1904 deaths Speakers of the Virginia House of Delegates People from Washington County, Virginia Readjuster Party politicians People from Tazewell, Virginia {{Virginia-delegate-stub