James Patton Flick (August 28, 1845 – February 25, 1929) was a two-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 8th congressional district in the

Gilded Age In History of the United States, United States history, the Gilded Age is the period from about the late 1870s to the late 1890s, which occurred between the Reconstruction era and the Progressive Era. It was named by 1920s historians after Mar ...

. Born in Bakerstown, Pennsylvania, Flick moved with his parents to

Wapello County, Iowa Wapello County is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of Iowa. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 35,437. The county seat is Ottumwa, Iowa, Ottumwa. The county was formed on February 17 ...

, in 1852 and to

Taylor County, Iowa Taylor County is a county located in the U.S. state of Iowa. As of the 2020 census, the population was 5,896, making it the fourth-least populous county in Iowa. The county seat is Bedford. The county was formed in 1847 and named after General ...

in 1857. He attended the common schools. Following the outbreak of the American Civil War he enlisted in Company K, 4th Iowa Volunteer Infantry Regiment, as a private soldier and served from April 3, 1862, to September 4, 1864. Following the war, he served as Recorder of Taylor County in 1869 and 1870. After studying law, he 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 1870 and commenced practice in

Bedford, Iowa Bedford is a city in Taylor County, Iowa, United States. The population was 1,508 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Taylor County. Lake of Three Fires State Park is located several miles northeast of Bedford. History The community ...

. He served in the

Iowa House of Representatives The Iowa House of Representatives is the lower house of the Iowa General Assembly, the upper house being the Iowa Senate. There are 100 seats in the Iowa House of Representatives, representing 100 single-member districts across the state, formed ...

in 1878 and 1879, then served as district attorney of the third judicial district of Iowa from 1880 to 1886. In 1888 Flick was elected as a Republican to the U.S. House seat for Iowa's 8th congressional district. After serving in the

51st United States Congress The 51st United States Congress, referred to by some critics as the Billion Dollar Congress, was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Rep ...

he was re-elected in 1890, surviving the Democratic Party's first

landslide victory A landslide victory is an election result in which the winning Candidate#Candidates in elections, candidate or political party, party achieves a decisive victory by an overwhelming margin, securing a very large majority of votes or seats far beyo ...

since the Iowa Republican Party was founded. He then served in the Fifty-second Congress. In all, he was in Congress from March 4, 1889, to March 3, 1893. In 1892, he was not a candidate for renomination. After returning to Iowa, he resumed the practice of his profession in Bedford, until his death there on February 25, 1929. He was interred in Bedford Cemetery.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Flick, James Patton 1845 births 1929 deaths Union army soldiers Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Iowa 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives 19th-century members of the Iowa General Assembly