James Perry Conner (January 27, 1851 – March 19, 1924) was a 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 10th congressional district from 1900 to 1909.

Background

Born in

Delaware County, Indiana Delaware County is a County (United States), county in the east central portion of the U.S. state of Indiana. As of 2020, the population was 111,903. The county seat is Muncie, Indiana, Muncie. Delaware County is part of the Muncie metropolita ...

, Conner attended the

Upper Iowa University Upper Iowa University (UIU) is a private university in Fayette, Iowa, United States. It enrolls around 3,000 students and offers distance education programs that include centers in the U.S., an online program, an independent study program, an ...

Fayette, Iowa Fayette is a city in Fayette County, Iowa, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 1,256. It was named after the Marquis de la Fayette, French hero of the American Revolutionary War. Fayette is the home of Upper Iowa U ...

, and graduated from the

University of Iowa College of Law The University of Iowa College of Law is the law school of the University of Iowa, located in Iowa City, Iowa. It was founded in 1865. History The law school was founded in 1865 by George Grover Wright and Chester C. Cole as an independent la ...

in 1873. 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 ...

and practiced in

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 ...

. He served as district attorney of the thirteenth judicial district of Iowa from 1880 to 1884. He was elected as a circuit judge of the thirteenth judicial district in 1884, and as a district judge of the sixteenth judicial district in 1886, serving over eight years on the bench."Hon J.P. Connor," Daily Iowa Capital," 1900-09-26 at p.4. He served as delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1892.

Congress

Connor was a former law partner and political ally of Iowa Governor Leslie M. Shaw. When U.S. Senator John H. Gear died in July 1900, Shaw was responsible for making an interim appointment to fill the seat. Connor was one of many Republicans who hoped Shaw would choose them to fill the vacancy, but Shaw instead chose Connor's congressman, Jonathan P. Dolliver, thus creating a new vacancy in the U.S. House. Dolliver's House seat (in Iowa's 10th congressional district) was filled by a direct election between candidates chosen by district conventions. On the 96th ballot, Conner received the Republican nomination over a crowded field, and was elected in the general election. After serving in the Fifty-sixth Congress, he was reelected two years later (in 1902) to the Fifty-seventh, and later to the three succeeding Congresses. In 1908, Connor was defeated in the Republican primary by newspaper publisher

Frank P. Woods Frank Plowman Woods (December 11, 1868 – April 25, 1944) was a five-term Republican U.S. Representative from Iowa's 10th congressional district, in north-central Iowa. He reached a House leadership position after only two terms. However, in ...

,"Allison and Woods," Buffalo Center Tribune, 1908-03-05 at p.1. as part of a broader attempt by the party's progressive wing to displace incumbents from the more conservative "standpatter" wing. In all, Connor served in Congress from December 4, 1900, to March 3, 1909.

After Congress

He resumed the practice of law in Denison, where he died on March 19, 1924. He was interred in Oakland Cemetery.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Conner, James Perry 1851 births 1924 deaths People from Delaware County, Indiana People from Denison, Iowa University of Iowa College of Law alumni Iowa state court judges District attorneys in Iowa Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Iowa 20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives