LaMonte Cowles (September 30, 1859 – February 24, 1942) was an American engineer, lawyer, and politician. Cowles was a son of Methodist minister William Fletcher Cowles and Maria Elizabeth LaMonte, born in Oskaloosa on September 30, 1859. His father was a widower who had three prior children. Lamonte Cowles had a full brother, Gardner Cowles Sr. LaMonte graduated from

Iowa Wesleyan College Iowa Wesleyan University was a private university in Mount Pleasant, Iowa, United States. It was Iowa's first co-educational institution of higher learning and the oldest of its type west of the Mississippi River. The institution was affiliated ...

in 1879 and worked for the

Union Pacific The Union Pacific Railroad is a Class I freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Pacific is the second largest railroad in the United States after BNSF, ...

, the Chicago Burlington and the

Pacific Railroad The Pacific Railroad (not to be confused with Union Pacific Railroad) was a railroad based in Missouri. It was a predecessor of both the Missouri Pacific Railroad and St. Louis-San Francisco Railway. The Pacific was chartered by Missouri in 184 ...

as an engineer. Cowles subsequently read law, was admitted to the bar in 1886, and relocated to

Burlington, Iowa Burlington is a city in, and the county seat of, Des Moines County, Iowa, United States. The population was 23,982 in the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, a decline from the 26,839 population in 2000 United States Census, 2000. Burlington ...

, to practice law. Cowles legal career included a stint as city attorney. Cowles was active in Republican Party politics. He served ten years as a Republican congressional committee member for the first district, and four years on the Republican state committee, as well as other party committees at the city, county, and state levels. Between January 9, 1911, and January 10, 1915, Cowles held the

District 9 ''District 9'' is a 2009 science fiction action film directed by Neill Blomkamp in his feature film debut, written by Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell, and produced by Peter Jackson and Carolynne Cunningham. It is a co-production of New Zealand ...

seat in the

Iowa Senate The Iowa Senate is the upper house of the Iowa General Assembly. There are 50 seats in the Iowa Senate, representing 50 single-member districts across the Iowa, state of Iowa with populations of approximately 60,927 per constituency, . Each Senat ...

as a Republican. Cowles was married to Hattie E. Kane from 1886 to her death in 1889. The couple had one daughter. In 1897, he married Ida S. Miller. He died on February 24, 1942, at Burlington's Mercy Hospital.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cowles, LaMonte 1859 births 1942 deaths Republican Party Iowa state senators Politicians from Burlington, Iowa 19th-century American engineers 19th-century American lawyers 20th-century American lawyers People from Oskaloosa, Iowa Engineers from Iowa American railroad mechanical engineers Iowa city attorneys Cowles family Iowa Wesleyan University alumni 20th-century members of the Iowa General Assembly