Robert Gordon Cousins (January 31, 1859 – June 20, 1933) was an eight-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 5th congressional district Iowa's 5th congressional district is an obsolete congressional district in the U.S. state of Iowa. It was last represented by Republican Steve King in 2013, who continued to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives after the district's obsole ...

. He represented the

Cedar Rapids, Iowa Cedar Rapids is a city in Linn County, Iowa, United States, and its county seat. The population was 137,710 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Iowa, second-most populous city in Iowa. The city lies o ...

, area for the last eight years of the 19th century and the first eight years of the 20th century. Born on a farm, "Indian Lodge," near

Tipton, Iowa Tipton ( /ˈtɪptən/) is a city in Cedar County, Iowa, United States. The population was 3,149 at the time of the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Cedar County. History Tipton was platted within Center Township in 1840 and was named for ...

, in

Cedar County, Iowa Cedar 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 18,505. Its county seat is Tipton, Iowa, Tipton. The county is named for the Cedar River (I ...

, Cousins attended the common schools, and was graduated from

Cornell College Cornell College is a private liberal arts college in Mount Vernon, Iowa. Originally the Iowa Conference Seminary (Methodist), the school was founded in 1853 by George Bryant Bowman. Four years later, in 1857, the name was changed to Cornell Co ...

Mount Vernon, Iowa Mount Vernon is a city in Linn County, Iowa, United States, adjacent to the city of Lisbon. The population was 4,527 at the time of the 2020 census. Mount Vernon is part of the Cedar Rapids Metropolitan Statistical Area. History Mount Verno ...

, in 1881. 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 1882, and engaged in practice in Tipton. In 1886, Cousins was elected to 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 ...

. He was chosen by the House as one of the managers to conduct the impeachment proceedings of John L. Brown before 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 ...

in 1886. He served as prosecuting attorney for Cedar County from 1888 to 1890. In 1892, Cousins ran as a Republican against Democratic Congressman

John Taylor Hamilton John Taylor Hamilton (October 16, 1843 – January 25, 1925) was an American businessman from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and a one-term Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from Iowa's 5th congressional district. Early life ...

, who had won election to the U.S. House seat for Iowa's 5th congressional district two years earlier. Cousins defeated Hamilton in the general election and thereby became a member of the Fifty-third Congress. He was then re-elected to the seven succeeding Congresses. He served as chairman of the Committee on Expenditures in the Department of the Treasury from the Fifty-fifth through Fifty-ninth Congresses, and chairman of the

House Committee on Foreign Affairs The United States House Committee on Foreign Affairs, also known as the House Foreign Affairs Committee, is a standing committee of the U.S. House of Representatives with jurisdiction over bills and investigations concerning the foreign affair ...

in the Sixtieth Congress. In 1908, Cousins declined to be a candidate for renomination. In all, he served in Congress from March 4, 1893 to March 3, 1909. After leaving Congress, Cousins resumed the practice of law in Tipton, and also engaged as a writer and as a

Chautauqua Chautauqua ( ) is an adult education and social movement in the United States that peaked in popularity in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Chautauqua assemblies expanded and spread throughout rural America until the mid-1920s. The Cha ...

lecturer. He died on June 20, 1933, in

Iowa City, Iowa Iowa City is the largest city in Johnson County, Iowa, United States, and its county seat. At the time of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census the population was 74,828, making it the state's List of cities in Iowa, fifth-most populous c ...

. He was interred in Red Oak Cemetery, five miles northwest of Tipton.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cousins, Robert Gordon 1859 births 1933 deaths Cornell College alumni Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Iowa People from Cedar County, Iowa 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives 19th-century members of the Iowa General Assembly