Theodore Weld Burdick (October 7, 1836 – July 16, 1898) was an American banker,

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

veteran and politician who one term served as 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 3rd congressional district Iowa's 3rd congressional district is a List of United States congressional districts, congressional district in the U.S. state of Iowa that covers its southwestern quadrant, which roughly consists of an area stretching from Des Moines, Iowa, Des ...

, serving from 1877 to 1879.

Biography

Born in Evansburg, Pennsylvania, Burdick attended the common schools. He moved with his parents to

Decorah, Iowa Decorah is the largest city in and county seat of Winneshiek County, Iowa, Winneshiek County, Iowa, United States. The population was 7,587 at the time of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Decorah is located at the intersection of Iowa ...

, in 1853 and at age seventeen became the community's first schoolteacher."Third District," Iowa State Reporter (Waterloo), 1876-09-13 at p. 5. He was a deputy treasurer and recorder of Winneshiek County from 1854 to 1857, and the treasurer and recorder from 1858 to 1862, when he resigned to recruit a company for the Union Army in the

Civil War

He was commissioned as captain and assigned to Company D the 6th Regiment Iowa Volunteer Cavalry. He served for three years in the Department of the Northwest, in response to

uprisings Rebellion is an uprising that resists and is organized against one's government. A rebel is a person who engages in a rebellion. A rebel group is a consciously coordinated group that seeks to gain political control over an entire state or a ...

in southern

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and

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by Native Americans against settlers. After the regiment was mustered out in 1865 he returned to Decorah and became cashier of the First National Bank.

Congress

In 1876, Burdick was elected as a Republican to the Forty-fifth Congress, where he served from March 4, 1877 to March 3, 1879. He served on the House Committee on Expenditures. In 1878, he declined to be a candidate for renomination.Iowa State Reporter (Waterloo), 1878-05-15 at p. 4.

Later career

He resumed banking at Decorah, and

Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan Sault Ste. Marie ( ') is a city in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, Upper Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is the county seat of Chippewa County, Michigan, Chippewa County and is the only city within the county. With a population of ...

. He served as member of 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 and 1887.

Death and burial

He died in Decorah from July 16, 1898. He was interred in Phelps Cemetery.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Burdick, Theodore Weld 1836 births 1898 deaths United States Army officers Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Iowa Republican Party Iowa state senators 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives 19th-century members of the Iowa General Assembly