Thomas Updegraff (April 3, 1834 – October 4, 1910) was an American attorney, politician, and five-term Republican member of the

U.S. House of Representatives 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 northeastern

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

. His two periods of service were separated by ten years out of Congress.

Biography

Family background

Thomas Updegraff, a descendant of the Dutch and German

Op den Graeff Op den Graeff () is a German and American family of Dutch origin. They were one of the first families of the Mennonite faith in Krefeld at the beginning of the 17th century. Various family members belonged to Original 13, the first organized imm ...

family, was born in

Tioga County, Pennsylvania Tioga County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 41,045. Its county seat is Wellsboro. The county was created on March 26, 1804, from part of Lycoming County and later organized in 1812 ...

. He was a son of William Updegraff (1798-1846) and his wife Rachel Smith (1800-1869) and grandson of Thomas Updegraff ( York County, Province of Pennsylvania, 1774- Williamsport, Lycoming County, Pennsylvania, 1857),

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally, others referred to them as Quakers ...

, Businessman, and agent for the

Underground Railroad The Underground Railroad was an organized network of secret routes and safe houses used by freedom seekers to escape to the abolitionist Northern United States and Eastern Canada. Enslaved Africans and African Americans escaped from slavery ...

Station. His great-grandfather Abraham Updegraff (1746-1781) served as a

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * "In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorded ...

in the

Pennsylvania Militia The Pennsylvania National Guard is one of the oldest and largest National Guards in the United States Department of Defense. It traces its roots to 1747 when Benjamin Franklin established the Associators in Philadelphia. With more than 18,000 pe ...

in 1760. Through Abrahams father Herman Updegraff (1711-1758) and grandfather Isaac Updegraff (1680-1745) they were direct descendants of

Abraham op den Graeff Abraham Isaacs op den Graeff, also ''Op den Graff'', ''Opdengraef'' as well as ''Op den Gräff'' (c. 1649 – c. 1731) was one of the so-called Original 13, the first closed group of German emigrants to North America, and an original founder of ...

(father of Isaac), one of the founders of Germantown and in 1688 signer of the first protest against slavery in colonial America and of his grandfather

Herman op den Graeff Herman op den Graeff, also ''Hermann'' (Kerken, Aldekerk, 26 November 1585 - Krefeld, 27 December 1642) was a Mennonite community leader from Krefeld. Biography Origin Herman op den Graeff was the first historically proven member of the Op ...

mennonite Mennonites are a group of Anabaptism, Anabaptist Christianity, Christian communities tracing their roots to the epoch of the Radical Reformation. The name ''Mennonites'' is derived from the cleric Menno Simons (1496–1561) of Friesland, part of ...

leader of

Krefeld Krefeld ( , ; ), also spelled Crefeld until 1925 (though the spelling was still being used in British papers throughout the Second World War), is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, in western Germany. It is located northwest of Düsseldorf, its c ...

. Image:Coat of arms Op den Graeff.jpg, Possible, but bot proven coat of arms Op den Graeff as descendants of

(Heraldic representation by

Matthias Laurenz Gräff Matthias Laurenz Gräff (also known as ''Matthias Laurenz Gräff Ilpenstein''; born 19 July 1984) is an Austrian-Greek academic painter, private historian, politician, political activist and co-founder and organizer of the non-partisan platform ...

based on the Krefeld Op den Graeff stained glass window from 1630) Image:Three members of the Op den Graeff family who were involved in the anti slavery movement and abolitionism.jpg, Three important members of the Op den Graeff family who were involved in the anti slavery movement and abolitionism. Left to right -

(1649–1731),

Derick op den Graeff Derick Isaacs op den Graeff, also ''Dirk, Dirck, Derrick Isaacs op den Graeff, Opdengraef'', ''Opdengraff'' as well as ''Op den Gräff'' (1646 in Krefeld - May 24, 1697 in Germantown, Philadelphia, Germantown, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) was one ...

(1646–1697) and David Benjamin Updegraff (1789–1864).

Early life

Thomas Updegraff attended the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac (known simply as Notre Dame; ; ND) is a Private university, private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1842 by members of the Congregation of Holy Cross, a Cathol ...

, then moved to Iowa. He was the clerk of the district court of

Clayton County, Iowa Clayton 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 17,043. Its county seat is Elkader, Iowa, Elkader. The county was established in 1837 and ...

, from 1856 to 1860. After studying law, he was admitted to the bar in 1860 and commenced practice in

McGregor, Iowa McGregor is a city in Clayton County, Iowa, United States. The population was 742 at the time of the 2020 census. McGregor is located on the Mississippi River across from Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin. Pike's Peak State Park is located just sou ...

Family

In 1858, Updegraff married Laura A. Platt of

Huron County, Ohio Huron County ( ) is a county located in the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 census, the population was 58,565. Its county seat is Norwalk. The county was created in 1809 and later organized in 1815. Huron County is included in the Norwal ...

. She died in 1865, and he later married Florence Haight. They were the parents of two daughters, Elizabeth and Rachel.

Political career

In 1878 he began to serve as a member of 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 November of the same year, he was elected as a Republican to the United States House of Representatives 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 ...

, which was then made up of the seven counties in Iowa's northeastern corner.Iowa congressional district maps, 1847-2013
," accessed 2009-04-17. Two years later he was re-elected to a second term. The following year the

Iowa General Assembly The Iowa General Assembly is the legislative branch of the state government of Iowa. Like the federal United States Congress, the General Assembly is a bicameral body, composed of the upper house Iowa Senate and the lower Iowa House of Repre ...

reapportioned the congressional districts to accommodate the addition of two additional seats, placing Updegraff's home county in a reconfigured 4th congressional district. He won the Republican Party's nomination in 1882.Congressional Nominations
" New York Times, 1882-07-28 at p. 5. However, in the general election he was defeated by Luman Hamlin Weller of the

United States Greenback Party The Greenback Party (known successively as the Independent Party, the National Independent Party and the Greenback Labor Party) was an American political party with an anti-monopoly ideology which was active from 1874 to 1889. The party ran can ...

. Updegraff had served Iowa's 3rd congressional district from March 4, 1879 to March 3, 1883. Returning to Iowa, Updegraff was a member of the McGregor Board of Education, and the city solicitor. He was a delegate to the

1888 Republican National Convention The 1888 Republican National Convention was a presidential nominating convention held at the Auditorium Theatre in Chicago, Illinois, on June 19–25, 1888. It resulted in the nomination of former United States Senate, Senator Benjamin Harrison of ...

. In

1892 In Samoa, this was the only leap year spanned to 367 days as July 4 repeated. This means that the International Date Line was drawn from the east of the country to go west. Events January * January 1 – Ellis Island begins processing imm ...

, he again ran for Congress in Iowa's 4th district, winning not only the Republican nomination but also the general election (where he defeated incumbent

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...

Walter Halben Butler Walter Halben Butler (February 13, 1852 – April 24, 1931) was a lawyer, teacher, newspaper publisher, and one-term Democratic U.S. Representative from Iowa's 4th congressional district, then located in northeastern Iowa. Biography Born in Sp ...

). He was re-elected to two more terms. However, in 1898, he was defeated in his bid for the Republican nomination by Gilbert N. Haugen, who would go on to serve seventeen consecutive terms. In all, Updegraff served the 4th congressional district from March 4, 1893 to March 3, 1899.

After Congress

Updegraff then returned to McGregor to resume the practice of law. He died in McGregor, and was interred there in Pleasant Grove Cemetery.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Updegraff, Thomas 1834 births 1910 deaths People from Tioga County, Pennsylvania People from McGregor, Iowa University of Notre Dame alumni Iowa lawyers School board members in Iowa Republican Party members of the Iowa House of Representatives Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Iowa 19th-century American lawyers 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives