Representative Augustin Reed Humphrey

Augustin Reed Humphrey (February 18, 1859 – December 10, 1937) was an American Republican Party politician who represented Nebraska in the United States House of Representatives from 1921 to 1923. Over the course of a long career in law, agriculture, and public office, he became a prominent figure in Nebraska’s Republican politics and local government, as well as a participant in the national legislative process during a significant period in American history.

Humphrey was born on February 18, 1859, near Madison, Jefferson County, Indiana. In 1864, when he was a child, he moved with his family to Drakesville, Davis County, Iowa, where he was raised. He pursued his early education in the local schools and later attended Southern Iowa Normal School at Bloomfield, Iowa, from which he graduated in 1881. Seeking a professional career in law, he enrolled in the law department of the University of Iowa, Iowa City, and completed his legal studies there in 1882. He was admitted to the bar in the same year, marking the formal beginning of his legal career.

After his admission to the bar, Humphrey moved west, reflecting the broader pattern of American settlement and development in the Great Plains. In 1885 he settled in Broken Bow, Custer County, Nebraska, where he commenced the practice of law. The following year, in 1886, he received a homestead in Custer County, where he engaged in farming and the raising of livestock. This combination of legal practice and agricultural enterprise tied him closely to the economic and social life of central Nebraska and helped establish his standing among the region’s residents.

Humphrey quickly became active in Republican politics and public affairs. Beginning in 1887, he served as a delegate to every Republican State convention in Nebraska, a role he maintained continuously until 1936, underscoring his long-term influence within the party. From 1891 to 1895 he held statewide office as Nebraska’s commissioner of public lands and buildings, overseeing important aspects of state property and infrastructure during a period of continued growth and development. At the local level, he was elected president of the Broken Bow board of education, serving from 1898 to 1914 and contributing to the administration and improvement of local schools. He further served as probate judge from 1906 to 1910, handling matters of estates and guardianships, and later as mayor of Broken Bow from 1916 to 1917, where he was responsible for municipal governance and local policy.

In 1920 Humphrey moved from the town of Broken Bow to a ranch on the South Loup River, remaining within Custer County but shifting his primary residence and activities more fully into ranching and agriculture. His long record of public service and party involvement, however, kept him in the forefront of Nebraska Republican politics and prepared the way for his entry into national office.

Humphrey’s congressional service came during a notable era in American history, in the aftermath of World War I and during the early 1920s. A member of the Republican Party, he was elected as a Republican to the Sixty-seventh Congress in 1922 to fill the vacancy caused by the death of long-serving Representative Moses P. Kinkaid of Nebraska. In this capacity he represented his Nebraska constituency in the U.S. House of Representatives, participating in the democratic and legislative processes of the national government. He served from his election in 1922 until March 3, 1923, completing the unexpired term. Humphrey did not run for reelection to the subsequent Congress, thus limiting his service in the House to a single term.

After leaving Congress, Humphrey returned to his private pursuits in Nebraska, continuing his involvement in Republican circles and maintaining his interests in ranching and local affairs. His decades-long participation as a delegate to Republican State conventions, extending from 1887 to 1936, reflected his enduring engagement with public life even after his brief tenure in national office.

Augustin Reed Humphrey died on December 10, 1937, while on a trip to Fort Collins, Colorado. His remains were returned to Nebraska, and he was interred in Broken Bow Cemetery in Broken Bow, Custer County, Nebraska. His career spanned law, agriculture, education, municipal and state administration, and national legislative service, marking him as a significant figure in the civic history of Nebraska in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.