Representative Harry Lancaster Towe

Harry Lancaster Towe (November 3, 1898, in Jersey City, New Jersey – February 4, 1991, in Tenafly, New Jersey) was an American Republican Party politician who represented New Jersey’s 9th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives during a pivotal mid‑twentieth‑century era. Over the course of his service in Congress from 1943 to 1953, he contributed to the legislative process during five terms in office and participated actively in the democratic governance of the nation while representing the interests of his New Jersey constituents.

Towe was born in Jersey City, New Jersey, and spent his formative years in northern New Jersey. He attended the public schools of Passaic, New Jersey, reflecting the region’s growing urban character in the early twentieth century. In 1918 he entered the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland, where he studied from 1918 to 1920 during the closing phase and immediate aftermath of World War I. After leaving the Naval Academy, he turned to the study of law and enrolled at New Jersey Law School in Newark, from which he graduated in 1925.

In 1925, the same year he completed his legal studies, Towe was admitted to the bar and commenced the practice of law in Rutherford, New Jersey. He quickly moved into public legal service, being appointed a United States commissioner from 1929 to 1931, a position in which he handled various preliminary federal judicial matters. From 1931 to 1934 he served as a special assistant attorney general of New Jersey, gaining further experience in state legal affairs. His growing prominence in Republican politics and public service led to his election to the New Jersey General Assembly, where he served as a member in 1941 and 1942.

Building on his state legislative experience, Towe was elected as a Republican to the Seventy‑eighth Congress and to the four succeeding Congresses. He represented New Jersey’s 9th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from January 3, 1943, until his resignation on September 7, 1951, thereby serving four full terms and part of a fifth. His tenure in the House coincided with World War II, the immediate postwar period, and the early years of the Cold War, a significant period in American history. As a member of the House of Representatives, he participated in the national legislative process and worked to advance the interests and concerns of his constituents in New Jersey while contributing to broader Republican Party priorities.

Towe resigned from Congress on September 7, 1951, to accept appointment as an assistant attorney general of New Jersey. In that capacity he returned to state legal service, applying his congressional and earlier prosecutorial experience to the administration of justice in New Jersey. He served as assistant attorney general until October 31, 1953, further solidifying his reputation as both a legislator and a legal officer of the state.

After leaving the post of assistant attorney general, Towe resumed private legal practice, this time in Hackensack, New Jersey. His legal career extended into the corporate sector when he became secretary and general counsel of the publishing firm Medical Economics, Inc., a position he held from 1960 to 1969. In this role he oversaw legal affairs for a company specializing in professional and medical publications, reflecting a mid‑century expansion of specialized business and professional media.

Throughout his adult life, Towe maintained close ties to northern New Jersey. He lived for many years in Rutherford and later became a resident of the Smoke Rise section of Kinnelon, New Jersey, a planned residential community in Morris County. In his later years he resided in Lakewood Township, New Jersey, where he died at his home on February 4, 1991. Although records list his death in Tenafly, New Jersey, he is noted as having been a resident of Lakewood at the time, underscoring his long association with communities across the state he represented and served in various legal and legislative capacities.