Senator John Henry Gear

John Henry Gear (April 7, 1825 – July 14, 1900) was an American merchant and Republican politician who served as the 11th governor of Iowa, a United States representative, and a member of the United States Senate. Over a public career spanning several decades, he held local, state, and national offices and participated actively in the legislative process during a significant period in American history.

Gear was born in Ithaca, New York, on April 7, 1825, the son of E. G. Gear, a Protestant minister. He attended the common schools in his youth. His family moved frequently during his childhood, first to Galena, Illinois, in 1836, then to Fort Snelling, in what is now Minnesota, in 1838. In 1843 he settled in Burlington, Iowa, which would remain his principal home for the rest of his life. In Burlington he engaged in mercantile pursuits, establishing himself in business and gaining prominence in the community. In 1852 he married Harriet Foot of Vermont; the couple had four children.

Gear’s public career began at the local level. In 1863 he was elected mayor of Burlington, Iowa, reflecting the reputation he had built as a businessman and civic leader. He later entered state politics as a member of the Iowa House of Representatives, in which he served from 1871 to 1877. During his tenure in the state legislature he was chosen Speaker of the House for two terms, a position that placed him at the center of Iowa’s legislative deliberations during the post–Civil War era.

In 1876 Gear ran successfully for governor of Iowa as a Republican. In that election he received 121,546 votes, defeating Democrat John P. Irish, who received 79,353 votes, Elias Jessup, who received 10,639 votes, and D. P. Stubbs, who received 38,228 votes; his plurality over Irish was 42,193. He was inaugurated as the 11th governor of Iowa on January 17, 1878. He was re-elected in 1879, receiving 157,571 votes to 85,056 for his principal opponent, Trimble, 45,439 for Campbell, and 3,258 for Dungan, giving him a majority over all competitors of 23,828 votes. His second inauguration took place in January 1880. As governor, Gear focused on improving the state’s fiscal condition, working to reduce a large state deficit left by previous administrations. He also secured legislation that dissolved Iowa’s remaining Civil War debt, contributing to the stabilization of the state’s finances.

After his gubernatorial service, Gear moved onto the national stage. He was elected as a Republican to represent Iowa’s 1st congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives for the Fiftieth and Fifty-first Congresses, serving from March 4, 1887, to March 3, 1891. During these four years in the House, he participated in the democratic process at the federal level and represented the interests of his Iowa constituents in a period marked by debates over tariffs, economic policy, and the role of the federal government. He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1890, but remained in national public life when President Benjamin Harrison appointed him Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, a post he held from 1892 to 1893. Gear returned to the U.S. House for one final term after winning the 1892 election in Iowa’s 1st district, serving in the Fifty-third Congress from March 4, 1893, to March 3, 1895.

In 1894 Gear was elected by the Iowa General Assembly to the United States Senate. He took his seat on March 4, 1895, and, according to existing records, served as a Senator from Iowa in the United States Congress from 1887 to 1901, a period encompassing four terms in office when his House and Senate service are considered together. A member of the Republican Party, he contributed to the legislative process during this extended tenure in Congress. He was reelected to the Senate in 1900. During his Senate service he chaired the United States Senate Committee on Pacific Railroads in the Fifty-fourth through Fifty-sixth Congresses, a role that placed him at the forefront of issues involving railroad regulation, expansion, and federal oversight at a time when railroads were central to the nation’s economic development.

Gear’s service in Congress occurred during a significant period in American history, spanning the late Reconstruction era, the Gilded Age, and the dawn of the Progressive Era. As a member of the Senate, he participated in the democratic process and represented the interests of his Iowa constituents on matters of national policy, including finance, transportation, and economic development. His long experience in state government and the House of Representatives informed his work in the upper chamber, where he was regarded as an experienced legislator and party stalwart.

John Henry Gear died in office on July 14, 1900, in Washington, D.C., at the age of 75, before the start of the Senate term to which he had been reelected. He was interred in Aspen Grove Cemetery in Burlington, Iowa, the city that had been his home since youth and the base of his business and political career. His death placed him among the members of the United States Congress who died in office in the early twentieth century and prompted memorial addresses in both the Senate and the House of Representatives, later published in 1901.