Representative William Mitchellson Treloar

William Mitchellson Treloar (September 21, 1850 – July 3, 1935) was an American music professor, composer, music publisher, and Republican U.S. Representative from Missouri. He served one term in the United States House of Representatives from 1895 to 1897, during a significant period in American political and cultural history, and was also notable for his long career in music education and publishing.

Treloar was born on September 21, 1850, near Linden, Iowa County, Wisconsin, where he attended the local common schools. In 1864 his family moved to Mount Pleasant, Iowa. There he continued his education in the Mount Pleasant high school and later attended Iowa Wesleyan College, an institution affiliated with the Methodist Episcopal Church. His early years in the Midwest, marked by steady schooling and exposure to the region’s growing educational institutions, laid the groundwork for his dual interests in teaching and music.

In 1872 Treloar moved to Missouri, where he began a professional career in music education. That year he joined the faculty of Mount Pleasant College in Huntsville, Missouri, serving as a teacher of music from 1872 to 1875. In 1875 he relocated to Mexico, Missouri, which became a long-term base for his professional life. There he was appointed professor of music at Hardin College, a Baptist women’s college, and also taught music at the Synodical Female College in nearby Fulton, Missouri. In addition, he gave instruction in the public schools of Mexico, Missouri. Through these positions he established himself as a respected music professor and composer, building a reputation that would later shape public perceptions of his entry into politics.

Treloar first entered active politics in 1894, when he served as a delegate to the Republican state convention in Missouri. That same year he became the Republican candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives from Missouri in a race against incumbent Democratic Congressman Champ Clark. In the context of a national Republican landslide, Treloar—reportedly the fifth choice of his party to run for the seat—defeated Clark and was elected to the Fifty-fourth Congress. His victory drew some ridicule in the press, where he was derided as a “banjo player” and “piano tuner,” but Clark himself publicly defended him as a “man of fair capacity and good manners” and praised his academic and composing career.

As a member of the House of Representatives from Missouri, Treloar served from March 4, 1895, to March 3, 1897. A member of the Republican Party, he participated in the legislative process during one term in office and represented the interests of his constituents during a time of intense debate over economic policy and intellectual property. During his short tenure he sponsored the Treloar Copyright Bill, a significant and controversial proposal that would have created a formal copyright registry and extended copyright terms. The bill became the focus of extensive lobbying efforts by both supporters and opponents in the publishing and creative industries. Although the measure did not advance out of committee and therefore did not become law in its original form, several of its concepts and provisions were later incorporated into subsequent copyright legislation, reflecting his lasting influence on the development of American copyright policy.

Treloar sought reelection in 1896 in a rematch against Champ Clark, but in a year marked by Democratic gains he was defeated and thus concluded his congressional service after a single term. After leaving Congress, he remained active in public service and civic life. From 1898 to 1904 he served as postmaster of Mexico, Missouri, an important federal appointment that placed him at the center of local communications and administration. In 1905 he moved to Kansas City, Missouri, where he founded and operated a music publishing business, combining his political experience with his longstanding professional expertise in music.

Treloar conducted his music publishing enterprise in Kansas City from 1905 until 1915, when he relocated the business to St. Louis, Missouri. In St. Louis he continued to publish, teach, and compose music, maintaining his prominence in regional musical circles. He also remained engaged in civic affairs, serving as an election judge from 1920 through 1924, thereby continuing his participation in the democratic process at the local level long after his congressional term had ended. His contributions to both public life and the arts were recognized in Missouri, where the town of Treloar in Warren County was named in his honor.

William Mitchellson Treloar died in St. Louis, Missouri, on July 3, 1935. He was interred in Bellefontaine Cemetery in St. Louis. His life reflected a distinctive combination of public service and cultural leadership, spanning roles as educator, composer, music publisher, postmaster, and U.S. Representative from Missouri.