David Bremner Henderson | |
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34th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives | |
In office December 4, 1899 – March 4, 1903 |
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President |
William McKinley Theodore Roosevelt |
Preceded by | Thomas B. Reed |
Succeeded by | Joseph G. Cannon |
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Iowa's 3rd district |
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In office March 4, 1883 – March 3, 1903 |
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Preceded by | Thomas Updegraff |
Succeeded by | Benjamin P. Birdsall |
Personal details | |
Born | March 14, 1840 Old Deer, Scotland, United Kingdom |
Died | February 25, 1906 (aged 65) Dubuque, Iowa, United States |
Political party | Republican |
Alma mater | Upper Iowa University |
Profession | Law |
David Bremner Henderson (March 14, 1840 – February 25, 1906), a ten-term Republican Congressman from Dubuque, Iowa, was the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1899 to 1903. He was the first Congressman from west of the Mississippi River, the last Civil War veteran, the second foreign-born person (after Charles Frederick Crisp), and so far the only Iowan to serve as Speaker.
Henderson was born in Old Deer, Scotland on March 14, 1840. He emigrated to the United States with his parents, who initially settled in Winnebago County, Illinois, in 1846. His family soon moved to a farm near Clermont, in Fayette County, Iowa in 1849. He attended the common schools, and the Upper Iowa University at Fayette, Iowa.
He served in the Union Army during the Civil War and was wounded severely twice, once in the neck and later in the leg, which resulted in progressive amputations of that leg. He initially enlisted in the Union Army on September 15, 1861, as a private in Company C, 12th Iowa Volunteer Infantry Regiment. He was elected and commissioned first lieutenant of that company. In the Battle of Fort Donelson, he was shot in the neck in the final charge over the breastworks. After returning to the Regiment in April 1862, he lost one foot and part of one leg at the Second Battle of Corinth in October 1862. He was discharged on February 26, 1863 due to his wounds, and returned to Iowa. After serving as commissioner of the board of enrollment of the third district of Iowa from May 1863 to June 1864, he re-entered the Army as colonel of the new 46th Iowa Volunteer Infantry Regiment, one of the "Hundred Days Men" regiments, and commanded the Regiment until it was mustered out in September 1864.