Augustus C. Dodge

Augustus Caesar Dodge (January 4, 1812 – November 21, 1883) was a Democratic delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives from Iowa Territory, a U.S. minister to Spain, and one of the first set of United States senators to represent Iowa after it was admitted to the Union as a state. His father, Henry Dodge, served as a U.S. senator from Wisconsin; the two were the first and so far the only father-son pair to serve concurrently in the Senate, which they did from 1848 to 1855.

Augustus Dodge was born in what is now Ste. Genevieve, Missouri (then in Louisiana Territory). Self-educated, he moved to Illinois in 1827, settled in Galena, and was employed there in various capacities in his father's lead mines. He served in the Black Hawk War and other Indian wars. In 1837, he moved to what is now Burlington, Iowa (then in Wisconsin Territory), where he served as register of the land office until 1840.

Delegate Congress created Iowa Territory in 1838, from what was formerly the Iowa District of Wisconsin Territory. As a result of the Act of March 3, 1839, the position of Iowa Territory's Delegate to the U.S. House would become vacant on October 27, 1840, and Dodge was elected to fill it. After initially serving in the Twenty-sixth United States Congress, he was re-elected in 1840 (to the Twenty-seventh Congress), 1842 (to the Twenty-eighth Congress), and 1844 (to the Twenty-ninth Congress). He served as delegate until Iowa became a state in December 1846, and his role was replaced by two voting Representatives.

Senator For its first two years, the Iowa General Assembly failed to choose Iowa's first U.S. senators, due to a three-way split that prevented any candidate from earning the required number of 30 legislators' votes. However, after the 1848 elections gave the Democratic Party a greater share of Iowa legislators, Dodge (and George Wallace Jones) were elected as Iowa's first two U.S. senators. During that same election year, Dodge himself had been mentioned for the vice-presidency. "His nomination", said The Democratic Watchman (Bellfontaine, Pennsylvania) "would probably give satisfaction to as many Democrats as that of any other western man." Looking toward the 1872 presidential election, Dodge recommended Thomas A. Hendricks as a "worthy, able and excellent man." He believed that there was strong support throughout the Midwest for the Indianan, although he doubted that Hendricks would run well in the East.

He died in Burlington, Iowa on November 20, 1883, and was interred in Aspen Grove Cemetery in Burlington.

Dodge was the nephew of Missouri Senator Lewis F. Linn. His brother-in-law James Clarke served as the third and last Governor of Iowa Territory.

Legacy Dodge County, Nebraska and Dodge Street in Omaha, Nebraska were named after Augustus Dodge. His home in Burlington, Iowa is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Augustus Caesar Dodge House.