Henderson, David Bremner, 1840-1906

Born in Old Deer, Scotland on March 14, 1840, David Bremner Henderson emigrated to the United States with his parents, who settled in Winnebago County, Illinois, in 1846. They moved to Fayette County, Iowa. The family lived in what became known as Henderson Prairie a few miles west of Postville. In 1849 he attended the common schools and then Upper Iowa University at Fayette.

Henderson was a leader in organizing a company of students at the beginning of the Civil War. They enlisted in the Union Army September 15, 1861, as Company C, Twelfth Regiment, Iowa Volunteer Infantry. Henderson was elected and commissioned first lieutenant of that company and served with it until discharged, owing to the loss of a foot, on February 26, 1863. Using personal and political friendships, he was appointed commissioner of the board of enrollment of the third district of Iowa from May 1863 to June 1864. In June 1864 he re-enlisted in the Army as a Colonel of the Forty-sixth Regiment, Iowa Volunteer Infantry, and served until the close of the war. His regiment served near Memphis, Tennessee mostly doing guard duty along the Memphis and Charleston Railroad. As a member of Congress, Henderson succeeded in getting the Shiloh battlefield designated a national park.

Henderson studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1865. He served as the collector of internal revenue for the third district of Iowa from November 1865 to June 1869 when joined the law firm of Shiras, Van Duzee, and Bissell upon the death of Attorney General Bissell. Henderson served as the assistant United States district attorney for the northern district of Iowa between 1871-1872 but gave it up due to the growing size of his legal practice.

Henderson became involved in politics at about the same time. In 1880 he was delegate-at-large to the Republican national convention, chairman of the Iowa delegation, and leader of the Blaine supporters. He was chosen secretary of the national Republican congressional committee in 1882 and was nominated the same year for Congress.

Henderson was elected as a Republican to the Forty-eighth and to the nine succeeding Congresses (March 4, 1883-March 3, 1903). His closest election came in 1890 during a Democratic landslide. The Dubuque Daily Herald stated that he personally wrote notes to 300 or 400 fellow Republicans in his own city asking that they not desert him and to attend a meeting to discuss issues. He was re-elected by only 198 votes.

Henderson served as chairman, Committee on Militia (Fifty-first Congress), Committee on the Judiciary (Fifty-fourth and Fifty-fifth Congresses), and Committee on Rules (Fifty-sixth and Fifty-seventh Congresses). He was seen as Speaker of the House Thomas B. Reed's right-hand man. Henderson was a supporter of high protective tariffs; liberal pensions for Civil War veterans, widows and orphans; rural mail delivery; and laws to prevent the growth of monopolies. In 1891 he was appointed to a committee to raise $150,000 for the erection of a statue in Washington to honor General William Tecumseh Sherman.

By 1899 Speaker of the House Thomas B. Reed had become increasingly unpopular. Seen as domineering with anti-imperialist beliefs, Reed's views were anathema to many in the expansion-minded nation. When Reed resigned his seat and returned to his New York law practice, Henderson quickly moved to take the position and became the first person from states west of the Mississippi River to achieve the powerful position of Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (Fifty-sixth and Fifty-seventh Congresses).

On July 1, 1902 Speaker Henderson addressed the colleagues declaring that "no House of Representatives since the adoption of the Constitution had done so much work as this one." He was alluding to the passage of the bill providing $170 million to acquire land and begin construction of the Panama Canal. The congress had also passed the Newlands Reclamation Act which set aside revenue from the sale of western lands into a national fund for the construction of dams and irrigation projects. Congress had also appropriated more than half a million dollars for renovations to the White House. So taken were the members of the House that they stood cheering wildly and applauding before singing 'My County, Tis to Thee." They were joined by the correspondents in the press gallery who then then joined by all the spectators for the singing of the "Star-Spangled Banner." The jubilation ended with General Charles Hooker of Mississippi, a Confederate veteran, standing beside the Speaker as they both sang 'Dixie.'

Henderson's sudden withdrawal from the congressional race in 1902 was due to both local and national political pressures. After President McKinley's assassination, Theodore Roosevelt became president in 1901. Henderson began to be considered a conservative roadblock in an era of progressive reform. He was left off a tariff conference in Washington and resented several Waterloo progressives who attacked him for his protectionist views on tariffs.

Henderson retired from Congress to practice law in New York City. Poor health including "paresis," a progressive degeneration of the brain and pain from his leg surgery led to his return to Dubuque. He suffered a complete mental breakdown before his death on February 25, 1906 in the city he had long called home.