Benjamin Pixley Birdsall (October 26, 1858 – May 26, 1917) was a three-term Republican U.S. Representative

United States House of Representatives

The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...

 from Iowa's 3rd congressional district

Iowa's 3rd congressional district

Iowa's 3rd congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Iowa that currently covers an area from Des Moines to the western outskirts of the Cedar Falls-Waterloo Metropolitan Area to the western outskirts of the Cedar Rapids area and to Lucas and Monroe counties .The...

 during the first decade of the 20th century.

Born in Weyauwega, Wisconsin

Weyauwega, Wisconsin

Weyauwega is a city in Waupaca County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 1,806 at the 2000 census. The city is located mostly within the Town of Weyauwega, though it is politically independent. Small portions extend north into the adjacent Town of Royalton...

, Birdsall attended the common schools of Iowa and the University of Iowa, Iowa City

Iowa City, Iowa

Iowa City is a city in Johnson County, State of Iowa. As of the 2010 Census, the city had a total population of about 67,862, making it the sixth-largest city in the state. Iowa City is the county seat of Johnson County and home to the University of Iowa...

. He studied law, was admitted to the bar

Admission to the bar in the United States

In the United States, admission to the bar is the granting of permission by a particular court system to a lawyer to practice law in that system. Each U.S. state and similar jurisdiction has its own court system and sets its own rules for bar admission , which can lead to different admission...

 in 1878 and practiced in Clarion, Iowa

Clarion, Iowa

Clarion is a city in and the county seat of Wright County, Iowa, United States. The population was 2,968 at the 2000 census.Clarion is the birthplace of the four-leaf clover emblem used by the 4-H Clubs of America, conceived of in 1907 by the local school superintendent, O.H...

. He served as district judge of the eleventh judicial district of Iowa from January 1893 to October 1900.

In 1902, Birdsall was elected as a Republican

Republican Party (United States)

The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

 to the Fifty-eighth

58th United States Congress

- House of Representatives :* Republican : 209 * Democratic : 176* Silver Republican : 1TOTAL members: 386-Senate:* President: Vacant* President pro tempore: William P. Frye -Members:...

 Congress, after the incumbent, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives

Speaker of the United States House of Representatives

The Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, or Speaker of the House, is the presiding officer of the United States House of Representatives...

 David B. Henderson

David B. Henderson

David Bremner Henderson , a ten-term Republican Congressman from Dubuque, Iowa, was the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1899 to 1903...

 chose not to run for re-election. Birdsall defeated former Iowa Governor Horace Boies

Horace Boies

Horace Boies served as the 14th Governor of Iowa from 1890 to 1894 as a member of the United States Democratic Party. Boies was the only Democrat to serve in that position from 1855-1933.- Life before Iowa :...

 in that race. He was re-elected twice, serving in the Fifty-ninth

59th United States Congress

The Fifty-ninth United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from March 4, 1905 to March 4, 1907, during the fifth and sixth...

, and Sixtieth

60th United States Congress

The Sixtieth United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from March 4, 1907 to March 4, 1909, during the last two years of...

 Congresses.

In 1908, he filed for re-election a third time, but fellow Republicans Burton E. Sweet

Burton E. Sweet

Burton Erwin Sweet was a four-term Republican U.S. Representative from Iowa's 3rd congressional district, then a wide but short chain of counties in north-central and northeastern Iowa, in the shape of a monkey wrench....

 and Charles E. Pickett

Charles E. Pickett

Charles Edgar Pickett was a two-term Republican U.S. Representative from Iowa's 3rd congressional district.-Early years:...

also sought the Republican nomination. In February 1908 Birdsall pulled out of the race, explaining that he wished to return to the practice of law. In all he served in Congress from March 4, 1903 to March 3, 1909. He resumed the practice of law in Clarion, where he died on May 26, 1917. He was interred in Evergreen Cemetery.