Isaac S. Struble
Encyclopedia
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...
Representative of Iowa's 11th congressional district
Iowa's 11th congressional district
Iowa's 11th congressional district existed from 1883 to 1933, when Iowa sent eleven congressmen to the United States House of Representatives. The district covered northwestern Iowa.-Makeup:...
. Serving from 1883 to 1891, the Plymouth County
Plymouth County, Iowa
Plymouth County is a county located in the U.S. state of Iowa. The population was 24,986 in the 2010 census, an increase from 24,849 in the 2000 census. The county seat is Le Mars...
resident was a noted congressional opponent of plural marriage
Plural marriage
Polygamy was taught by leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for more than half of the 19th century, and practiced publicly from 1852 to 1890.The Church's practice of polygamy has been highly controversial, both within...
in Utah
Utah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
.
The member of a politically-active family, Isaac's six brothers included John T. Struble
John T. Struble
John T. Struble was a builder and farmer during the formative years of the state of Iowa. He was an older brother of two prominent Iowa politicians: Congressman Isaac S. Struble and Speaker of the Iowa House of Representatives George R...
of Iowa, and George R. Struble
George R. Struble
George Rix Struble . Iowa judge and politician of Toledo, Iowa. Speaker of the Iowa House of Representatives, 1881-1883. An ardent prohibitionist. A prominent attorney in Iowa, once described as “the pride of the Bar in this community and the admiration of the Court.” One of 12 siblings...
, former speaker of the Iowa House of Representatives
Iowa House of Representatives
The Iowa House of Representatives is the lower house of the Iowa General Assembly. There are 100 members of the House of Representatives, representing 100 single-member districts across the state with populations of approximately 29,750 for each constituency...
. He was the granduncle of Bob Struble
Bob Struble
Robert Struble was a political figure and social welfare reformer in Washington from the post-World War II years until his death in Seattle on July 26, 1967.He was a U.S...
, Sr. and great-granduncle of Bob Struble, Jr.
Early life
Isaac Struble of Le Mars, Iowa, was born near Fredericksburg, VirginiaFredericksburg, Virginia
Fredericksburg is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia located south of Washington, D.C., and north of Richmond. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 24,286...
. His great-grandfather, Dietrich Struble of Albig
Albig
Albig is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in Rhenish Hesse in the Alzey-Worms district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.- Location :...
bei Alzey
Alzey
Alzey is a Verband-free town – one belonging to no Verbandsgemeinde – in the Alzey-Worms district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is the fourth-largest town in Rhenish Hesse, after Mainz, Worms, and Bingen....
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, had sailed to Philadelphia in 1748, settling outside German Valley, New Jersey
Long Valley, New Jersey
Long Valley is an unincorporated area located within Washington Township, in Morris County, New Jersey. Known as German Valley since its foundation during the colonial era, the community was renamed in response to anti-German sentiment during World War I...
(since renamed Long Valley). As a boy, Isaac migrated to Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
and finally to Iowa
Iowa
Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...
, where the family settled on a farm near 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 was educated in the public schools of Ohio and Iowa.
Struble fought in the Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
. In August 1862, Struble (then 18) enlisted in Company F of the 22nd Iowa Volunteer Infantry Regiment
22nd Iowa Volunteer Infantry Regiment
The 22nd Regiment Iowa Volunteer Infantry was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War.-Service:The 22nd Iowa Infantry was organized at Iowa City, Iowa and mustered in for three years of Federal service on September 9, 1862.The regiment was the only Union...
, marching in the ranks of the Union Army
Union Army
The Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...
as a private. When he first donned the uniform of the Union, Isaac stood 5’8” with brown eyes and reddish hair. After he was wounded in the Battle of Cedar Creek
Battle of Cedar Creek
The Battle of Cedar Creek, or Battle of Belle Grove, October 19, 1864, was one of the final, and most decisive, battles in the Valley Campaigns of 1864 during the American Civil War. The final Confederate invasion of the North, led by Lt. Gen. Jubal A. Early, was effectively ended...
in Virginia on October 19, 1864, he was promoted to the rank of sergeant. He was mustered out of the service on July 25, 1865. In addition to Cedar Creek, his combat experience included the Battle of Port Gibson
Battle of Port Gibson
The Battle of Port Gibson was fought near Port Gibson, Mississippi, on May 1, 1863, between Union and Confederate forces during the Vicksburg Campaign of the American Civil War. The Union Army was led by Maj. Gen. Ulysses S...
, the Siege of Vicksburg, and the Battle of Opequon
Battle of Opequon
The Battle of Opequon, more commonly known as the Third Battle of Winchester, was fought in Winchester, Virginia, on September 19, 1864, during the Valley Campaigns of 1864 in the American Civil War....
(otherwise known as the Third Battle of Winchester).
Post-bellum
In 1866, more than a year after the Civil War, Struble went to St. Louis, MissouriSt. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
, where he remained about a year as bookkeeper in the wholesale house of J.H. Teasdale & Co., where his uncle was the senior partner. He then moved to Iowa where he attended law school. After admission to the bar he became a practicing attorney in Polo, Illinois
Polo, Illinois
Polo is a city in Ogle County, Illinois. The population was 2,355 at the 2010 census, down from 2,477 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Polo is located at ....
in 1870. In 1872, Struble moved to Le Mars, Iowa
Le Mars, Iowa
Le Mars is a city in and the county seat of Plymouth County, Iowa, United States. The population was 9,237 at the 2000 census. Le Mars is the home of Wells' Dairy, the world's largest producer of ice cream novelties in one location and is the self-proclaimed "Ice Cream Capital of the World". Wells...
. Le Mars, in Plymouth County, was then a three-year-old town with a total of some 50 houses. There he and an older brother, James Hammie Struble, set up their law office on Main Street. For the next ten years he applied himself to private legal practice in Le Mars, holding no public office until 1882.
He married Adelaide E. Stone on June 3, 1874.
Congressional career
Iowa General Assembly
The Iowa General Assembly is the legislative branch of the state government of Iowa. Like the federal United States Congress, the General Assembly is a bicameral body, composed of the upper house Iowa Senate and the lower Iowa House of Representatives respectively...
(where George R. Struble was midway through his term as speaker of the House of Representatives) to reapportion the state's nine-district map into an eleven-district map. Plymouth County and much of northwestern Iowa was included in a new Eleventh District. In 1882, Isaac Struble won the Republican nomination to become the Eleventh District's first representative, then won the general election, becoming a member of the Forty-eighth United States Congress. Struble entered the U.S. House as a member of a freshman class so large that it made up a majority of the House membership, something that has never recurred.
During the three subsequent elections (in 1884, 1886, and 1888), Struble won the Republican renomination by acclamation in district nomination conventions then defeated Democratic Party
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
and Greenback Party candidates in the general election. Struble was, according to the New York Times,
"exceptionally popular" at the end of his third term.
But in 1890, after 43 ballots, the GOP nominating convention gave its nod to the newspaper editor and former state senator, George D. Perkins
George D. Perkins
George Douglas Perkins was a longtime newspaper editor, Republican U.S. Representative from Iowa's 11th congressional district in northwestern Iowa, and unsuccessful candidate for his party's nomination as Governor of Iowa....
of Sioux City, who held the seat from 1891 to 1899. In all, Struble served in Congress from March 4, 1883 to March 3, 1891.
Struble’s support in Congress for the McKinley Tariff
McKinley Tariff
The Tariff Act of 1890, commonly called the McKinley Tariff, was an act framed by Representative William McKinley that became law on October 1, 1890. The tariff raised the average duty on imports to almost fifty percent, an act designed to protect domestic industries from foreign competition...
bill in 1890 had been unpopular with farmers in Iowa, who foresaw that a trade war would hurt agricultural exports. The tariff was also a factor in the subsequent economic depression of 1893-97. The tariff’s widespread unpopularity at the time of its passage resulted in a Democratic landslide so sweeping nationally that the election of 1890 dropped the Republicans from their majority of 51% in the House down to a minority of only 27% of the House membership.
During his four terms (1883–1891), Congressman Struble enjoyed considerable popularity in his district among rank-and-file citizens, and a small town founded at the time was given the name “Struble”
Struble, Iowa
Struble is a city in Plymouth County, Iowa, United States, along the West Branch of the Floyd River. The population was 85 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Struble is located in Elgin Township, some seven miles north of LeMars, at ....
in his honor.
Another measure of Struble's popularity as a representative in Congress was the impressive reception he received in his hometown of LeMars when, in March 1891, he made his final return to Iowa from the halls of Congress. Upon arriving by train, he was greeted by a large crowd, and regaled by the local Striker's Band. A stage had been prepared, and after welcoming words from the mayor and local dignitaries, Struble delivered his farewell address.
As reprinted in the LeMars Sentinel Struble’s speech outlined the blessings and burdens of being a member of the House of Representatives contemporaneous with the likes of House Speaker Thomas Brackett Reed
Thomas Brackett Reed
Thomas Brackett Reed, , occasionally ridiculed as Czar Reed, was a U.S. Representative from Maine, and Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1889–1891 and from 1895–1899...
, future speaker Joe Cannon
Joseph Gurney Cannon
Joseph Gurney Cannon was a United States politician from Illinois and leader of the Republican Party. Cannon served as Speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1903 to 1911, and historians generally consider him to be the most dominant Speaker in United States history, with such...
and future president William McKinley
William McKinley
William McKinley, Jr. was the 25th President of the United States . He is best known for winning fiercely fought elections, while supporting the gold standard and high tariffs; he succeeded in forging a Republican coalition that for the most part dominated national politics until the 1930s...
. He offered remarks about such subjects as the proper limits of partisan politics, political patronage, and the heavy load of constituent services and committee work already demanded of a Congressman at that time. His reflections offer a useful study on the “ombudsman” role as it operated a dozen decades ago, a task so time consuming in the 21st century that several staffers per Congressman work full time on constituent services.
On his career in Congress the Congressional Record provides further information, including his votes and the text of his floor speeches. The History of Woodbury and Plymouth Counties published in the early 1890s indicates that, from the standpoint of his peers in Congress, Struble "was always considered a strong member." As a former soldier, Congressman Struble devoted much time to the interests of his constituents in the armed services, including veterans. He knew how to secure lucrative projects for his district, such as the Sioux City public building bill (1890). It was in the United States House Committee on Territories
United States House Committee on Territories
The United States House Committee on Territories was a committee of the United States House of Representatives from 1825 to 1946 . Its jurisdiction was reporting on a variety to topics related to the territories, including legislation concerning them, and their admission as new states....
, however, that Struble figured most prominently.
Struble chaired this standing committee during his fourth term. His influence in the Committee on the Territories played a significant role in the admission into the union of six western states – Idaho
Idaho
Idaho is a state in the Rocky Mountain area of the United States. The state's largest city and capital is Boise. Residents are called "Idahoans". Idaho was admitted to the Union on July 3, 1890, as the 43rd state....
, Montana
Montana
Montana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...
, Washington, Wyoming
Wyoming
Wyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High...
and the two Dakotas, and the organization of Oklahoma Territory
Oklahoma Territory
The Territory of Oklahoma was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from May 2, 1890, until November 16, 1907, when it was joined with the Indian Territory under a new constitution and admitted to the Union as the State of Oklahoma.-Organization:Oklahoma Territory's...
. Meanwhile, Senator Shelby Cullom of Illinois together with Congressman Struble pushed the Cullom-Struble bill, whose sanctions against bigamy included exclusion of Utah from statehood. The bill was on the verge of passing Congress in 1890, but the legislation was preempted when the LDS (Mormon
Mormon
The term Mormon most commonly denotes an adherent, practitioner, follower, or constituent of Mormonism, which is the largest branch of the Latter Day Saint movement in restorationist Christianity...
) Church formally disavowed polygamous marriages.
During their political careers, he and his brother, George R. Struble, were cultural conservatives of the 19th century sort. Both supported prohibition
Prohibition
Prohibition of alcohol, often referred to simply as prohibition, is the practice of prohibiting the manufacture, transportation, import, export, sale, and consumption of alcohol and alcoholic beverages. The term can also apply to the periods in the histories of the countries during which the...
, and Isaac was prominent in his opposition to bigamy. Their stands on these controversial issues made more than a few enemies.
After Congress
The law practice which he resumed in LeMars dealt sometimes with collections. As a lawyer, Struble acquired an enemy, William Cassmer, who became so incensed that he entered Struble's office with a whip, but Struble, then 63,, faced him down. On the following day, however, while outside on the sidewalk, Struble made the mistake, as he later admitted, of turning his back on Cassmer. Cassmer struck Struble on the back of the neck, which rendered Struble unconscious for several minutes and resulted in injuries requiring the attention of a physician.Isaac was a charter member of the First Congregational Church in Le Mars, and was also active in the Masonic fraternal order.
Struble died suddenly of a diabetic seizure in Le Mars, and is buried in the Le Mars Cemetery. He was survived by his wife and four of his five children.
