Martin Joseph Wade was a one-term Democratic 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 2nd congressional district

Iowa's 2nd congressional district

Iowa's 2nd congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Iowa that generally covers most of the southeastern part of the state including Iowa City and Cedar Rapids.The district is currently represented by Democrat Dave Loebsack....

, and a U.S. District Court judge.

Background

Born in Burlington, Vermont

Burlington, Vermont

Burlington is the largest city in the U.S. state of Vermont and the shire town of Chittenden County. Burlington lies south of the U.S.-Canadian border and some south of Montreal....

, Wade moved to Iowa with his parents at an early age, eventually settling on a farm in Butler County, Iowa

Butler County, Iowa

-2010 census:The 2010 census recorded a population of 14,867 in the county, with a population density of . There were 6,682 housing units, of which 6,120 were occupied.-2000 census:...

.
He attended the common schools and St. Joseph's College (later Columbia University), in Dubuque, Iowa

Dubuque, Iowa

Dubuque is a city in and the county seat of Dubuque County, Iowa, United States, located along the Mississippi River. In 2010 its population was 57,637, making it the ninth-largest city in the state and the county's population was 93,653....

.
He graduated from the University of Iowa College of Law

University of Iowa College of Law

The University of Iowa College of Law is one of the eleven professional graduate schools at the University of Iowa, located in Iowa City, Iowa. Founded in 1865, it is the oldest law school in continuous operation west of the Mississippi River. The law school was ranked as the 27th best law school...

 in 1886.
He 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...

 the same year and practiced in Iowa City from 1886 to 1893.
He served as judge of the eighth judicial district of Iowa from 1893 to 1903.
He was a lecturer at University of Iowa College of Law from 1891 to 1903 and a professor of medical jurisprudence from 1895 to 1903.
He served as president of the Iowa State Bar Association in 1897 and 1898.

Congress

In 1902, while continuing to serve as a state-court judge, Wade was elected as a Democrat

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...

 to U.S. House seat for Iowa's 2nd congressional district. The incumbent congressman, John N. W. Rumple

John N. W. Rumple

John Nicholas William Rumple was a one-term Republican U.S. Representative from Iowa's 2nd congressional district....

, did not seek re-election for health reasons, and Wade defeated Republican attorney W.H. Hoffman. As Wade would write in autobiographical information submitted to Congress following his election, he had refused to make any campaign speeches during the race because he considered it an improper thing for a judge to do. He was a member of 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, serving from March 4, 1903 to March 3, 1905.

He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1904 to 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...

 Congress. He was swept out of office as part of a Republican landslide, losing to Republican Albert F. Dawson

Albert F. Dawson

Albert Foster Dawson was a three-term Republican U.S. Representative from Iowa's 2nd congressional district....

 in the general election.

He resumed the practice of his profession in Iowa City from 1905 to 1915. He served as delegate to the Democratic National Conventions in 1904 and 1912. Wade's congressional staffer, Irvin S. Pepper

Irvin S. Pepper

Irvin St. Clair Pepper was a Democratic U.S. Representative from Iowa's 2nd congressional district. Pepper died at age 37, in the middle of his second term in Congress....

, was elected to Wade's former seat in 1910, following Dawson's retirement.

Federal bench

Wade was appointed judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Iowa

United States District Court for the Southern District of Iowa

The United States District Court for the Southern District of Iowa has jurisdiction over forty-seven of Iowa's ninety-nine counties. It is subject to the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals The United States District Court for the Southern District of Iowa (in case citations, S.D. Iowa) has...

 in 1915. He was nominated by President Woodrow Wilson

Woodrow Wilson

Thomas Woodrow Wilson was the 28th President of the United States, from 1913 to 1921. A leader of the Progressive Movement, he served as President of Princeton University from 1902 to 1910, and then as the Governor of New Jersey from 1911 to 1913...

 on February 26, 1915, to a seat vacated by another former Iowa congressman, Smith McPherson

Smith McPherson

Smith McPherson was a Republican U.S. Representative from Iowa's now-obsolete 9th congressional district for one year, and a federal district court judge for over fourteen years....

. He was confirmed by the United States Senate

United States Senate

The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...

 on March 3, 1915, and received commission the same day. He presided over the Davenport sedition trials in 1917 and 1918, and sentenced Daniel Wallace to 20 years in prison for making a speech opposing the draft and critical of the United States' allies.

Wade served on the bench until his death on April 16, 1931, in Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...

, while on a visit in that State.
He was interred in St. Joseph's Cemetery in Iowa City.