Frank O. Lowden

of the First Regiment Infantry of the Illinois National Guard 1898–1903 Lowden was born in Sunrise Township, Minnesota, the son of Nancy Elizabeth (Breg) and Lorenzo Orren Lowden, a blacksmith. He lived in Iowa from the age of seven, on the farm in Hardin County, Iowa, in poverty. It's claimed by Lowden's family that in 1861 his father, Lorenzo, answered one of the first call by the Governor Richard Yates Sr. to get volunteers in the American Civil War and was appointed a major in the Eighty-fourth Minnesota Infantry, but was unable to serve due to varicose veins. There is no contemporary evidence supporting this account, and the existence of such a unit is unverified. Lorenzo Lowden, almost annually during the 1870’s sought some local offices, losing all races, with expection of for the post of clerk of Tipton Township. Frank attended school when chores on the family farm allowed. At age fifteen he began to teach in a one room school house in Hubbard, Iowa. After he became promiment politician, he called him younger self “the plainest of plain folks you ever saw.” After teaching five years, he entered the University of Iowa at twenty, graduating in 1885. He aspired to be a lawyer, but taught high school for a year while learning stenography. That skill got him a job in 1886 at the Dexter law firm in Chicago, and he took evening courses at the Union College of Law, completing the two year curriculum in one year, finishing as valedictorian in 1887. He was admitted to the bar the same year and practiced law in Chicago for about 20 years. His wife, Florence, was the daughter of George Pullman and namesake of the Hotel Florence. In 1898, he enlisted in the Illinois National Guard, rising to the rank of lieutenant colonel of the First Regiment Infantry by 1903. In 1899, he was professor of law at Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois. ==Political career==

1906–1911 Entry into politics In 1900, Lowden declined the first assistant postmaster-generalship, offered him by President McKinley, whom he had supported. He was a delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1900 and 1904, and from 1904 to 1912 was a member of the Republican National Committee. He was also a member of the executive committee in 1904 and 1908. Lowden was elected a U.S. Representative from Illinois in 1906 to fill the unexpired term of Robert R. Hitt, deceased. He was re-elected for succeeding terms until 1911, when he declined to run for another term. 1920 presidential election and aftermath '' cover, October 15, 1923 He was a leading candidate for the Republican nomination for president in 1920. His campaign was embarrassed by reports of profligate spending. His Missouri campaign manager gave out $32,000 to promote his campaign, including $2,500 (a laborer's annual wage) to at least two convention delegates. Delegates at the Republican convention deadlocked over several ballots between Lowden and General Leonard Wood, resulting in party leaders meeting privately to determine a compromise candidate. Their choice, Warren G. Harding, went on to win the nomination. In the 1924 election, he declined the Republican nomination for vice president. In 1928, he again positioned himself to run for the party's nomination, but he was never much more than a minor threat to front runner Herbert Hoover, who went on to win the presidential nomination and the election. ==Railroad career==

In 1933, Lowden was appointed to be one of three receivers for the bankrupt Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad. He served in this capacity with co-receivers Joseph B. Fleming and James E. Gorman (the latter had been president of the railroad since 1917) until his death in 1943 in Tucson, Arizona. His remains are buried in Graceland Cemetery, Chicago. ==Legacy==

The following are named after Lowden: Camp Lowden Boy Scout Camp, Lowden State Park and Lowden-Miller State Forest, all near his estate outside Oregon, Illinois; the Frank O. Lowden Homes in Chicago; and two Lowden Halls, located on the campus of the Northwestern University School of Law in Chicago and Northern Illinois University in DeKalb. A plaque dedicated to Lowden can be found in Lowden State Park, in front of a flagpole not far from Illinois Route 56. It was erected by the Holstein-Friesian Association of America, for which he served as president from 1921 until 1930. ==Notes==