After relocating to
Crete, Nebraska, Dawes worked in the mercantile business and opened a law practice. He was a delegate to the State Constitutional Convention in 1875 and a member of
Nebraska State Senate in 1877. Dawes was a chairman of the Republican State Central Committee from 1876 to 1882. Dawes was elected
Governor of Nebraska in 1882, and was reelected to a second term in 1884. He later served as
paymaster for the United States Army, working in Cuba and the Philippines. Dawes served on the
Doane College board of trustees for thirty-seven years. ==Death==