| Date Span: | 1862-1916 |
| Creator: | Allison, William B. (1829-1908) |
| Extent: | 3.50 linear feet. |
| Collection Number: | MSC0173 |
| Repository: | University of Iowa Special Collections |
| Summary: | U.S. Senator and Representative from Iowa. Primarily correspondence from his years in the House and Senate. Spanning a half century the topics range from Indian affairs to Oklahoma statehood, banking to the Panama Canal, and Republican Party politics to railroads. |
William Boyd Allison was born in Perry, Ohio, on March 2, 1829. He attended Allegheny College in Meadville, Pennsylvania, and in 1849, graduated from Western Reserve College of Hudson, Ohio (now in Cleveland). After studying law, he was admitted to the bar in 1852, and began his legal career in Ashland, Ohio. Allison moved to Dubuque, Iowa, in 1857 where he established a law practice. During the Civil War, Allison served as a lieutenant colonel in the Union army. He was elected as a Republican to four successive terms (1863-1871) in the US House of Representatives where he was chairman of Expenditures in the Department of the Treasury. An unsuccessful candidate for the US Senate in 1870, he returned to Dubuque and his law practice. Two years later he again ran for the Senate, this time winning. Allison remained in the Senate until his death in 1908. During that time he served on the Appropriations Committee and the Committee on Engrossed Bills, and was chairman of both the Committee on Indian Affairs and the Republican Caucus.
Access: This collection is open for research.
Use: Copyright restrictions may apply; please consult Special Collections staff for further information.
Acquisition: The papers of William B. Allison were the gift of Margaret Lacy Zimansky in 1968.
Preferred Citation: William B. Allison Papers, The University of Iowa Libraries, Iowa City, Iowa.
| Repository: | University of Iowa Special Collections |
| Address: | Special Collections Department University of Iowa Libraries Iowa City, IA 52242 |
| Phone: | 319-335-5921 |
| Curator: | Greg Prickman |
| Email: | lib-spec@uiowa.edu |
| Website: | http://www.lib.uiowa.edu/spec-coll/ |
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