Harry E. Hull

Harry Edward Hull (March 12, 1864 – January 16, 1938) was an American businessman and politician who served five terms as a Republican U.S. Representative from Iowa's 2nd congressional district from 1915 to 1925. He also served as Commissioner General of Immigration in the Coolidge and Hoover administrations.

Harry E. Hull
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Iowa's 2nd district
In office
March 4, 1915 – March 3, 1925
Preceded byHenry Vollmer
Succeeded byF. Dickinson Letts
Personal details
Born
Harry Edward Hull

(1864-03-13)March 13, 1864
Belvidere, New York, U.S.
DiedJanuary 16, 1938(1938-01-16) (aged 73)
Washington, D.C.
Political partyRepublican
SpouseMary Louise Harris Hull
ChildrenHarris B. Hull

Biography

Born near Belvidere, New York, Hull moved with his parents to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, in 1873. He attended the grammar and high schools. He was employed as a clerk and bookkeeper for a grain company. He moved to Palo, Iowa, in 1883, and to Williamsburg, Iowa, in 1884 and engaged in the grain business. He also engaged in the manufacture of brick and tile.

He was president of the Williamsburg Telephone Co.. He served as one of Williamsburg's aldermen from 1887 to 1889, as its mayor from 1889 to 1901, and as its postmaster from 1901 to 1914.[1] He also served as president of the Williamsburg Fair Association from 1900 to 1915.

He also had a son, Harris B. Hull, who was a high-ranking American military officer.[2]

Congress

In 1914, Hull was elected as a Republican to represent Iowa's 2nd congressional district in the U.S. House, defeating Democrat W.J. McDonald.[3] He served in the Sixty-fourth Congress and in the four succeeding Congresses. He was one of only fifty representatives who voted against the resolution authorizing the United States' entry into World War I,[4] and one of the few of those fifty to stave off challengers in the wartime primary and general elections in 1918.[5]

In May 1917, during Hull's second term, his wife, Mary Louise Harris Hull, died when she mistook poison tablets for a headache remedy.[6]

In 1924, Hull opposed Henry Ford's proposal to operate fertilizer plants and a hydroelectric dam on the Tennessee River near Muscle Shoals, Alabama. Hull argued against the project over concerns about private business interests controlling important public resources. Ford later cancelled his plans for the project.[7]

When seeking renomination in 1924, he was defeated in the Republican primary by Judge F. Dickinson Letts.[8] In all, he served from March 4, 1915, to March 3, 1925.

Federal agency position

On May 15, 1925, he was appointed by President Calvin Coolidge as commissioner general of immigration[9] and served in that position until 1933, when he retired.

Retirement and death

He continued to reside in Washington, D.C., until his death there on January 16, 1938. He was interred in Oak Hill Cemetery in Williamsburg.

References
  1. "Harry E. Hull dies, ex-legislator, 73, Iowa congressman". The New York Times. January 17, 1938.
  2. "Harry E. Hull dies, ex-legislator, 73, Iowa congressman". The New York Times. January 17, 1938.
  3. "Second is Republican," Cedar Rapids Evening Gazette, November 4, 1914 at p. 6.
  4. "House Votes for War," Iowa City Citizen, April 6, 1917, at p.1.
  5. "Election Returns are Mixed - Missouri seems Republican - Clark is probably defeated," Iowa City Citizen, November 6, 1918, at p.5.
  6. "Mrs. Harry Hull to be Buried in Williamsburg," Iowa City Citizen, May 23, 1917, at p.6.
  7. "Congressman Hull assails Ford's bid on Muscle Shoals". The New York Times. April 18, 1924.
  8. "Brookhart has 30,000 Majority,' Oelwein Daily Register, June 4, 1924, at p. 1.
  9. "Mr. Coolidge's Week", Time, May 25, 1925.

Public Domain This article incorporates public domain material from the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.

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