{{Short description|Politician}} {{for|the narrative designer|Alex McDowell}} {{Use mdy dates|date=December 2020}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Alexander McDowell | image = Alexander McDowell.jpg | birth_date = {{Birth date|1845|03|04}} | birth_place = Franklin, Pennsylvania | death_date = {{Death date and age|1913|09|30|1845|03|04}} | death_place = Sharon, Pennsylvania | state = Pennsylvania | district = at-large | term_start = March 4, 1893 | term_end = March 3, 1895 | predecessor = ''District established'' | successor = George F. Huff | signature = Signature of Alexander McDowell.png }}
'''Alexander McDowell''' (March 4, 1845 – September 30, 1913) was a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania.<ref>"[https://bioguide.congress.gov/search/bio/M000417 McDowell, Alexander]," in ''Biographical Directory of the United States Congress'' (M000417). Washington, D.C.: Offices of the Historians of the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate, retrieved online February 14, 2008.</ref><ref>"[https://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/mcdowell.html McDowell, Alexander]." Ann Arbor, Michigan: ''The Political Graveyard'', retrieved online February 14, 2008.</ref>
==Biography== Alexander McDowell was born in Franklin, Pennsylvania.<ref name=Cyclopaedia>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3zYOAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA378 |title=The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography |volume=XV |publisher=James T. White & Company |page=380 |year=1916 |access-date=2020-12-25 |via=Google Books}}</ref> He attended the common schools and learned the printing trade. He studied law but never practiced.<ref>"McDowell, Alexander," in ''Biographical Directory of the United States Congress''.</ref><ref>"McDowell, Alexander," ''The Political Graveyard''.</ref>
During the American Civil War, he served in the Union Army in the One Hundred and Twenty-first Regiment of Pennsylvania Volunteers. He was mustered out at the close of the war as brevet major.<ref>"McDowell, Alexander," in ''Biographical Directory of the United States Congress''.</ref>
He served as editor and publisher of the ''Venango Citizen'' until 1870, when he moved to Sharon and engaged in banking. He served as treasurer and director of the School Board of Sharon from 1880 to 1913, and as treasurer of the borough of Sharon from 1880 to 1909.<ref>"McDowell, Alexander," in ''Biographical Directory of the United States Congress''.</ref>
McDowell was elected as a Republican to the Fifty-third Congress. He was not a candidate for renomination in 1894. He was elected Clerk of the House of Representatives on March 4, 1895, and served in that capacity until March 3, 1911. He was a delegate to the Republican National Conventions in 1900, 1904, and 1908.<ref>"McDowell, Alexander," in ''Biographical Directory of the United States Congress''.</ref><ref>"McDowell, Alexander," ''The Political Graveyard''.</ref>
He resumed banking interests, and died in Sharon, Pennsylvania on September 30, 1913.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/66031292/mayor-mdowell-dies/ |title=Mayor M'Dowell Dies |newspaper=Star-Gazette |page=11 |date=1913-09-30 |access-date=2020-12-25 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> He was interred in the Oakwood Cemetery in Sharon.<ref>"McDowell, Alexander," in ''Biographical Directory of the United States Congress''.</ref><ref>"McDowell, Alexander," ''The Political Graveyard''.</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *{{commons category-inline}}
{{s-start}} {{s-par|us-hs}} {{US House succession box | state=Pennsylvania | district=AL | before=At-large: None | after=At-large: <br/> Galusha A. Grow <br/> George F. Huff | years=1893–1895 alongside:<br/> William Lilly (1893) and Galusha A. Grow (1894-1895) }} {{s-gov}} {{Succession box | title=Clerk of the United States House of Representatives | before=James Kerr | after=South Trimble | years= March 4, 1895 – March 3, 1911 }} {{s-end}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:McDowell, Alexander}} Category:1845 births Category:1913 deaths Category:Clerks of the United States House of Representatives Category:Editors of Pennsylvania newspapers Category:School board members in Pennsylvania Category:Union army soldiers Category:People from Franklin, Pennsylvania Category:Politicians from Venango County, Pennsylvania Category:People from Sharon, Pennsylvania Category:Politicians from Mercer County, Pennsylvania Category:Republican Party United States representatives from Pennsylvania Category:19th-century American newspaper publishers (people) Category:19th-century United States representatives