{{short description|American congressman and diplomat (1843–1907)}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Edwin H. Conger | image = Edwin Hurd Conger, 1843-1907.jpg | office = [[United States Ambassador to Mexico]] | term_start = June 15, 1905 | term_end = August 3, 1905 | president = [[Theodore Roosevelt]] | predecessor = [[Powell Clayton]] | successor = [[David E. Thompson]] | office1 = [[United States Ambassador to China|United States Minister to China]] | term1 = July 8, 1898 – April 4, 1905 | president1 = [[William McKinley]] <br>[[Theodore Roosevelt]] | preceded1 = [[Charles Harvey Denby|Charles H. Denby]] | succeeded1 = [[William W. Rockhill]] | office2 = [[United States Minister to Brazil]] | term2 = August 9, 1897 – February 6, 1898 | president2 = [[William McKinley]] | preceded2 = [[Thomas Larkin Thompson]] | succeeded2 = [[Charles Page Bryan]] | term3 = December 19, 1890 – September 9, 1893 | president3 = [[Benjamin Harrison]] <br> [[Grover Cleveland]] | preceded3 = [[Robert Adams, Jr.]] | succeeded3 = [[Thomas Larkin Thompson]] | office4 = Member of the [[United States House of Representatives|U.S. House of Representatives]] from Iowa's [[Iowa's 7th congressional district|7th]] congressional district | term4 = March 4, 1885 – October 3, 1890 | preceded4 = [[Hiram Y. Smith]] | succeeded4 = [[Edward R. Hays]] | birth_date = {{Birth date|1843|03|07}} | birth_place = [[Knox County, Illinois]], U.S. | death_date = {{Death date and age|1907|05|18|1843|03|07}} | death_place = [[Pasadena, California]], U.S. | party = [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] | spouse = [[Sarah Pike Conger|Sarah Pike]] | children = 2 | profession = [[Politician]], [[lawyer]] | footnotes = | branch = [[Union Army]] | allegiance = | rank = [[File:US Army O4 (1861).svg|35px]] [[Major (United States)|Major]] | unit = [[102nd Illinois Infantry Regiment]] | battles = {{tree list}} * [[American Civil War|Civil War]] {{tree list/end}} | awards = }} '''Edwin Hurd Conger''' (March 7, 1843 – May 18, 1907) was an American [[American Civil War|Civil War]] soldier, lawyer, banker, Iowa congressman, and United States diplomat. As the [[United States Ambassador to China|United States' minister to China]] during the [[Boxer Rebellion]], Conger, his family, and other western diplomatic legations were under siege in [[Beijing]] until rescued by the [[China Relief Expedition]].
==Personal background and war service== Born in [[Knox County, Illinois]], Conger graduated from [[Lombard College]] in 1862. During the Civil War, he enlisted as a [[Private (rank)|private]] in Company I of the [[102nd Illinois Volunteer Infantry Regiment]]. He was promoted to [[captain (United States)|captain]] and [[Brevet (military)|brevetted]] [[Major (United States)|major]].
At the close of the war, he studied law. He graduated from [[Albany Law School]] in 1866 and was admitted to the bar, commencing practice in [[Galesburg, Illinois]]. Conger moved to [[Dexter, Iowa]], in south-central Iowa, in 1868 and engaged in banking, livestock, and [[Agriculture|agricultural]] pursuits. Conger was married to [[Sarah Pike Conger|Sarah Pike]], also from Iowa, an author, a [[Christian Scientist]], and a leader of the [[Woman's Christian Temperance Union]] who accompanied him to China, and would be later known for befriending China's [[Empress Dowager Cixi]].<ref>Thompson, Larry Clinton, ''William Scott Ament and the Boxer Rebellion.'' Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2009, 29, 218.</ref>
==Political activity== After winning two terms as treasurer of [[Dallas County, Iowa]] in 1877 and 1879, he was elected Iowa State Treasurer in 1880, and reelected in 1882.
In 1884, the incumbent Republican [[U.S. House of Representatives|U.S. Representative]] of [[Iowa's 7th congressional district]], [[John A. Kasson]], declined to seek re-election. Conger won the Republican nomination to succeed him, and the general election (although Kasson's early resignation to accept an ambassadorship, and the election of [[Hiram Y. Smith]] to serve out Kasson's term, caused Conger to succeed Smith instead). Conger was re-elected twice (in 1886 and 1888). In Congress, he served as chairman of the [[List of defunct United States congressional committees#Defunct House committees|Committee on Coinage, Weights, and Measures]] from 1889 to 1890. In 1890, he entered the race for a fourth term in Congress.[[Image:E-H-Conger-and-staff-1901.jpeg|thumb|left|200px| Conger (on left) and staff in the American legation, Beijing, circa 1901]] [[Image:9th-US-Infantry-Regt-Sacred-Gate.jpeg|thumb|left|200px|Conger and family in foreground, with 9th Infantry Regiment lined up before the [[Meridian Gate]], Forbidden City, Beijing, circa 1901]]
==Foreign service== In September 1890, less than two months before the general election, Conger resigned his Congressional seat and abandoned his re-election campaign, in order to accept appointment by President [[Benjamin Harrison]] as [[United States Ambassador to Brazil|U.S. Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Brazil]] (a post that today would be called the United States Ambassador). He served until September 1893, when he was replaced by an appointee of incoming Democratic president [[Grover Cleveland]]. He returned to that position in 1897 following the election of the next Republican president, [[William McKinley]], serving from August 9, 1897, to February 6, 1898.
In 1898, President McKinley appointed Conger as [[United States Ambassador to China|Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to China]], where he served as the United States' ambassador to the [[Great Qing Empire|Qing Empire]] to handle foreign affairs with China as well as governing the de jure [[American concession of Tianjin]]. McKinley had initially nominated [[Charles Page Bryan]] for the China post, but when Bryan's lack of relevant experience prompted objections in Congress, McKinley chose Conger for China and nominated Bryan for Conger's former position in Brazil.<ref>"[https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1898/01/13/102522776.pdf Federal Offices Filled]," New York Times, 1898-01-13 at p. 3.</ref> Conger's arrival in July 1898 coincided with the emergence of a violent anti-foreign, anti-Christian movement, the Society of Righteous and Harmonious Fists in China (known as "Boxers" in English). In June 1900, Boxer fighters gathered in Beijing to besiege the foreign embassies, in what became known outside of China as the [[Boxer Rebellion]].
Sensationalist American newspapers initially reported, in screaming headlines, that Conger was "undoubtedly dead," together with his staff consisting of [[Herbert G. Squiers|H. G. Squires]], William E. Bainbridge and [[Fleming D. Cheshire]] as well as all other foreigners in Beijing.<ref>{{cite web|title=Americans in Peking Massacred - Minister Conger Among the Slain|url=http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030193/1900-06-21/ed-1/seq-1/|publisher=The New York Evening World|access-date=2010-07-09|pages=1}}</ref> Americans and other westerners retreated to the [[Beijing Legation Quarter]], where they were under siege for fifty-five days (see. [[Siege of the International Legations]]) until the [[Eight-Nation Alliance]] brought 20,000 troops to their rescue. After receiving a hero's welcome on return to the United States in 1901,<ref>"[https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1901/05/02/101072300.pdf Mr. Conger in Iowa]," New York Times, 1901-05-02 at p. 9.</ref> Conger resumed his duties in China for several more years, serving until 1905. His wife became a friend of [[Empress Dowager Cixi|Cixi]], the Empress Dowager, and an outspoken critic of Western encroachments on Chinese sovereignty and interference in its internal affairs.<ref>Thompson, 218-219.</ref>
In 1905, Conger was appointed by President Theodore Roosevelt as [[United States Ambassador to Mexico|Ambassador to Mexico]]. His service in that position was brief; it began on June 15 and ended on August 3, 1905, when President Roosevelt chose Conger for a different post. Roosevelt appointed him to perform a special mission to China made necessary when the United States' interpretation of the [[Chinese Exclusion Act]], and failure to build the [[Hankow]] railroad, prompted a boycott of American goods in China.<ref>"[https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1905/08/18/101418198.pdf Conger to go to China: Effort to End Boycott]," New York Times, 1905-08-18 at p. 1.</ref> However, a week later, Conger declined the appointment, and resigned his appointment in Mexico effective two months later.<ref>"[https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1905/08/23/100492520.pdf Ambassador Conger Quits]," New York Times, 1905-08-23 at p. 1.</ref>
He died in [[Pasadena, California]], on May 18, 1907, and was interred in Mountain View Cemetery in [[Altadena, California]]. His death was attributed to a disease contracted in China.<ref>"[https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1907/05/19/106753422.pdf Ex-Minister Conger Dead]," New York Times, 1907-05-19 at p. 7.</ref>
==In popular culture== Edwin H. Conger was portrayed by Peter in the 2006 Chinese television series ''[[Princess Der Ling (TV series)|Princess Der Ling]]''.
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== {{commons category|Edwin Hurd Conger}} {{CongBio|C000675}} Retrieved on 2008-02-14 *{{Find a Grave|7406955|access-date=2008-02-14}}
{{s-start}} {{s-off}} {{s-bef | before=George W. Bemis}} {{s-ttl | title=[[Iowa State Treasurer]] | years=1881–1885}} {{s-aft | after=[[Voltaire P. Twombly]]}} {{S-par|us-hs}} {{US House succession box | state=Iowa | district=7 | before=[[Hiram Y. Smith]] | after=[[Edward R. Hays]] | years=March 4, 1885–October 3, 1890 }} {{S-dip}} {{Succession box | title = [[United States Ambassador to Brazil|United States Minister to Brazil]] | before=[[Robert Adams, Jr.]] | after=[[Thomas Larkin Thompson]] | years=September 27, 1890–September 9, 1893 }} {{Succession box | title = [[United States Ambassador to Brazil|United States Minister to Brazil]] | before=[[Thomas Larkin Thompson]] | after=[[Charles Page Bryan]] | years=August 9, 1897–February 6, 1898 }} {{Succession box | title=[[United States Ambassador to China]] | before=[[Charles Harvey Denby|Charles H. Denby]] | after=[[William Woodville Rockhill|William W. Rockhill]] | years=January 19, 1898–April 4, 1905 }} {{Succession box | title=[[United States Ambassador to Mexico]] | before=[[Powell Clayton]] | after=[[David Eugene Thompson|David E. Thompson]] | years=March 8, 1905–August 3, 1905 }} {{S-end}} {{US Ambassadors to Brazil}} {{US Ambassadors to Mexico}} {{US Ambassadors to the PRC}} {{IARepresentatives}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Conger, Edwin H.}} [[Category:1843 births]] [[Category:1907 deaths]] [[Category:Ambassadors of the United States to Brazil]] [[Category:Ambassadors of the United States to China]] [[Category:Ambassadors of the United States to Mexico]] [[Category:State treasurers of Iowa]] [[Category:Iowa lawyers]] [[Category:Illinois lawyers]] [[Category:Union army officers]] [[Category:Albany Law School alumni]] [[Category:People from Knox County, Illinois]] [[Category:Politicians from Pasadena, California]] [[Category:People of Iowa in the American Civil War]] [[Category:Lombard College alumni]] [[Category:American people of the Boxer Rebellion]] [[Category:Illinois Republicans]] [[Category:California Republicans]] [[Category:Republican Party United States representatives from Iowa]] [[Category:People from Dallas County, Iowa]] [[Category:Military personnel from California]] [[Category:Military personnel from Illinois]] [[Category:19th-century United States representatives]]