{{Short description|American politician}} {{Infobox officeholder | image = Thomas Hedge sketch 1911.png | caption = Sketch of Hedge circa 1911 | district = 1st | state = Iowa | term = March 4, 1899-March 3, 1907 | preceded = Samuel M. Clark | succeeded = Charles A. Kennedy | office1 = | term1 = | birth_name = | birth_date = {{Birth date|1844|06|24}} | birth_place = Burlington, Iowa Territory | death_date = {{Death date and age|1920|11|28|1844|06|24}} | death_place = Burlington, Iowa, U.S. | resting_place = Aspen Grove Cemetery<br />Burlington, Iowa, U.S. | alma_mater = Yale College<br />Columbia College Law School | occupation = {{hlist|Lawyer|politician}} | spouse = {{marriage|Mary Frances Cook|1873}} | children = 3 | allegiance = {{flag|United States}} | branch = Union Army | rank = 30px Second lieutenant | unit = 106th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment | battles = American Civil War }}

'''Thomas Hedge''' (June 24, 1844 – November 28, 1920) was a four-term Republican U.S. Representative from Iowa's 1st congressional district, in southeastern Iowa.

==Early life== Thomas Hedge was born on June 24, 1844, in Burlington, Iowa Territory, Hedge attended the common schools, including the North Hill school in Burlington, and Denmark (Iowa) Academy. He graduated from Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, in 1861, but his education was interrupted by the Civil War. In 1864 and 1865 he served as a private in Company E and as second lieutenant in Company G of the 106th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment.<ref name="died">{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/103314708/former-us-senator-dies-30-nov-1920/ |title=Former U.S. Senator Dies |date=1920-11-30 |newspaper=Evening Times-Republican |page=3 |via=Newspapers.com |access-date=2022-06-07}}{{Open access}}</ref>

He graduated from Yale College in New Haven, Connecticut, in 1867, where he was a member of Skull and Bones,<ref name="DKE">{{cite book | url=https://archive.org/details/cu31924030642437 | title=Catalogue of the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity | access-date=March 25, 2011 | year=1910 | publisher=The Delta Kappa Epsilon council}}</ref>{{rp|123}} and Columbia College Law School in New York City in 1869. He was admitted to the bar in New York in 1869, and returned to Iowa to practice law in Burlington.<ref name="editorial">Editorial, "Thomas Hedge," Cedar Rapids Daily Republican, 1898-07-04 at p. 4.</ref>

==Career== For twenty years, Hedge practiced in a partnership with Iowa Republican politician J.W. Blythe,<ref name="editorial"/> with the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad as one of the firm's clients.<ref>''Pool v. The C., B. and Q. Ry. Co.'', 6 F. 844 (D. Iowa 1881).</ref><ref>John Ely Briggs, "[https://books.google.com/books?id=LgoFAAAAYAAJ William Peters Hepburn]," p. 289 (State Hist. Soc. of Iowa 1919).</ref>

In 1898, Hedge was elected as a Republican to the U.S. House seat for Iowa's 1st congressional district, then held by Republican Samuel M. Clark (who chose not to seek re-election). Hedge served in the Fifty-sixth and the three succeeding Congresses.<ref name="cd">{{cite web |title=S. Doc. 58-1 - Fifty-eighth Congress. (Extraordinary session -- beginning November 9, 1903.) Official Congressional Directory for the use of the United States Congress. Compiled under the direction of the Joint Committee on Printing by A.J. Halford. Special edition. Corrections made to November 5, 1903 |url=https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/SERIALSET-04562_00_00-001-0001-0000 |website=GovInfo.gov |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |access-date=2 July 2023 |page=31 |date=9 November 1903}}</ref> In 1906 he did not seek re-nomination.<ref>"Hedge Going to Retire," ''Waterloo Daily Times-Tribune'', 1906-03-03 at p. 1.</ref> In all, he served in Congress from March 4, 1899, to March 3, 1907.

After leaving Congress, he resumed the practice of law.<ref name="obitone">(30 November 1920). [https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn87057262/1920-11-30/ed-1/seq-7/ Thomas Hedge Was Well Known], ''Daily Gate City and Constitution'' (Keokuk, Iowa), reprint of obituary from the ''Burlington Gazette''</ref>

==Personal life== Hedge married Mary Frances Cook of Burlington in January 1873. They had three children: Thomas Jr., Lyman Cook and Anna Louise.<ref name="died"/>

Hedge died at his home in Burlington on November 28, 1920.<ref name="died"/><ref name="obitone"/> He was interred in Aspen Grove Cemetery.{{citation needed |date=June 2022}}

==References== {{reflist|2}}

==External links== {{CongBio|H000441}}

{{s-start}} {{s-par|us-hs}} {{US House succession box | state=Iowa | district=1 | before=Samuel M. Clark | after=Charles A. Kennedy | years= 1899&ndash;1907 }} {{s-end}}

{{IARepresentatives}} {{USCongRep-start|congresses= 56th–59th United States Congresses |state=Iowa}} {{USCongRep/IA/56}} {{USCongRep/IA/57}} {{USCongRep/IA/58}} {{USCongRep/IA/59}} {{USCongRep-end}} {{Bioguide}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Hedge, Thomas}} Category:1844 births Category:1920 deaths Category:Yale College alumni Category:Columbia Law School alumni Category:Union army officers Category:Republican Party United States representatives from Iowa Category:Members of Skull and Bones Category:19th-century United States representatives