Library of Congress
DODGE, Augustus Caesar (1812-1883)
Senate Years of Service: 1848-1855

DODGE, AUGUSTUS CAESAR, (son of Henry Dodge, nephew of Lewis Fields Linn), a Delegate and a Senator from Iowa; born in Ste. Genevieve, Mo., January 2, 1812; self-educated; moved to Illinois in 1827, settled in Galena, and was employed there in various capacities in his father's lead mines; served in the Black Hawk and other Indian wars; moved to Burlington, Iowa, in 1837, where he served as register of the land office 1838-1840; elected as a Democratic Delegate to the Twenty-sixth Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the act of March 3, 1839; reelected to the Twenty-seventh, Twenty-eighth, and Twenty-ninth Congresses and served from October 28, 1840, to December 28, 1846, when the Territory of Iowa was admitted as a State into the Union; was then elected as a Democrat to the United States Senate; reelected in 1849, and served from December 7, 1848, to February 22, 1855, when he resigned to accept a diplomatic post; chairman, Committee to Audit and Control the Contingent Expenses (Thirty-first and Thirty-second Congresses), Committee on Pensions (Thirty-first Congress), Committee on Revolutionary Claims (Thirty-second Congress), Committee on Public Lands (Thirty-third Congress); appointed Minister to Spain 1855-1859; unsuccessful candidate for Governor of Iowa in 1859; mayor of Burlington 1874-1875; withdrew from political activities and engaged in lecturing at pioneer gatherings; died in Burlington, Des Moines County, Iowa, November 20, 1883; interment in Aspen Grove Cemetery.

Indiana State Library
Indianapolis, IN
Papers: Correspondence in Robert Dale Owen papers, 1826-1904.

Nebraska State Historical Society
Lincoln, NE
Papers: Correspondence in Thomas B. Cuming papers, 1822-1913.

New-York Historical Society
New York, NY
Papers: Certificate of election to House of Representatives (November 14, 1840) and 3 letters (1854). Finding aid.

State Historical Society of Iowa
Des Moines, IA
Papers: 1837-1882. 1 folder. Correspondence, photographs, and 1 speech. Finding aid.
Papers: 1836-1883, 1907-1909. 17 folders and 16 volumes. Letters, speeches, scrapbooks, financial papers, and correspondence while minister to Spain. Finding aid.

University of Iowa Libraries
Special Collections Department
Iowa City, IA
Papers: 1841-1859. 7 letters. Finding aid.

  • Harmon, Sandra D. "Augustus Caesar Dodge and James W. Grimes, Iowa Spokesmen: 1840-1860.'' Master's thesis, Illinois State University, 1970.
  • Hoffmann, Mathias M. The Catholic Sponsors of Iowa. Dubuque: Iowa Catholic Historical Society, 1929.
  • Pelzer, Louis. Augustus Caesar Dodge. Iowa City: State Historical Society of Iowa, 1908.