Isaac S. Struble

Isaac S. Struble (1843-1913), four-term Congressman (1883-1891) of Plymouth County, Iowa. Noted congressional opponent of polygamous marriages in Utah. Had six brothers including: John T. Struble of Iowa, and George R. Struble, former speaker of the Iowa House of Representatives. Granduncle of Bob Struble, Sr. and great-granduncle of Bob Struble, Jr.

Early life

The honorable Isaac Struble (R) of Le Mars, Iowa, was born near Fredericksburg VA, November 3, 1843. His great-grandfather, Dietrich Struble of Albig bei Alzey, Germany, had sailed to Philadelphia in 1748, settling outside German Valley, New Jersey (since renamed Long Valley). As a boy Isaac migrated to Ohio and finally to Iowa, where the family settled on a farm near Iowa City. Young Mr. Struble’s education was received in the public schools of Ohio and Iowa.

At the age of 18 Isaac enlisted (August 1862) in Company F of the 22nd Iowa infantry, marching in the ranks of the Yankee army as a private. After he was wounded in the battle of Cedar Creek VA (October 1864) private Struble was promoted to the rank of sergeant. With his regiment he saw considerable action. He was mustered out, July 25, 1865. In addition to Cedar Creek, his combat experience included the battles of Port Gibson, the siege of Vicksburg, and the battle and siege of Jackson, Mississippi. When he first donned the uniform of the Union, Isaac stood 5’8” with brown eyes and reddish hair.

Post-bellum

In 1866, more than a year after the Civil War, Struble went to St. Louis, Missouri where he remained about a year as bookkeeper in the wholesale house of J.H. Teasdale & Co., his uncle being the senior partner. He then moved to Iowa where he attended law school. After admission to the bar he became a practicing attorney in Polo, Illinois (1870). In 1872, Struble moved to Le Mars in western Iowa (Plymouth County), then a three year old town with a total of some 50 houses. There he and an older brother, James Hammie Struble, set up their law office on Main St. For the next ten years he applied himself to private legal practice in Le Mars, holding no public office until 1882 when elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from Iowa's 11th congressional district. Another older brother, George R. Struble, had preceded him in Iowa politics. At the time of Isaac’s election to Congress, George was midway through his term as speaker of the House of Representatives in the Iowa state legislature.

Congressional career

Struble's move to Washington, D.C. as a freshman Congressman marked the beginning of the end of rotation in office for the U.S. House of Representatives, in that the election of 1882 marked the last time in history that first termers won a majority of the House membership. During the three subsequent elections, Isaac Struble won renomination by acclamation to his House seat. This was prior to the advent of primary elections, when political party nominating conventions for the various congressional districts decided who the party’s standard-bearer would be in the general elections. Struble won reelection by popular vote in the general elections of 1884, 1886 and 1888, and was, according to the "New York Times", "exceptionally popular" at the end of his third term. But in 1890, after 43 ballots, the GOP nominating convention gave its nod to the newspaper editor and former state senator, George D. Perkins of Sioux City, who held the seat from 1891-1899. ["An Iowa District in Doubt: Why That Represented by Mr. Struble May Go Democratic," "The New York Times", Sept. 14, 1890, p. 20. The article states that George D. Perkins, editor of the "Sioux City Journal," refused to publish Struble's speeches on the admission of Idaho and Wyoming to the Union, and that Perkins secured the nomination "ultimately by what was deemed crooked work among the delegates."]

Struble’s support in Congress for the McKinley tariff bill (1890) had been unpopular with farmers in Iowa, who foresaw that a trade war would hurt agricultural exports. The tariff was also a factor in the subsequent economic depression of 1893-97. The tariff’s widespread unpopularity at the time of its passage resulted in a Democratic landslide so sweeping nationally that the election of 1890 dropped the Republicans from their majority of 51% in the House down to a minority of but 27% of the House membership.

During his four terms (1883-1891), Congressman Struble enjoyed considerable popularity in his district among rank and file citizens, and a small town founded at the time was given the name “Struble” in his honor. Situated in beautiful rolling farmland, Struble, Iowa would later be the boyhood home of Jim Nicholson (1938- ), a GOP politician of national stature; also U.S. Ambassador to the Vatican, 2001-05.

Another measure of Struble's popularity as a representative in Congress was the impressive reception he received in his hometown of LeMars when, in March 1891, he made his final return to Iowa from the halls of Congress. Upon arriving by train, "Ike" was greeted by a large crowd, and regaled by the local Striker's Band. A stage had been prepared, and after welcoming words from the mayor and local dignitaries, Struble delivered his farewell address.

As reprinted in the "LeMars Sentinel" Struble’s speech outlined the blessings and burdens of being a member of the House of Representatives contemporaneous with the likes of Reed, Cannon and McKinley. He offered remarks about such subjects as the proper limits of partisan politics, political patronage, and the heavy load of constituent services and committee work already demanded of a Congressman at that time. His reflections offer a useful study on the “ombudsman” role as it operated a dozen decades ago, a task so time consuming in the 21st century that several staffers per Congressman work full time on constituent services. [The "LeMars Semi-Weekly Sentinel", 20 March 1891, p. 4 gives the full text of Struble's farewell speech. The following excerpt remains pertinent to the burden of constitutent services still carried by every member of the national legislature. "...The other side of Congressional life is that represented by hours of labor in reading and answering correspondence from the people of the district, in attending to the almost innumerable calls from them in respect to personal matters of interest to each, requiring daily visitations to the different departments, and the examination into matters requiring much care in order to be able to make intelligent reports of the condition of the matter inquired into to the constituent concerned therein; and the work in committees, often times requiring painstaking labor extending hours after the committee sessions may have closed. These represent the side of toil which is burdensome to an extent not easily appreciated by those having no acquaintance with this feature of congressional life. It is true that some members are able to employ stenographic help to an extent that greatly relieves from personal fatigue incident to the discharge of these duties, but all members do not feel able to bear the expense of such employment, and hence many of them devote hours each day and night in personal attention to these duties. I refrain from making any specific allusion to another element of congressional life, namely, that in relation to the public patronage, with the simple statement, that all other cares and responsibilities bear light as a feather on the congressional mind in comparison with that unavoidable duty of making choice among his political friends for appointment to public service."...]

On his career in Congress the "Congressional Record" provides further information, including his votes and the text of his eloquent floor speeches. [For some of Struble's oratory see, for example, "Congressional Record", 1890, pp. 4779-80. The following is an excerpt from Struble's remarks in the House of Representatives, May 16, 1890: "...remember that as a universal rule mankind is selfish, and to a large extent extremely so; that men in all vocations are earnest, vigorous, and persistent in efforts to secure the most that can, by any possibility of human effort, be gotten as a result of business application; that in manufacturing, as in all employments, the selfish spirit is ever alert and active, and the individual will always avail himself of every facility to advance his personal and financial welfare...."] The "History of Woodbury and Plymouth Counties" published in the early 1890’s indicates that, from the standpoint of his peers in Congress, Struble "was always considered a strong member." As a former soldier, Congressman Struble devoted much time to the interests of his constituents in the armed services, including veterans. He knew how to secure lucrative projects for his district, such as the Sioux City public building bill (1890). It was in the House Committee on the Territories, however, that Struble figured most prominently.

Struble chaired this standing committee during his fourth term. His influence in the Committee on the Territories played a significant role in the admission into the union of six western states – Idaho, Montana, Washington, Wyoming and the two Dakotas, and the organization of Oklahoma Territory. Meanwhile, Senator Shelby Cullom of Illinois together with Congressman Struble pushed the "Cullom-Struble bill", whose sanctions against bigamy included exclusion of Utah from statehood. The bill was on the verge of passing Congress in 1890, but the legislation was preempted when the LDS (Mormon) Church formally disavowed polygamous marriages.

During their political careers, he and his brother, George R. Struble, were cultural conservatives of the 19th century sort. Both supported prohibition, and Isaac was prominent in his opposition to bigamy. Their stands on these controversial issues made more than a few enemies.

The law practice which the ex-Congressman resumed in LeMars dealt sometimes with collections. As a lawyer, Struble acquired one enemy, a William Cassmer, who became so incensed that he entered Struble's office with a whip; but the attorney, then in his 63rd year, faced him down. However on the following day, Feb. 9, 1906, while outside on the sidewalk, Struble made the mistake, as he later admitted, of turning his back on Cassmer. A blow to the back of the neck rendered Struble unconscious for several minutes and resulted in injuries requiring the attention of a physician.

Personal

Isaac was a charter member of the First Congregational Church in Le Mars; also active in the Masonic fraternal order.

He died Feb. 17, 1913 in his seventieth year, and is buried in the [http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~plymouthcoiowa/cemeteries/lemarscity.html Le Mars City Cemetery] on the east side of town. In the accompanying photograph, Summer 2007, three Struble headstones are (left to right) daughter, Myrtle; wife, Adelaide; and Isaac. Note the G.A.R. star marking his headstone (Post 91, Grand Army of the Republic, U.S. Civil War).

His wife – Adelaide E. (Stone) Struble, 1846-1929, [they married on 6/3/1874] – and four of their five children were still living in 1913 when Isaac passed away suddenly of a diabetic seizure.

References

CongBio|S001028/"'Biographical|name=STRUBLE, Isaac S|inline=1; "History of the Counties of Woodbury and Plymouth, Iowa," (Chicago: A. Warner & Co., 1890-91), pp. 1009-1011; W.S. Freeman, ed., "History of Plymouth County Iowa", 2 vols. (Indianapolis, Ind.: B.F. Bowen & Co., 1917), vol. 1, p. 333; "Le Mars Sentinel," March 20, 1891, p. 4; March 27, 1902, p. 3; Feb. 13, 1906, p. 4; Feb. 18, 1913, p. 1. Photo at top courtesy of Eleanor Struble Martin; the portrait from "Harper’s Weekly", 1891, Collection of U.S. Congressmen, as found in "Biographical Directory, supra".

On the controversial circumstances of Congressman Struble's defeat for renomination in the Iowa GOP's 11th Congressional District nominating convention of 1890 see two contemporary newspaper articles: "Political Notes," "New York Times", Wednesday, July 29, 1890, p. 4; "An Iowa District in Doubt: Why That Represented by Mr. Struble May Go Democratic," "New York Times", Wednesday Sept. 14, 1890, p. 20.

Endnotes, including excerpts from Struble's speeches