MAJ John Alfred Pickler (1844-1910) - Find a Grave Memorial

US Congressman. During the Civil War, he enlisted in the Iowa 3rd Cavalry and arose to Captain. Toward the end of the war he was given command of a regiment of colored troops and promoted to Major, a title he carried the rest of his life. He graduated from Iowa State University in 1870 and Michigan Law School in 1872. He was elected District Attorney in Adair County Missouri. He moved to Muscatine Iowa and in 1874 and was a Garfield elector for the Second District of Iowa. In 1881 he was elected to the Iowa State Legislature. In 1883 he moved to Faulk County, Dakota Territory and was elected to the Dakota Legislature in 1884. In 1889, he received an appointment as public land inspector in the US Interior Department. His first duty was to travel to Oklahoma and open up the territory for settlement. He was elected four times to represent South Dakota at-large in the United States House of Representatives, serving from 1889 to 1897. He was credited with proposing the idea of Rural Free Delivery Service in Congress. While in the Dakota territorial legislature, he was instrumental in introducing the first bill to give women the right to vote in Dakota Territory. He and his wife Alice promoted women's suffrage and were friends with Susan B. Anthony, a well known women's rights advocate.

Bio by: Priscilla