Carl Van Dyke

Who was Carl Van Dyke?

Carl Chester Van Dyke, was an American soldier, lawyer and politician from Minnesota.

Van Dyke was born in Alexandria and attended the local public schools there. He taught primary school classes in surrounding Douglas County from 1899 to 1901. Later that year, he volunteered for the U.S. Army and served as a private in the Minnesota Volunteer Infantry in the Spanish–American War. In 1916, he graduated from the St. Paul College of Law and was admitted to the bar at St. Paul. Van Dyke did not engage in extensive practice. Two years later, he was elected Commander-in-Chief of the United Spanish War Veterans September 6, 1918.

Van Dyke was elected as a Democrat to the Sixty-fourth, Sixty-fifth, and Sixty-sixth congresses and served from March 4, 1915, until his death in Washington, D.C., May 20, 1919. He on Apr 5, 1917, voted against declaring war on Germany. His interment was in a mausoleum in Forest Cemetery, St. Paul, Minnesota.