James Patton Flick

Who was James Patton Flick?

James Patton Flick was a two-term Republican U.S. Representative from Iowa's 8th congressional district in the Gilded Age.

Born in Bakerstown, Pennsylvania, Flick moved with his parents to Wapello County, Iowa, in 1852 and to Taylor County, Iowa in 1857. He attended the common schools. Following the outbreak of the American Civil War he enlisted in Company K, 4th Iowa Volunteer Infantry Regiment, as a private soldier and served from April 3, 1862, to September 4, 1864.

Following the war, he served as Recorder of Taylor County in 1869 and 1870. After studying law, he was admitted to the bar in 1870 and commenced practice in Bedford, Iowa. He served in the Iowa House of Representatives in 1878 and 1879, then served as district attorney of the third judicial district of Iowa from 1880 to 1886.

In 1888 Flick was elected as a Republican to the U.S. House seat for Iowa's 8th congressional district. After serving in the 51st United States Congress he was re-elected in 1890, surviving the Democratic Party's first landslide victory since the Iowa Republican Party was founded. He then served in the Fifty-second Congress. In all, he was in Congress from March 4, 1889 to March 3, 1893.