author
Martin J. (Martin Joseph) Wade
1861–1931
A lawyer, congressman, and judge, he moved through several corners of public life in Iowa before joining the federal bench. He is also remembered as the author of Lessons in Americanism, a short patriotic work published in 1920.
1 Audiobook
The Short Constitution
by Martin J. (Martin Joseph) Wade, William F. (William Fletcher) Russell
About the author
Born in Burlington, Vermont, in 1861, he moved to Iowa as a child and built his career there. He studied at St. Joseph's College in Dubuque and earned his law degree from the University of Iowa in 1886, then practiced law in Iowa City.
Public service shaped much of his working life. He served as a judge of Iowa's Eighth Judicial District, represented Iowa in the U.S. House of Representatives for one term as a Democrat, and in 1915 was appointed by President Woodrow Wilson to the United States District Court for the Southern District of Iowa.
Alongside his legal and political work, he wrote Lessons in Americanism under the name Martin J. Wade. He died in Los Angeles in 1931 and was buried in Iowa City.