Isaac C. Fowler
{{Infobox officeholder
| image = I. C. Fowler.jpg
| image_size = 220px
| caption = Fowler in 1901 book
| office = 34th Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates
| predecessor = Benjamin W. Lacy
| successor = Charles E. Stuart
| term_start = December 7, 1881
| term_end = December 5, 1883
| office2 = Member of the Virginia House of Delegates
from Washington County
| term_start2 = December 7, 1881
| term_end2 = December 5, 1883
| preceded2 = David F. Bailey
| succeeded2 = Daniel Trigg
| term_start3 = December 1, 1875
| term_end3 = December 3, 1879
| preceded3 = Seldon Longley
| succeeded3 = David F. Bailey
| office4 = Mayor of Bristol, Virginia
| term_start4 = 1871
| term_end4 = 1875
| preceded4 = ?
| succeeded4 = ?
| party = Republican (1884–1905)
Readjuster (1878–1884)
Conservative (1870–1878)
| birth_name = Isaac Chapman Fowler
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1831|09|02}}
| birth_place = Jeffersonville, Virginia, U.S.
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1905|04|29|1831|09|02}}
| death_place = Abingdon, Virginia, U.S.
| spouse = {{marriage|Kezia McDonald Chapman|December 4, 1854}}
| education = Emory and Henry College
| allegiance = {{flag|Confederate States}}
| branch = Confederate States Army
| battles = American Civil War
}}
Isaac Chapman Fowler (September 2, 1831, Jeffersonville, Virginia{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fJJLAAAAYAAJ |title=History of Virginia from Settlement of Jamestown to Close of the Civil War |last=Brock |first=Robert Alonzo |date=1888 |publisher=H.H. Hardesty |page=721 |language=en}} – April 29, 1905) was a Virginia politician. He served as mayor of Bristol, Virginia, from 1871 to 1875,{{cite web |url=https://www.bristolhistoricalassociation.com/icfowler |title=IC Fowler House | Bristol Historical Association | Bristol, TN }} represented Washington County in the Virginia House of Delegates, and served as that body's Speaker from 1881 until 1882 as a member of the Readjuster Party.{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=saUZAAAAYAAJ |title=Congressional Serial Set |date=1884 |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |page=968 |language=en}}
File:Virginia State Capitol complex - list of former Speakers of the House of Delegates.jpg]]
Early life and family life
Isaac Fowler was born to Thomas and Priscilla Fowler on September 23, 1831, in Tazewell County, Virginia. He attended Emory and Henry College. He married Kezia McDonald Chapman on December 4, 1854. During the Civil War, he worked for the Commissary Department of the Confederate States under John C. Breckinridge. Fowler, along with his brother, Elbert, purchased the Bristol News from A. C. Smith in 1864. He became the paper editor until February 1884.
Political career
Fowler's first delve into politics came when he served as Mayor of Bristol, Virginia, from 1871 to 1875. After his term as mayor was up, he won his first stint in the Virginia General Assembly where he served until 1879. During the 1877–1879 General Assembly meeting, he served as Chairman of the Virginia House of Delegates Schools and Colleges Committee.{{Cite web |url=https://history.house.virginia.gov/sessions/160 |title=House History:1877-1879 Session Information |website=history.house.virginia.gov}} He won his second stint in 1881 and was voted Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates during the 1881–1882 General Assembly meeting. As speaker, he oversaw legislation enacted that repealed the state's poll tax as a prerequisite to voting and liberalized appropriations for the state's public school system, which included the creation of Virginia State University, passage of the ReAdjusters debt bill, and reform of tax laws.{{cite book |last1=Blake |first1=Nelson Morehouse |title=William Mahone of Virginia : soldier and political insurgent |date=1935 |publisher=Richmond : Garret & Massie |pages=219–220 |url=https://archive.org/details/williammahoneofv00blak/page/220/mode/1up |access-date=September 2, 2024}} After his term as speaker was up, he served as Clerk of the U. S. District Court in Abingdon, until shortly before he died in 1904.{{Cite web |url=https://history.house.virginia.gov/members/6208 |title=Isaac Chapman Fowler |website=history.house.virginia.gov}}
Death and legacy
Fowler died on April 6, 1904. He is buried at East Hill Cemetery in Bristol, Virginia.
References
{{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fowler, Isaac C.}}
Category:Speakers of the Virginia House of Delegates
Category:People from Washington County, Virginia
Category:Readjuster Party politicians
Category:People from Tazewell, Virginia
Category:19th-century members of the Virginia General Assembly
{{Virginia-delegate-stub}}