John Alfred McDowell ADAIR, Congress, IN (1864-1938)

ADAIR, John Alfred McDowell, a Representative from Indiana; born near Portland, Jay County, Ind., December 22, 1864; attended the public schools and Portland High School; engaged in mercantile pursuits; clerk of the city of Portland 1888-1890; clerk of Jay County 1890-1895; studied law; was admitted to the bar in 1895 and commenced practice in Portland, Ind.; member of the State house of representatives in 1902 and 1903; engaged in banking, being elected president of the First National Bank of Portland in 1904; elected as a Democrat to the Sixtieth and to the four succeeding Congresses (March 4, 1907-March 3, 1917); chairman, Committee on Expenditures in the Department of War (Sixty-third and Sixty-fourth Congresses); did not seek renomination in 1916 but was an unsuccessful Democratic nominee for Governor of Indiana; resumed the banking business in Portland, Ind.; moved to Washington, D.C., in 1924 and served as vice president of Southern Dairies (Inc.) until 1931; chairman of the board of the Finance Service Co., in Baltimore, Md., 1933-1935; vice president of the Atlas Tack Corporation, Fairhaven, Mass., 1935-1937; director of the Artloom Corporation, Philadelphia, Pa., in 1937; died in Portland, Ind., October 5, 1938; interment in Green Park Cemetery.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present