Alexander McDowell was born in Franklin, Pennsylvania.[3] He attended the common schools and learned the printing trade. He studied law but never practiced.[4][5]
He served as editor and publisher of the Venango Citizen until 1870, when he moved to Sharon and engaged in banking. He served as treasurer and director of the School Board of Sharon from 1880 to 1913, and as treasurer of the borough of Sharon from 1880 to 1909.[7]
McDowell was elected as a Republican to the Fifty-third Congress. He was not a candidate for renomination in 1894. He was elected Clerk of the House of Representatives on March 4, 1895, and served in that capacity until March 3, 1911. He was a delegate to the Republican National Conventions in 1900, 1904, and 1908.[8][9]
He resumed banking interests, and died in Sharon, Pennsylvania on September 30, 1913.[10] He was interred in the Oakwood Cemetery in Sharon.[11][12]
References
^"McDowell, Alexander," in Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (M000417). Washington, D.C.: Offices of the Historians of the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate, retrieved online February 14, 2008.
^"McDowell, Alexander." Ann Arbor, Michigan: The Political Graveyard, retrieved online February 14, 2008.