James Adam Bede was a U.S. Representative from Minnesota

Minnesota

Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...

.

Born on a farm in Eaton Township

Eaton Township, Lorain County, Ohio

Eaton Township is one of the eighteen townships of Lorain County, Ohio, United States. The 2000 census found 9,675 people in the unincorporated portions of the township.-Geography:...

, Lorain County, Ohio

Lorain County, Ohio

Lorain County is a county located in the U.S. state of Ohio, and is considered to be a part of what is locally referred to as Greater Cleveland. As of the 2010 census, its population was 301,356. an increase from 284,664 in 2000...

, he attended the public schools of Ohio

Ohio

Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...

, Oberlin College

Oberlin College

Oberlin College is a private liberal arts college in Oberlin, Ohio, noteworthy for having been the first American institution of higher learning to regularly admit female and black students. Connected to the college is the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, the oldest continuously operating...

, and Tabor College

Tabor College (Iowa)

Tabor College was a Christian college in Tabor, Iowa that operated from 1853 to 1927. It is now defunct.-History:The school's roots date to 1852 when Deacon Samuel A. Adams, George Gaston, and Rev. John Todd came to Iowa for the purpose of establishing a Christian college, and in 1853 they...

 in Tabor, Iowa

Tabor, Iowa

Tabor is a city in Fremont and Mills counties in the U.S. state of Iowa. The population was 993 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Tabor is located at ....

, and read law while learning the printing trade. He taught school in Iowa

Iowa

Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...

, Ohio

Ohio

Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...

, and Arkansas

Arkansas

Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...

; editor and publisher of several newspapers and periodicals; served as a representative for several western newspapers in Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

, 1888 – 1891; engaged in newspaper work at Pine City, Minnesota

Pine City, Minnesota

Pine City is a city in Pine County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 3,123 at the 2010 census. Pine City is the county seat of, and the largest city in, Pine County...

, Pine County, Minnesota

Pine County, Minnesota

As of the census of 2000, there were 26,530 people, 9,939 households, and 6,917 families residing in the county. The population density was 19 people per square mile . There were 15,353 housing units at an average density of 11 per square mile...

; served as United States marshal for the district of Minnesota in 1894 during the great railway strike; spoke at the first annual dinner of the Associated Press in New York; elected as a Republican to the 58th

58th United States Congress

- House of Representatives :* Republican : 209 * Democratic : 176* Silver Republican : 1TOTAL members: 386-Senate:* President: Vacant* President pro tempore: William P. Frye -Members:...

, 59th

59th United States Congress

The Fifty-ninth United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from March 4, 1905 to March 4, 1907, during the fifth and sixth...

, and 60th congresses

60th United States Congress

The Sixtieth United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from March 4, 1907 to March 4, 1909, during the last two years of...

, (March 4, 1903 – March 3, 1909); unsuccessful candidate for renomination in 1908 to the 61st congress; returned to Pine City; engaged as a publisher and lecturer; moved to Duluth, Minnesota

Duluth, Minnesota

Duluth is a port city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and is the county seat of Saint Louis County. The fourth largest city in Minnesota, Duluth had a total population of 86,265 in the 2010 census. Duluth is also the second largest city that is located on Lake Superior after Thunder Bay, Ontario,...

, in 1927 and engaged in his former pursuits; also was interested in the St. Lawrence

Saint Lawrence Seaway

The Saint Lawrence Seaway , , is the common name for a system of locks, canals and channels that permits ocean-going vessels to travel from the Atlantic Ocean to the North American Great Lakes, as far as Lake Superior. Legally it extends from Montreal to Lake Erie, including the Welland Canal...

inland waterway project; died in Duluth, Minnesota, April 11, 1942; interment in Birchwood Cemetery, Pine City, Minnesota.
Bede was noted for his humor and speaking style. In an April 28, 1912 article titled “How humor Enlivens the Solemn Work of Congress” the New York Times reported:

Adam Bede was one of the most popular stump speakers and spellbinders of the present generation. His speeches were full of dry humor and his droll manner of illustrating his arguments by stories of the day never failed to win the applause of his audiences.

In his book The Homesteaders recounting life in early twentieth century rural Pine County Minnesota, O Bernard Johnson describes Bede's speaking style as follows:

J. Adam Bede of Pine City, was a congressman in the early 1900s. He was a great humorist and had a rapid fire delivery. When running for reelection he spoke in our schoolhouse and had the audience in stitches during his entire speech. If he said anything seriously about the issues of the day no one can recall, but I am sure that his humor got him many votes.