James Patton Flick was a two-term Republican

Republican Party (United States)

The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

  U.S. Representative

United States House of Representatives

The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...

 from Iowa's 8th congressional district

Iowa's 8th congressional district

Iowa's 8th congressional district existed from 1873 to 1963. The district was configured five times. Although the district encompassed four different areas of Iowa in its ninety-year existence, it was always predominantly rural, and elected a Republican lawyer to the United States House of...

 in the Gilded Age

Gilded Age

In United States history, the Gilded Age refers to the era of rapid economic and population growth in the United States during the post–Civil War and post-Reconstruction eras of the late 19th century. The term "Gilded Age" was coined by Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner in their book The Gilded...

.

Born in Bakerstown, Pennsylvania

Bakerstown, Pennsylvania

Bakerstown is a census-designated place within Richland Township in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 1,761....

, Flick moved with his parents to Wapello County, Iowa

Wapello County, Iowa

-2010 census:The 2010 census recorded a population of 35,625 in the county, with a population density of . There were 16,098 housing units, of which 14,552 were occupied.-2000 census:...

, in 1852 and to Taylor County, Iowa

Taylor County, Iowa

-2010 census:The 2010 census recorded a population of 6,317 in the county, with a population density of . There were 3,107 housing units, of which 2,679 were occupied.-2000 census:...

 in 1857.
He attended the common schools.
Following the outbreak of the American Civil War he enlisted in Company K, 4th Iowa Volunteer Infantry Regiment

4th Iowa Volunteer Infantry Regiment

The 4th Regiment Iowa Volunteer Infantry was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War.-Service:The 4th Iowa Infantry was organized at Council Bluffs, Iowa and mustered into Federal forces on August 8, 1861....

, as a private soldier and served from April 3, 1862, to September 4, 1864.

Following the war, he served as Recorder of Taylor County in 1869 and 1870.
After studying law, he was admitted to the bar

Admission to the bar in the United States

In the United States, admission to the bar is the granting of permission by a particular court system to a lawyer to practice law in that system. Each U.S. state and similar jurisdiction has its own court system and sets its own rules for bar admission , which can lead to different admission...

 in 1870 and commenced practice in Bedford, Iowa

Bedford, Iowa

Bedford is a city in Taylor County, Iowa, United States. The population was 1,620 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Taylor County. Lake of Three Fires State Park is located a few miles northeast of Bedford.-History:...

.
He served in the Iowa House of Representatives

Iowa House of Representatives

The Iowa House of Representatives is the lower house of the Iowa General Assembly. There are 100 members of the House of Representatives, representing 100 single-member districts across the state with populations of approximately 29,750 for each constituency...

 in 1878 and 1879, then served as district attorney of the third judicial district of Iowa from 1880 to 1886.

In 1888 Flick was elected as a Republican to the U.S. House seat for Iowa's 8th congressional district. After serving in the 51st United States Congress

51st United States Congress

The Fifty-first United States Congress, referred to by some critics as the Billion Dollar Congress, was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C...

 he was re-elected in 1890, surviving the Democratic Party's first landslide victory

Landslide victory

In politics, a landslide victory is the victory of a candidate or political party by an overwhelming margin in an election...

 since the Iowa Republican Party was founded. He then served in the Fifty-second

52nd United States Congress

The Fifty-second United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C...

Congress. In all, he was in Congress from March 4, 1889 to March 3, 1893.

In 1892, he was not a candidate for renomination. After returning to Iowa, he resumed the practice of his profession in Bedford, until his death there on February 25, 1929. He was interred in Bedford Cemetery.