James Perry Conner was a Republican 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 10th congressional district

Iowa's 10th congressional district

Iowa's 10th congressional district existed from 1883 to 1933, when Iowa sent eleven congressmen to the United States House of Representatives. The district, known as "The Big Tenth," covered large areas of north-central Iowa.-Makeup:...

 from 1900 to 1909.

Background

Born in Delaware County, Indiana

Delaware County, Indiana

As of the census of 2000, there were 118,769 people, 47,131 households, and 29,692 families residing in the county. The population density was 302 people per square mile . There were 51,032 housing units at an average density of 130 per square mile...

, Conner attended the Upper Iowa University

Upper Iowa University

Established in 1857, Upper Iowa University is a private institution of higher education with its residential campus located in northeast Iowa near the Volga River in the rural community of Fayette, where around 900 students are enrolled....

 in Fayette, Iowa

Fayette, Iowa

Fayette is a city in Fayette County, Iowa, in the United States. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 1,300. It was named after the Marquis de la Fayette, French hero of the American Revolutionary War. Fayette is the home of Upper Iowa University, a small private college...

, and was graduated from the University of Iowa College of Law

University of Iowa College of Law

The University of Iowa College of Law is one of the eleven professional graduate schools at the University of Iowa, located in Iowa City, Iowa. Founded in 1865, it is the oldest law school in continuous operation west of the Mississippi River. The law school was ranked as the 27th best law school...

 in 1873.
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...

 and practiced in Denison, Iowa

Denison, Iowa

Denison is a city in Crawford County, Iowa, United States, along the Boyer River. The population was 7,339 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Crawford County.-Geography:Denison is located at ....

.
He served as district attorney of the thirteenth judicial district of Iowa from 1880 to 1884.
He was elected as a circuit judge of the thirteenth judicial district in 1884, and as a district judge of the sixteenth judicial district in 1886, serving over eight years on the bench.
He served as delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1892.

Congress

Connor was a former law partner and political ally of Iowa Governor Leslie M. Shaw. When U.S. Senator John H. Gear

John H. Gear

John Henry Gear was the 11th Governor of Iowa, United States Representative, and Senator.-Biography:Born in Ithaca, New York, he attended the common schools and moved to Galena, Illinois in 1836, to Fort Snelling, Iowa, in 1838, and to Burlington in 1843, where he engaged in mercantile pursuits...

 died in July 1900, Shaw was responsible for making an interim appointment to fill the seat. Connor was one of many Republicans who hoped Shaw would choose them to fill the vacancy, but Shaw instead chose Connor's congressman, Jonathan P. Dolliver

Jonathan P. Dolliver

Jonathan Prentiss Dolliver was a Republican orator, U.S. Representative, then U.S. Senator from Iowa at the turn of the 20th century...

, thus creating a new vacancy in the U.S. House. Dolliver's House seat (in Iowa's 10th congressional district) was filled by a direct election between candidates chosen by district conventions. On the 96th ballot, Conner received the Republican nomination over a crowded field, and was elected in the general election. After serving in the Fifty-sixth

56th United States Congress

-House of Representatives:- Leadership :- Senate :* President: Garret Hobart , until November 21, 1899 , vacant thereafter.* President pro tempore: William P. Frye * Democratic Caucus Chairman: James K. Jones...

 Congress, he was reelected two years later (in 1902) to the Fifty-seventh

57th United States Congress

-House of Representatives:*Democratic: 151*Republican: 200 *Populist: 5*Silver : 1TOTAL members: 357-Leadership:-Senate:* President: Theodore Roosevelt , until September 14, 1901, vacant thereafter....

, and later to the three succeeding Congresses.

In 1908, Connor was defeated in the Republican primary by newspaper publisher Frank P. Woods

Frank P. Woods

Frank Plowman Woods was a five-term Republican U.S. Representative from Iowa's 10th congressional district, in north-central Iowa. He reached a House leadership position after only two terms...

, as part of a broader attempt by the party's progressive wing to displace incumbents from the more conservative "standpatter" wing. In all, Connor served in Congress from December 4, 1900, to March 3, 1909.

After Congress

He resumed the practice of law in Denison, where he died March 19, 1924.
He was interred in Oakland Cemetery.