Eicher, Edward Clayton (1878-1944)
Edward Clayton Eicher was born at Noble, Iowa, 16 December 1878, and died in Washington, District of Columbia, 30 November 1944. A son of Bishop Benjamin Eicher, founder of the Eicher Emmanuel Mennonite Church of Noble, Iowa, he was raised in the Mennonite faith and died a member of the congregation (General Conference Mennonite). He was married to Hazel Mount of Washington, Iowa, in 1908.
Graduating from the University of Chicago in 1904, he continued his study of law in that institution. He was admitted to the Iowa Bar in 1906. From 1907 to 1909 he was cashier and assistant registrar of the University of Chicago. During the years 1919-1933 he was a member of the law firm of Livingston and Eicher, Washington, Iowa. Elected to Congress in 1932, he was twice re-elected to that position. In December 1938 he resigned his position in Congress to become a member of the Securities and Exchange Commission. Appointed chairman of the Commission in April 1941, he served in that capacity for almost a year. In 1942 he was appointed Chief Justice of the District Court for the District of Columbia. At the time of his death he was presiding at the 119-day mass sedition trial of 30 defendants charged with conspiring with Nazi Germany to undermine the loyalty of members of the armed forces of the United States. His fair conduct of the trial won the praise of newspaper reporters. A Democrat and a liberal in politics, he supported the reform measures of President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Bibliography
Warkentin, A. and Melvin Gingerich, compilers. Who's Who Among the Mennonites. North Newton, KS: Bethel College, 1943.
| Author(s) | Melvin Gingerich |
|---|---|
| Date Published | 1956 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Gingerich, Melvin. "Eicher, Edward Clayton (1878-1944)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1956. Web. 18 Apr 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Eicher,_Edward_Clayton_(1878-1944)&oldid=111679.
APA style
Gingerich, Melvin. (1956). Eicher, Edward Clayton (1878-1944). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 18 April 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Eicher,_Edward_Clayton_(1878-1944)&oldid=111679.
Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 2, p. 168. All rights reserved.
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