John McDowell (Pennsylvania)

This article is about a Pennsylvania congressman. For other uses, see John McDowell (disambiguation).

John Ralph McDowell (November 6, 1902 – December 11, 1957) was a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania.

Biography

McDowell was born in Pitcairn, Pennsylvania. He graduated from Randolph-Macon Military Academy in Front Royal, Virginia, in 1923. He was employed as a reporter on the Pitcairn Express in 1923 and worked on various newspapers until 1929. He was magistrate of Pitcairn from 1925 to 1928. He became editor of the Wilkinsburg Gazette in 1929 and president of the Wilkinsburg Gazette Publishing Co. in 1933.

McDowell was elected as a Republican to the Seventy-sixth Congress, but was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1940 and 1942. He was again elected in 1946 to the Eightieth Congress. He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1948. He committed suicide in 1957.

Sources

• John McDowell at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• The Political Graveyard

United States House of Representatives
Preceded by James L. Quinn	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania's 31st congressional district 1939–1941	Succeeded by Samuel A. Weiss
Preceded by Howard E. Campbell	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania's 29th congressional district 1947–1949	Succeeded by Harry J. Davenport