Julius Houseman

Julius Houseman (* December 8, 1832 in Bamberg, Bavaria, † February 8, 1891 in Grand Rapids, Michigan ) was an American politician. Between 1883 and 1885 he represented the state of Michigan in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Career

Julius Houseman attended the public schools in his native Bavaria, including a trade school in Munich. In the revolutionary year 1848, he emigrated to the United States. After a few intermediate stops he came in 1852 to Grand Rapids in Michigan. There he was first employed in the clothing trade. By 1876 he was the owner of a thriving company that maintained offices in New York, Baltimore and Savannah. In 1876 he sold the company to his cousin, who was his partner before. Houseman also worked in the timber industry and owned many properties and a large private estates. At his death his fortune was estimated at one million dollars, which was worth a lot more in that time than today. At the same time he proposed as a member of the Democratic Party launched a political career.

Between 1861 and 1870 Houseman sitting on the city council of Grand Rapids. In the years 1871 and 1872 he was a member of the House of Representatives from Michigan; 1873 to 1875, he served as mayor of Grand Rapids. In 1876 he ran unsuccessfully for the office of Lieutenant Governor of Michigan. In the congressional elections of 1882 he was in the fifth electoral district of Michigan in the U.S. House of Representatives in Washington DC chosen, where he became the successor of George W. Webber on March 4, 1883. Since he resigned in 1884 to run again, he was able to complete only one term in Congress until March 3, 1885.

After his retirement from the U.S. House of Representatives to Houseman committed himself again to his private business. He died on 8 February 1891 in Grand Rapids.