History of Iowa From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century/4/William H. M. Pusey
WILLIAM H. M. PUSEY was born in Washington County, Pennsylvania, July 29, 1826. He graduated from Washington and Jefferson College in 1847 and came to Springfield, Illinois, where he studied law and became personally acquainted with Abraham Lincoln, who was then practicing law in that city but had at that time attained no prominence outside of the region in which he lived. In 1856 Mr. Pusey became a resident at Council Bluffs, Iowa, where he entered into the banking business with his brother-in-law, Thomas Officer. Theirs was one of the pioneer banks of western Iowa and was continued until the death of Mr. Officer in 1900. In 1857 Mr. Pusey was elected to the State Senate for the Twelfth District which embraced twenty-two counties of western Iowa. He served in the Senate four years. In 1882 he was the Democratic candidate for Representative in Congress from the Ninth District and was elected over Colonel Anderson the Republican candidate, serving two years. Mr. Pusey was a prominent member of the Pioneer Lawmakers' Association and was a life-long Democrat. He died on the 15th of November, 1900.