The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001-07.
Hepburn, William Peters
1833–1916, American legislator, b. Wellsville, Ohio. He was raised in Iowa and entered law there. He was a Civil War cavalry officer. From 1881 to 1887 he served as a Republican Congressman from Iowa. After four years as solicitor of the Treasury, he reentered Congress in 1893, serving 16 years. He was vitally interested in railroad regulation and was for many years chairman of the Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce. He drafted the Hepburn Act of 1906, which strengthened the Interstate Commerce Commission (see also rebate), and was joint author of the Pure Food and Drugs Act (1906).
