 Chapman was elected as Iowa Territory 's first non @-@ voting delegate to the United States House of Representatives . A Democrat , he served from September 10 , 1838 to October 27 , 1840 , spanning portions of the Twenty @-@ fifth and Twenty @-@ sixth Congresses . While in Congress he introduced legislation for a pre @-@ emption law , the first to do so in Congress . His efforts secured for Iowa the land grant of 500 @,@ 000 acres ( 2 @,@ 000 km2 ) for the support of common schools , and a congressional report on Iowa 's boundary dispute with Missouri that was favorable to Iowa . 
