Jacob Hale SYPHER, Congress, LA (1837-1905)

SYPHER Jacob Hale , a Representative from Louisiana; born near Millerstown, Perry County, Pa., June 22, 1837; received a liberal education, and was graduated from Alfred (N.Y.) University in 1859; taught school in Cleveland, Ohio; entered the Union Army as a private in Company A, First Ohio Light Artillery, and later served as colonel of the Eleventh United States Colored Heavy Artillery; after the war bought a plantation in northern Louisiana, but about two years later commenced the study of law; was admitted to the bar and practiced in New Orleans, La.; delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1868; upon readmission of the State of Louisiana to representation was elected as a Republican to the Fortieth Congress and served from July 18, 1868, to March 3, 1869; contested the election of Louis St. Martin to the Forty-first Congress, but the House decided that neither was entitled to the seat; subsequently elected to the Forty-first Congress to fill the vacancy thus created; reelected to the Forty-second Congress and served from November 7, 1870, to March 3, 1873; presented credentials as a Member-elect to the Forty-third Congress and served from March 4, 1873, to March 3, 1875, when he was succeeded by Effingham Lawrence, who contested the election; chairman, Committee on Expenditures in the Department of the Treasury (Forty-third Congress); unsuccessful candidate for election in 1874 to the Forty-fourth Congress; resumed the practice of law in Washington, D.C.; died in Baltimore, Md., May 9, 1905; interment in the Arlington National Cemetery.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present