Jacob D. Leighty was a U.S. Representative

United States House of Representatives

The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...

 from Indiana

Indiana

Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...

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Biography

Born near Greensburg, Pennsylvania

Greensburg, Pennsylvania

Greensburg is a city in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, United States, and a part of the Pittsburgh Metro Area. The city is named after Nathanael Greene, a major general of the Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War...

, LeightyIn 1844 moved with his parents to De Kalb County, Indiana, where they settled on a farm at Spencerville.
He attended the public schools.
He taught in district schools.
Spent two years at a commercial school at Fort Wayne and then entered Wittenberg College, Springfield, Ohio

Springfield, Ohio

Springfield is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Clark County. The municipality is located in southwestern Ohio and is situated on the Mad River, Buck Creek and Beaver Creek, approximately west of Columbus and northeast of Dayton. Springfield is home to Wittenberg...

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On July 1, 1861, after two years in college, he left to enlist in the Union Army

Union Army

The Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...

 and became a member of Company E, Eleventh Indiana Volunteer Zouave Infantry.
He engaged in farming and general merchandising with his father until 1875, when he established the town of St. Joe, Indiana.
He served as member of the State house of representatives 1886-1888.

Leighty was elected as a Republican

Republican Party (United States)

The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

 to the Fifty-fourth

54th United States Congress

- House of Representatives :-Leadership:- Senate :* President: Adlai E. Stevenson * President pro tempore: William P. Frye - Majority leadership :* Republican Conference Chairman: John Sherman- Minority leadership :...

 Congress (March 4, 1895-March 3, 1897).
He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1896 to the Fifty-fifth

55th United States Congress

-House of Representatives:* Republican: 206 * Democratic: 124* Populist: 22* Silver Republican: 3* Silver: 1* Independent Republican: 1TOTAL members: 357-Leadership:-Senate:* President: Garret Hobart * President pro tempore: William P...

 Congress.
United States pension agent at Indianapolis 1897-1901.
He died at St. Joe, De Kalb County, Indiana, on October 18, 1912.
He was interred in Riverview Cemetery.