J. Warren Keifer

J. Warren Keifer (around 1880)

Joseph Warren Keifer (born January 30, 1836 in Springfield , Ohio , † April 22, 1932 ibid) was an American major general , politician of the Republican Party , member of the US House of Representatives for Ohio and speaker of the House of Representatives .

biography

Promotion to major general in the US Army

After attending general schools ( Common Schools ) and Antioch College in Yellow Springs , he studied law and took up a position as a lawyer in Springfield after admission on January 12, 1858 .

On April 19, 1861, he joined the US Army a week after the start of the Civil War, and on April 27, 1861, he was appointed major in the 3rd Ohio Volunteer Infantry . After his promotion to lieutenant colonel on February 12, 1862, he was on September 30, 1862 as a colonel in command of the 110th Ohio Volunteer Infantry ( Hundred and Tenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry ). On October 19, 1864, he was initially awarded the brevet rank of Brigadier General of the Volunteer Army. On the day the Northern Virginia Army surrendered at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865, he was promoted to major general and as such retired on June 27, 1865.

He then resumed his practice as a lawyer in July 1865. At the same time he began a few years later a political career and was elected as a representative of the Republicans in 1868 and 1869 in the Ohio Senate. At the same time he was involved in the Civil War Veterans Association ( Grand Army of the Republic ) and was its commander of the Ohio Department in 1871 and 1872. In addition to being a curator ( trustee ) of Antioch College, he was also a delegate at the Republican National Convention in 1876 for the establishment of the Republican presidential candidate.

MP and Speaker of the House of Representatives

Shortly thereafter, Keifer was elected to the US House of Representatives for the first time and, after three re-elections from March 4, 1877 to March 3, 1885, represented first the 8th, then 1879 to 1881 the 4th and finally again the 8th congressional electoral district of Ohio. During this time he was on 5 December 1881 and on 3 March 1883 Speaker ( Speaker ) and was at the same time chairman of the Rules Committee ( House Committee on Rules ). In 1884 he was defeated by the internal party nominations for a renewed candidacy for the House of Representatives.

After leaving the US Congress , he returned to practice as a lawyer and was also President of the Lagonda National Bank of Springfield , a position he held for more than fifty years of his life. During the Spanish-American War he resumed military service as Major General of the Volunteer Army between June 9, 1898 and May 12, 1899. After the end of the war, he was the first commander-in-chief of the Spanish War Veterans from 1900 to 1901 .

In 1905 Keifer was re-elected to the US House of Representatives and after two re-elections from March 4, 1905 to March 3, 1911, he represented the interests of the 7th congressional electoral district of Ohio. In 1910 he suffered a defeat in the elections to the 62nd US Congress against his Democratic challenger James D. Post .

He then returned to work as a lawyer and bank president. After his death, he was buried in Springfield's Ferncliff Cemetery.

Web links

• J. Warren Keifer in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)