1861 US Representative Samuel Shellabarger MC Congressional free frank cover & letter signed July 2 to John Keifer, Springfield, Ohio

1861 Samuel Shelabarger /Shellabarger (1817-1896), signed twice as Member of Congress (one in his free frank and also in included letter). Letter dated July 2, 1861 to John Keifer/Keiser, Springfield, Ohio.  Representative Shelabarger, as he signs his name in this letter, served several terms in Congress, this being his first 1861-1863.  In this letter he refers to the census, pay, the marshall and informs the recipient that he has been assigned number 1271. Condition is as pictured.

During his term in the Forty-second Congress (March 4, 1871-March 3, 1873), Shelabarger served as chairman of the Committee on Commerce and he drafted an anti-Ku Klux Klan bill, also known as the Civil Rights Act of 1871.  After passage by both houses of Congress, the bill was signed into law by President Ulysses S. Grant on April 20.