Jacob Augustus Geissenhainer (August 28, 1839 – July 20, 1917) was an American

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...

and

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

who represented

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

's 3rd congressional district in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

for three terms from 1889 to 1895.

Early life and career

Geissenhainer was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and attended private schools. He graduated from Columbia College in New York City (

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

, 1858), and went on to study law at

Yale Law School Yale Law School (Yale Law or YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824 and has been ranked as the best law school in the United States by ''U ...

, and

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

(

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

, 1860). He also attended the

University of Berlin Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (german: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a German public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin. It was established by Frederick William III on the initiative o ...

. In 1862 he was admitted to the bar, and he commenced practice in New York City. Geissenhainer married Susan Havemeyer Burkhalter, a member of the

Havemeyer family The Havemeyer family is a prominent New York family of German origin that owned significant sugar refining interests in the United States. History William Havemeyer (1770-1851) left Germany at age 15 and arrived in New York City after learning t ...

Congress

He was elected as a Democrat to the Fifty-first, Fifty-second and Fifty-third Congresses where he served from March 4, 1889 until March 3, 1895. He also served as chairman of the Committee on Immigration and Naturalization (Fifty-third Congress), and on the Committee on Naval Affairs (Fifty-third Congress). Geissenhainer was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1894 to the Fifty-fourth Congress. After this, he resumed the practice of law.

Death

He died at

Mount Pocono, Pennsylvania Mount Pocono is a borough in Monroe County, Pennsylvania. It is located nearly centered in the southernmost county of five in the northeastern corner that are part of the Pocono Mountains. The borough serves as a local highway nexus, and sees a ...

, and was interred in

West Laurel Hill Cemetery West Laurel Hill Cemetery is a historic rural cemetery located in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1869, is 200 acres in size and contains the burials of many notable people. It is affiliated with Laurel Hill Cemetery in neighboring Ph ...

Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania Bala Cynwyd ( ) is a community in Lower Merion Township, Pennsylvania. It is located on the Philadelphia Main Line in Southeastern Pennsylvania, bordering the western edge of Philadelphia at U.S. Route 1 (City Avenue). It was originally two separa ...

References

External links

Jacob Augustus Geissenhainer
at

The Political Graveyard The Political Graveyard is a website and database that catalogues information on more than 277,000 American political figures and political families, along with other information. The name comes from the website's inclusion of burial locations of ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Geissenhainer, Jacob Augustus 1839 births 1917 deaths Columbia College (New York) alumni New York (state) lawyers New York University School of Law alumni Lawyers from New York City Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from New Jersey Burials at West Laurel Hill Cemetery 19th-century American politicians Politicians from New York City 19th-century American lawyers