Samuel Shellabarger (December 10, 1817 – August 6, 1896) was an American lawyer and politician who served three different stints as a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

U.S. Representative 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 chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

from

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

in the mid-19th century.

Biography

Born near

Enon, Ohio Enon is a village in Clark County, Ohio, United States. The population was 2,455 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Springfield, Ohio Metropolitan Statistical Area. Enon is the headquarters of the Speedway gas station chain. History Enon wa ...

, Shellabarger attended the county schools and was graduated from

Miami University Miami University (informally Miami of Ohio or simply Miami) is a public research university in Oxford, Ohio. The university was founded in 1809, making it the second-oldest university in Ohio (behind Ohio University, founded in 1804) and the 10 ...

Oxford, Ohio Oxford is a city in Butler County, Ohio, United States. The population was 23,035 at the 2020 census. A college town, Oxford was founded as a home for Miami University and lies in the southwestern portion of the state approximately northwest ...

, in 1841. He studied law and was

admitted to the bar An admission to practice law is acquired when a lawyer receives a license to practice law. In jurisdictions with two types of lawyer, as with barristers and solicitors, barristers must gain admission to the bar whereas for solicitors there are dist ...

, commencing practice in

Springfield, Ohio Springfield is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Clark County, Ohio, Clark County. The municipality is located in southwestern Ohio and is situated on the Mad River (Ohio), Mad River, Buck Creek, and Beaver Creek, approxim ...

, in 1846. He served as a member of the State house of representatives in 1852 and 1853. Shellabarger was elected as a Republican to the Thirty-seventh Congress (March 4, 1861 – March 3, 1863). He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1862 to the Thirty-eighth Congress. Shellabarger was elected to the Thirty-ninth and Fortieth Congresses (March 4, 1865 – March 3, 1869). He declined to be a candidate for renomination in 1868. He served as U.S. Minister to Portugal from April 21 to December 31, 1869. Shellabarger was again elected to the Forty-second Congress (March 4, 1871 – March 3, 1873). During that term he served as chairman of the Committee on Commerce. Perhaps the most historically memorable moment of his life came early in this term when he drafted an anti-

Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to the KKK or the Klan, is an American white supremacist, right-wing terrorist, and hate group whose primary targets are African Americans, Jews, Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and ...

bill—sometimes referred to as the

Civil Rights Act of 1871 The Enforcement Act of 1871 (), also known as the Ku Klux Klan Act, Third Enforcement Act, Third Ku Klux Klan Act, Civil Rights Act of 1871, or Force Act of 1871, is an Act of the United States Congress which empowered the President to suspend ...

. After passage by both houses of Congress, the bill was signed into law by President

Ulysses S. Grant Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant ; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was an American military officer and politician who served as the 18th president of the United States from 1869 to 1877. As Commanding General, he led the Union Ar ...

on April 20. This bill was very instrumental in giving Grant the tools he needed to demolish the first-era KKK. Shellabarger's KKK bill was the second introduced in Congress that year; an earlier bill drafted by

Benjamin Butler Benjamin Franklin Butler (November 5, 1818 – January 11, 1893) was an American major general of the Union Army, politician, lawyer, and businessman from Massachusetts. Born in New Hampshire and raised in Lowell, Massachusetts, Butler is best ...

had failed to garner sufficient votes for passage. Shellabarger was not a candidate for renomination in 1872. He served as a member of the United States Civil Service Commission in 1874 and 1875. Shellabarger continued the practice of law until his death in Washington, D.C., August 6, 1896. He was interred in Ferncliff Cemetery,

. Through his son Robert and daughter-in-law Elizabeth, he is the grandfather of

Samuel Shellabarger Samuel Shellabarger (18 May 1888 – 21 March 1954) was an American educator and author of both scholarly works and best-selling historical novels. Born 18 May 1888 in Washington, D.C., Shellabarger was orphaned in infancy, upon the death of bot ...

(1888–1954), who after the death of both Robert and Elizabeth in 1889, was raised in the elder Shellabarger household, later becoming an American educator and author of note.

References

Source for initial material

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Shellabarger, Samuel 1817 births 1896 deaths Miami University alumni Politicians from Springfield, Ohio Republican Party members of the Ohio House of Representatives Ambassadors of the United States to Portugal 19th-century American diplomats 19th-century American politicians People from Clark County, Ohio Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Ohio