Harry Palmer Jeffrey (December 26, 1901 – January 4, 1997) was an

attorney Attorney may refer to: * Lawyer ** Attorney at law, in some jurisdictions * Attorney, one who has power of attorney * ''The Attorney'', a 2013 South Korean film See also * Attorney general, the principal legal officer of (or advisor to) a gove ...

and one-term member of the United States House of Representatives from Ohio from 1943 to 1945.

Early life and career

Harry P. Jeffrey was born in Dayton, Ohio, the son of a department store manager, Samuel Jeffrey and his wife Grace. Harry Jeffrey attended Dayton's Patterson Grade School and graduated from Steele High School. He was graduated from Ohio State University at Columbus in 1924, and from the College of Law of the same university in 1926. Harry P. Jeffrey was admitted to the bar in 1926 and commenced practice in

Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, and t ...

. He moved back to Dayton in 1927 and continued the practice of law, joining the firm of Iddings & Iddings to form Iddings & Jeffrey. Jeffrey built on their practice providing legal services to entrepreneurs and business enterprises by expanding into

litigation - A lawsuit is a proceeding by a party or parties against another in the civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today. The term "lawsuit" is used in reference to a civil actio ...

, personal injury and divorce. Jeffrey was a

second lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

in the United States Army Reserve Corps from 1927 to 1930. He became special assistant

attorney general In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

of Ohio from 1933 to 1936.

Congress

In the 1942 mid-term election, Harry P. Jeffrey was elected as a Republican to the

Seventy-eighth Congress The 78th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from January 3, 1943, ...

from

Ohio's 3rd congressional district Ohio's 3rd congressional district is located entirely in Franklin County and includes most of the city of Columbus. The current district lines were drawn in 2011, following the redistricting based on the 2010 census. It is currently represent ...

. As a member of the House Veterans Committee, Harry Jeffrey was one of several authors of the

G. I. Bill of Rights The Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, commonly known as the G.I. Bill, was a law that provided a range of benefits for some of the returning World War II veterans (commonly referred to as G.I.s). The original G.I. Bill expired in 1956, bu ...

, which provided benefits to veterans returning from World War II, including loans that enabled military veterans to get a college education. He was unsuccessful in his bid for reelection in 1944.

Later career

After his congressional service, Harry P. Jeffrey resumed the practice of law in Dayton until his retirement in the 1980s. He argued a case before the United States Supreme Court and became a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers. Jeffrey was president of the Dayton Bar Association from 1954 to 1955. Governor

James A. Rhodes James Allen Rhodes (September 13, 1909 – March 4, 2001) was an American Republican politician who served as Governor of Ohio from 1963 to 1971 and again from 1975 to 1983. , Rhodes was one of only seven U.S. governors to serve four four-year ...

appointed Harry P. Jeffrey to the Advisory Committee of the Wright State Campus of Miami and Ohio State Universities in 1965. When that campus became a full-fledged university, Harry Jeffrey was a trustee of

Wright State University Wright State University is a public research university in Fairborn, Ohio. Originally opened in 1964 as a branch campus of Miami University and Ohio State University, it became an independent institution in 1967 and was named in honor of aviation ...

from 1967 to 1977. In 1976, he served as chair of the WSU Board of Trustees and retired from the Board in September 1977. He also served on the University Foundation Board of Directors for many years as secretary and then from 1981–83 as president. A scholarship in his memory was established at Wright State.

Death

He was a founding member of Fairmont Presbyterian Church in

Kettering, Ohio Kettering is a city in Montgomery county in the U.S. state of Ohio. Almost entirely in Montgomery County, it is an inner suburb of Dayton, Ohio. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 57,862 (down slightly from 58,453 in 2010), maki ...

. Harry P. Jeffrey died at Dayton Hospice at the age of 95. He is interred with his wife Susan (1912–1986) at

Woodland Cemetery, Dayton, Ohio Woodland Cemetery and Arboretum (200 acres), located at 118 Woodland Avenue, Dayton, Ohio, is one of the oldest garden cemeteries in the United States. Woodland was incorporated in 1842 by John Whitten Van Cleve, the first male child born in D ...

Sources

* "Longtime Lawyer Jeffrey Dies." Dayton Daily News, January 5, 1997, Page 2B. * “Harry P. Jeffrey -- Ohio Congressman”, The Washington Post, January 10, 1997, Page B7. {{DEFAULTSORT:Jeffrey, Harry P. 1901 births 1997 deaths Politicians from Dayton, Ohio Wright State University people Burials at Woodland Cemetery and Arboretum Ohio State University alumni 20th-century American legislators Ohio State University Moritz College of Law alumni Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Ohio