John Black Packer (March 21, 1824 – July 7, 1891) was a Republican member of the

U.S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

from

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

Biography

John B. Packer was born in

Sunbury, Pennsylvania Sunbury ( ) is a city and the county seat of Northumberland County in Pennsylvania, United States. Located in the Susquehanna Valley, Sunbury is positioned on the east bank of the Susquehanna River. Sunbury's roots stretch back to the early ...

on March 21, 1824. Initially a private student, he later attended the

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. From 1839 to 1842, he served with the corps of engineers that was employed by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in the survey and construction of public improvements. After completed law studies, Packer was admitted to the bar on August 6, 1844, and began his legal practice in Sunbury, where he was also engaged in banking. Deputy attorney general of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania from 1845 to 1847, he subsequently served in the

Pennsylvania State House of Representatives The Pennsylvania House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Pennsylvania General Assembly, the legislature of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. There are 203 members, elected for two-year terms from single member districts. It ...

in 1850 and 1851. He also became one of the organizers of the Susquehanna Railroad Company in 1851. Packer was then elected as a Republican to the forty-first and to the three succeeding Congresses. He served as chairman of the

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during the Forty-second Congress and United States House Committee on Post Office and Post Roads during the Forty-third Congress. After declining to be a candidate for renomination in

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, he resumed the practice of law in Sunbury, as well as his banking activities. He died in Sunbury on July 7, 1891 and was interred at the

Pomfret Manor Cemetery Pomfret Manor Cemetery is a cemetery located in Sunbury, Pennsylvania. Former members of the United States Congress and U.S. Medal of Honor winners are among the notable interments here. History Incorporated as the Mt. Pleasant Cemetery Company o ...

in Sunbury.Kestenbaum, Lawrence. "Packer, John Black" (biography), ''The Political Graveyard'', 1996.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Packer, John B. Republican Party members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives Pennsylvania lawyers 1824 births 1891 deaths Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Pennsylvania 19th-century American lawyers 19th-century members of the Pennsylvania General Assembly 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives