Seth Hartman Yocum (August 2, 1834 – April 19, 1895) was a Greenback 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 ...

. Seth H. Yocum was born in

Catawissa, Pennsylvania Catawissa is a borough in Columbia County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is part of the Susquehanna Valley in Pennsylvania. The population was 1,539 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Bloomsburg-Berwick micropolitan area. Catawissa is tw ...

. After attending rural schools, he went to

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

in 1850 and learned the printer's trade. Yocum also taught school for several years, and graduated from

Dickinson College Dickinson College is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1773 as Carlisle Grammar School, Dickinson was chartered on September 9, 1783, ...

in 1860, where he was a member of

Phi Kappa Psi Phi Kappa Psi (), commonly known as Phi Psi, is an American collegiate social fraternity that was founded at Jefferson College in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania in 1852. The fraternity has over ninety chapters at accredited four-year colleges and uni ...

. During the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

, Yocum entered the Union Army as a private and was promoted to the first lieutenant of the Fifth Pennsylvania Cavalry. He studied law, was admitted to the

Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania Schuylkill County (, ; Pennsylvania Dutch language, Pennsylvania Dutch: Schulkill Kaundi) is a County (United States), county in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the ...

bar in 1865 and commenced practice in

Ashland, Pennsylvania Ashland is a borough (Pennsylvania), borough in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, Schuylkill and Columbia County, Pennsylvania, Columbia counties in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, northwest of Pottsville, Pennsylvania, Pottsville. It is part of ...

. He moved to

Bellefonte, Pennsylvania The Borough of Bellefonte is a borough in and the county seat of Centre County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is approximately 12 miles northeast of State College and is part of the State College, Pennsylvania metropolitan statistical area. ...

in 1873 and continued the practice of law, serving as district attorney of

Centre County, Pennsylvania Centre County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 158,172. Its county seat is Bellefonte. Centre County is composed of the State College, PA Metropolitan Statistical Area ...

from 1875 to 1879. Yocum was elected as a Greenbacker to the Forty-sixth Congress in the 1878 election, but was not a candidate for renomination in

1880 Events January *January 27 – Thomas Edison is granted a patent for the incandescent light bulb. Edison filed for a US patent for an electric lamp using "a carbon filament or strip coiled and connected ... to platina contact wires." gr ...

. He moved to

Johnson City, Tennessee Johnson City is a city in Washington, Carter, and Sullivan counties in the U.S. state of Tennessee, mostly in Washington County. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 71,046, making it Tennessee's eighth-most populous cit ...

, and engaged in the tanning business. He was elected mayor of Johnson City in 1885. After this, Yocum moved to

Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commerci ...

, and began growing

oranges The orange, also called sweet orange to distinguish it from the bitter orange (''Citrus × aurantium''), is the fruit of a tree in the family Rutaceae. Botanically, this is the hybrid ''Citrus'' × ''sinensis'', between the pomelo (''Citrus m ...

commercially. He died in

Santa Monica, California Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...

in 1895 and was interred in Mountain View Cemetery in Pasadena.

References

Retrieved on 2008-2-15
The Political Graveyard
1834 births 1895 deaths People from Columbia County, Pennsylvania Greenback Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Pennsylvania Union army officers People from Bellefonte, Pennsylvania Politicians from Pasadena, California People from Johnson City, Tennessee 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives Military personnel from California Military personnel from Pennsylvania Members of the United States House of Representatives from Pennsylvania People of Pennsylvania in the American Civil War District attorneys in Centre County, Pennsylvania {{Pennsylvania-Representative-stub

See also

References