Sydenham Elnathan Ancona (November 20, 1824 – June 20, 1913) was an American educator and politician who served three terms as a Democratic 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 ...

from 1861 to 1867.

Life and career

Ancona was born near

Lititz, Pennsylvania Lititz is a Borough (Pennsylvania), borough in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, United States, north of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Lancaster. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it had a population of 9,370. History Lititz was ...

. His father, Moses Ancona, came from a British

Sephardic Jewish Sephardic Jews, also known as Sephardi Jews or Sephardim, and rarely as Iberian Peninsular Jews, are a Jewish diaspora population associated with the historic Jewish communities of the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal) and their descendant ...

family, and his paternal grandmother was a member of the prominent Montefiore family. He moved to

Berks County, Pennsylvania Berks County (Pennsylvania Dutch language, Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Barricks 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 coun ...

, in 1826 with his parents, who settled near Sculls Hill, Pennsylvania. He attended public and private schools, and taught school. He moved in 1856 to

Reading, Pennsylvania Reading ( ; ) is a city in Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. The city had a population of 95,112 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, fourth-most populous ...

, where he entered the employ of the

Reading Company The Reading Company ( ) was a Philadelphia-headquartered railroad that provided passenger and freight transport in eastern Pennsylvania and neighboring states from 1924 until its acquisition by Conrail in 1976. Commonly called the Reading Railro ...

and served as a member of the Board of Education.

Congress

Ancona was elected as a Democrat to the Thirty-seventh, Thirty-eighth, and Thirty-ninth Congresses. He was an unsuccessful candidate for renomination in

1866 Events January * January 1 ** Fisk University, a historically black university, is established in Nashville, Tennessee. ** The last issue of the abolitionist magazine '' The Liberator'' is published. * January 6 – Ottoman troops clash ...

Later life and career

After leaving Congress, he became engaged in the trust, fire-insurance, and relief-association businesses in Reading. He was one of the organizers of the Reading Fire Insurance and Trust Company, serving as its secretary and treasurer for over 30 years. He reportedly was very interested in government services, especially the fire department. He was a member of the Firemen's Union for many years. He was a delegate to the

1880 Democratic National Convention The 1880 Democratic National Convention was held June 22 to 24, 1880, at the Music Hall in Cincinnati, Ohio, and nominated Winfield S. Hancock of Pennsylvania for president and William H. English of Indiana for vice president in the United St ...

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

. During a visit to the Capitol at

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, in 1912 he was tendered a reception on the floor of the House of Representatives, because he was at the time the last surviving Member of the Thirty-seventh Congress which had been assembled at the extraordinary session called by

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th president of the United States, serving from 1861 until Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, his assassination in 1865. He led the United States through the American Civil War ...

on July 4, 1861. He also served multiple terms on the Reading School Board. In his retirement, he traveled the country and many foreign countries. He was engaged in banking and in the insurance business until his death in Reading in 1913. He is interred in Reading's Charles Evans Cemetery.

Sources

The Political Graveyard
1824 births 1913 deaths American people of British-Jewish descent American people of Italian-Jewish descent Burials at Charles Evans Cemetery Politicians from Reading, Pennsylvania Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Pennsylvania People from Lititz, Pennsylvania 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives {{Pennsylvania-Representative-stub