Jasper Packard

Jasper Packard (February 1, 1832 – December 13, 1899) was an American attorney, Civil War veteran, and Republican politician who, from 1869 to 1875, served three terms as a member of the United States House of Representatives for Indiana’s at-large congressional district and Indiana’s 11th congressional district. His congressional service spanned a significant period in American history during Reconstruction, when he participated in the legislative process and represented the interests of his Indiana constituents in the post–Civil War era.

Packard was born in Austintown, Trumbull County, Ohio, on February 1, 1832. In 1835 he moved with his parents to Indiana, where the family settled as part of the broader westward migration into the Old Northwest. He was educated in the local public schools of Indiana and pursued higher education at the University of Michigan, from which he graduated in 1855. His university training prepared him for professional life at a time when formal higher education was becoming increasingly important for those entering the learned professions and public service.

After completing his studies, Packard taught school and established himself in La Porte, Indiana. While residing there, he undertook the study of law and was admitted to the bar in 1861, beginning a legal career that would later complement his work in public office. His early professional years in La Porte coincided with the mounting national tensions that culminated in the outbreak of the Civil War.

With the onset of the Civil War, Packard enlisted in the Union Army as a private in the Forty-eighth Regiment of Indiana Volunteers. Demonstrating leadership and ability, he advanced rapidly through the ranks, being promoted to first lieutenant on January 1, 1862, and to captain on September 12, 1862. He later served as lieutenant colonel of the 128th Indiana Infantry and was promoted to colonel on June 26, 1865. His service in the Union Army during the conflict provided him with military and administrative experience that would inform his later public career and aligned him with the Unionist and Republican cause during and after the war.

Following the war, Packard returned to Indiana and entered local public service. He served as Auditor of La Porte County from November 15, 1866, to March 1, 1869, overseeing county financial affairs during the early Reconstruction period. His performance in this office helped establish his reputation as a capable administrator and contributed to his emergence as a Republican leader in his region of the state.

Packard was elected as a Republican to the Forty-first, Forty-second, and Forty-third Congresses, serving from March 4, 1869, to March 3, 1875. During his three terms in the House of Representatives, he first represented Indiana’s at-large congressional district and later Indiana’s 11th congressional district as the state’s representation was adjusted. In Congress he participated actively in the legislative work of Reconstruction and served in positions of responsibility, including as chairman of the Committee on Expenditures in the Department of State during the Forty-third Congress and chairman of the Committee on Private Land Claims in the same Congress. He was not a candidate for renomination in 1874, concluding his congressional service at the end of his third term.

After leaving Congress, Packard engaged in newspaper pursuits, reflecting a continued interest in public affairs and the dissemination of political and civic information. In the final year of his life, he returned to formal public service when he was appointed commandant of the State soldiers’ home at Lafayette, Indiana, on July 1, 1899, a position that drew upon both his military background and his administrative experience and placed him in charge of the welfare of aging and disabled veterans.

Jasper Packard died in Lafayette, Indiana, on December 13, 1899, while serving as commandant of the State soldiers’ home. He was interred in the Soldiers’ Home Cemetery in Lafayette, closing a life marked by military service in the Civil War, legal and local governmental work in Indiana, and three terms of national legislative service during one of the most consequential periods in United States history.