Biography

07/25/1818 - 05/18/1911

Elijah Reed Myer (R17) Bradford, Susquehanna, Wyoming Counties 1857 (R9) Bradford, Susquehanna, Wyoming Counties 1858-1859 

Early Life:

Elijah Reed Myer, born, July 25, 1818, Canton Township, Bradford County, Pennsylvania; common school education; engaged, milling, farming; married, Mary Frances Cochrane, 1847, children, Thomas Evans, Elizabeth Foster, Erskine Reed, Mollie White, Charles Malcom, John Jefferson; elected, Pennsylvania State Senate, 1857-1859; presidential appointee, surveyor of customs, United States Customs Service, Philadelphia, 1861-1867; elected, Republican, Pennsylvania House of Representatives, 1873-1874; elected, Republican, Pennsylvania House of Representatives, 1877-1878; elected, Speaker, 1877-1878 not a candidate for reelection, 1878; died, May 18, 1911 (aged 92), Canton Township, Bradford County, Pennsylvania; interment, Wysox Cemetery, Wysox, Bradford County, Pennsylvania. 

Pennsylvania Politics:

Elected, Republican, Pennsylvania State Senate, 17th district, Bradford, Susquehanna, Wyoming Counties, 1857. 

Elected, Republican, Pennsylvania State Senate, 9th district, Bradford, Susquehanna, Wyoming Counties, 1858-1859.

Elected, Republican, Pennsylvania House of Representatives, 1873-1874, not a candidate for reelection, 1874; committee assignments, Banks, Corporations, Counties and Townships, Manufacturers; chairman, Ways and Means. 

Elected, Republican, Pennsylvania House of Representatives, 1877-1878; elected, 94th Speaker, Pennsylvania House of Representatives Speaker, 1877-1878; Act 21 of 1878, created Pennsylvania’s 67th and last county, Lackawanna; Act 143 of 1878, which prevented the sale of altered or tainted milk in Pennsylvania. Not a candidate for reelection, 1878.  

Continued Government Service/National Politics:

Presidential appointee, President Abraham Lincoln, surveyor of customs, United States Customs Service, Philadelphia, 1861-1867.  

Pennsylvania House of Representatives Biographies: 

Official Website - PA House Archives Official Website (state.pa.us)

 Pennsylvania Speaker of House of Representatives Biography:

Elijah Reed Myer - PA House of Representatives - PA House of Representatives (state.pa.us)

 Cited: 

Cox, Harold. "Senate Members M". Wilkes University Election Statistics Project. Wilkes University.

Elijah Reed Myer (1818-1911) - Find a Grave Memorial