Isaac Leffler

Isaac Leffler
Isaac Leffler
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives; from Virginia's 18th district
	In office; March 4, 1827 – March 3, 1829
Preceded by	Joseph Johnson
Succeeded by	Philip Doddridge
Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of the Wisconsin Territory
	In office; November 6, 1837 – June 11, 1838
Preceded by	Peter H. Engle
Succeeded by	William B. Sheldon
Representative to the Legislative Assembly of the Wisconsin Territory from Des Moines County
	In office; October 25, 1836 – November 26, 1838 Serving with Thomas Blair, John Box, George W. Teas, David R. Chance, Warren L. Jenkins, and Eli Reynolds
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Position abolished
Personal details
Born	November 7, 1788; Washington County, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Died	March 8, 1866 (aged 77); Chariton, Iowa, U.S.
Resting place	Aspen Grove Cemetery, Burlington, Iowa, U.S.
Political party	Adams Party (1820s); Whig (1830s-1840s)
Spouse(s)	Rebecca Foreman; (m. 1813; died 1830); Lethenia Sprigg Mitchell; (died 1879);
Children	Jane Ellouise (Kelly); (b. 1816; died 1888); Emily (Chalfant); (b. 1826; died 1898); Sarah Lowther (Edwards); (b. 1844; died 1908);
Relatives	Shepherd Leffler (brother)

Isaac Leffler (November 7, 1788 – March 8, 1866), sometimes spelled Lefler or Loeffler, was an American lawyer and Iowa pioneer who represented Virginia's 18th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives for one term in the 1820s. He served in the legislatures of the Commonwealth of Virginia and the Wisconsin and Iowa Territories.

He was the older brother of Shepherd Leffler, who was one of Iowa's first congressmen after achieving statehood.

Biography

Born on his grandfather's plantation, "Sylvia's Plain," in Washington County, Pennsylvania, near Wheeling, Virginia (now West Virginia), Leffler attended the public schools and was graduated from Jefferson College, (now Washington & Jefferson College), in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania. After studying law, he was admitted to the bar and commenced practice in Wheeling. He served as a member of the Virginia House of Delegates from 1817 to 1819, 1823 to 1827, 1832, and 1833. He served as a member of the Virginia Board of Public Works in 1827.

In 1826, Leffler was elected as an Adams Party candidate to the Twentieth Congress, defeating incumbent Jacksonian Joseph Johnson. When running for re-election in 1828, he was beaten (along with President John Quincy Adams). Although Andrew Jackson defeated Adams, Leffler was defeated by Anti-Jacksonian Party candidate Philip Doddridge. In all, Leffler served in the U.S. House from March 4, 1827, to March 3, 1829.

In 1835, Leffler moved to that portion of Michigan Territory that is now Burlington, Des Moines County, Iowa, in Iowa's southeastern corner. At the time, Iowa and the other regions of the Michigan Territory west of the Mississippi River were broadly divided between Des Moines County, in the south, and Dubuque County in the north.

Leffler was admitted to the Des Moines County bar on April 15, 1835, and practiced law. While under Michigan's regional governance, he was named as the chief justice of the first judicial tribunal of Des Moines County on April 11, 1836. After the creation of Wisconsin Territory on April 20, 1836, he served in the first legislature of the new Territory from 1836 through 1838, and served as Speaker of the House during the 2nd session of the Assembly, in the winter of 1837-38. After Iowa Territory was created from areas of Wisconsin Territory west of the Mississippi River—previously referred to as the Iowa District—in 1838, he served as a member of the Iowa Territory house of representatives in 1841.

President John Tyler appointed Leffler as United States marshal for the district of Iowa on December 18, 1843. He served until removed by President James K. Polk on December 29, 1845, when he resumed the practice of law in Burlington. He declined the appointment of the register of the land office at Stillwater (in what was then Minnesota Territory) in 1849. He was appointed by President Millard Fillmore as receiver of public sums of money for the Chariton land district of Iowa on August 30, 1852, and served on that position until removed by President Franklin Pierce on March 29, 1853.

He died in Chariton, Iowa, on March 8, 1866. He was interred in Aspen Grove Cemetery, in Burlington.

Sources

United States Congress. "Isaac Leffler (id: L000214)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.

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External links

Isaac Leffler at Find a Grave

U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by Joseph Johnson	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Virginia's 18th congressional district March 4, 1827 - March 3, 1829	Succeeded by Philip Doddridge

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