Representative Abraham Jonathan Hostetler

Abraham Jonathan (Abram) Hostetler (November 22, 1818 – November 24, 1899) was a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from Indiana who served one term in Congress from 1879 to 1881. Over the course of a long public and private career in nineteenth-century Indiana, he was successively a tradesman, farmer, state legislator, merchant, and national lawmaker, representing the interests of his constituents during a significant period in American political and economic development.

Hostetler was born on November 22, 1818, in Washington County, Indiana, a largely rural area in the southern part of the state. He attended the common schools available in his community, receiving a basic education typical of the era. As a young man he was apprenticed to learn the blacksmith’s trade, acquiring practical skills that enabled him to establish himself in a craft essential to frontier and small-town life. In addition to his work as a blacksmith, he later engaged in agricultural pursuits, reflecting the predominance of farming in Indiana’s economy during the mid-nineteenth century.

Hostetler’s involvement in public affairs began at the state level. A member of the Democratic Party, he was elected to the Indiana Senate, in which he served from 1854 to 1858. His tenure in the state legislature coincided with a turbulent period in national politics marked by sectional tensions over slavery and the realignment of political parties. As a state senator, he participated in shaping Indiana’s response to these broader national issues while attending to the legislative needs of his constituents at home.

Building on his experience in state government, Hostetler was elected as a Democrat to the Forty-sixth Congress, serving as a U.S. Representative from Indiana from March 4, 1879, to March 3, 1881. His single term in the House of Representatives took place during the post-Reconstruction era, a time of significant debate over economic policy, veterans’ issues, and federal authority. As a member of the House, Abraham Jonathan Hostetler contributed to the legislative process and participated in the democratic governance of the nation, representing the interests of his Indiana constituents in national deliberations. He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1880 to the Forty-seventh Congress, bringing his formal congressional service to a close after one term.

After leaving Congress, Hostetler returned to private life in Indiana and engaged in mercantile pursuits, adding commercial activity to his earlier experience in blacksmithing and agriculture. He remained active in Democratic Party politics and served as a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1880, underscoring his continued influence and standing within the party even as he transitioned away from elective office. His later years were spent in the vicinity of Bedford, Indiana, where he lived during the closing decades of the nineteenth century.

Abraham Jonathan Hostetler died near Bedford, Indiana, on November 24, 1899, two days after his eighty-first birthday. He was interred in Leatherwood Church Cemetery near Bedford, Indiana. His life reflected the trajectory of many nineteenth-century Midwestern politicians who rose from modest beginnings through local trades and agriculture to positions of responsibility in state and national government, contributing to the civic and political life of Indiana and the United States.