Representative Addison Henry Laflin

Addison Henry Laflin (October 24, 1823 – September 24, 1878) was an American printmaker and Republican politician who represented New York in the United States House of Representatives from 1865 to 1871. His congressional career spanned three consecutive terms during the critical years of the Civil War’s aftermath and Reconstruction, when the federal government was reshaping the political and social order of the reunited nation.

Laflin was born on October 24, 1823, and came of age in a period of rapid industrial and political change in the United States. He entered the printing and paper-related trades, becoming a printmaker by profession. This background in a skilled, industrial craft placed him within the growing commercial and manufacturing economy of the mid-nineteenth century, and it provided him with practical experience in business and labor issues that would later inform his public service.

Before entering national politics, Laflin became active in New York state affairs. A member of the emerging Republican Party, which had been founded in the 1850s on an anti-slavery and pro-Union platform, he was elected to the New York State Senate, where he served in 1858 and 1859. His tenure in the state legislature coincided with mounting sectional tensions and debates over slavery, states’ rights, and economic development, giving him early exposure to the issues that would soon dominate national politics.

Laflin was elected as a Republican to the United States House of Representatives from New York and served three consecutive terms, holding office from 1865 to 1871. His service in Congress began in the immediate aftermath of the Civil War, a significant period in American history marked by Reconstruction, the reintegration of the seceded states, and the passage of constitutional amendments abolishing slavery and defining citizenship and civil rights. As a member of the House of Representatives, he participated in the legislative process and represented the interests of his New York constituents while the federal government addressed questions of national reunification, veterans’ affairs, economic recovery, and the political status of formerly enslaved people.

During his six years in Congress, Laflin contributed to the work of the Republican majority that sought to secure the results of Union victory and to shape the postwar order. He took part in debates and votes on measures central to Reconstruction and on legislation affecting commerce, industry, and infrastructure, areas of particular concern to a rapidly industrializing state such as New York. His role in the House placed him among the lawmakers who helped define federal policy during one of the most transformative eras in United States history.

After leaving Congress in 1871, Laflin returned to private life. Drawing on his earlier experience as a printmaker and businessman, he remained associated with the commercial and industrial interests that had framed his early career and political outlook. Although he no longer held elective office, his years in state and national government left a record of service during a time when the country was redefining its political and constitutional foundations.

Addison Henry Laflin died on September 24, 1878. His career, spanning skilled industrial work, service in the New York State Senate in 1858 and 1859, and three terms in the United States House of Representatives from 1865 to 1871, reflected the close connection between the emerging industrial economy of the nineteenth century and the Republican political leadership that guided the nation through the Civil War and Reconstruction.