Representative Henry Lutz Cake

Henry Lutz Cake (October 6, 1827 – August 26, 1899) was a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania who served two terms in Congress from 1867 to 1871. His congressional service, as a Representative from Pennsylvania, took place during the Reconstruction era following the American Civil War, a significant period in United States history in which he contributed to the legislative process and represented the interests of his constituents.

Cake was born near Northumberland, Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, on October 6, 1827. He attended the common and private schools of the area, receiving a basic formal education typical of the period. As a young man, he learned the art of printing, a skilled trade that provided his entry into public life and local affairs. Through this work he became connected with the developing industrial and commercial life of Pennsylvania in the mid-nineteenth century.

Building on his training as a printer, Cake became a newspaper publisher. He published the Pottsville Mining Record in Pottsville, Pennsylvania, a community closely associated with the anthracite coal industry. He continued this work until the outbreak of the American Civil War in April 1861. His involvement with a mining-focused publication reflected the growing importance of coal to the regional and national economy and foreshadowed his later business career in mining and shipping anthracite coal.

With the onset of the Civil War, Cake entered the Union Army on April 17, 1861, as a second lieutenant. Demonstrating leadership and gaining the confidence of his men, he was elected colonel of the 25th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment in Washington, D.C., on May 1, 1861. After the regiment completed three months’ service, he reorganized the unit, contributing to the early mobilization efforts of Pennsylvania’s volunteer forces. He later commanded the 96th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment from September 23, 1861, to March 12, 1863. During this period he led his regiment in the Union war effort until his resignation from the Army on March 12, 1863, after which he settled in Tamaqua, Pennsylvania.

Following his resignation from military service, Cake turned fully to business pursuits. He engaged in the mining and shipping of anthracite coal, an industry central to the economy of eastern Pennsylvania. Operating in and around Tamaqua, he became part of the broader development of coal mining in the United States, helping to supply fuel that powered industrial growth in the postwar era. His experience in both publishing and coal-related enterprises strengthened his ties to the communities and economic interests he would later represent in Congress.

Cake entered national politics as a member of the Republican Party, which dominated Pennsylvania politics in the Reconstruction period. He was elected as a Republican to the Fortieth and Forty-first Congresses and served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1867 to 1871. During his tenure, he participated in the democratic process at a time when Congress was addressing the reintegration of the Southern states, the rights of formerly enslaved people, and the broader reconstruction of the Union. In the Forty-first Congress he served as chairman of the United States House Committee on Accounts, overseeing matters related to the financial administration and internal expenditures of the House. He was an unsuccessful candidate for renomination in 1870, which brought his congressional career to a close after two terms in office.

After leaving Congress, Cake resumed his involvement in the mining and shipping of coal, returning to the private sector and to the industry that had long been central to his livelihood. He continued to be associated with the anthracite coal trade, reflecting the enduring importance of that resource to Pennsylvania’s economy in the late nineteenth century. He spent his later years in his native region of Pennsylvania.

Henry Lutz Cake died in Northumberland, Pennsylvania, on August 26, 1899. He was interred in Riverview Cemetery in Northumberland, bringing his life to a close in the community near where he had been born. His career encompassed work as a printer and publisher, service as a Union Army officer during the Civil War, business activity in the coal industry, and two terms in the U.S. House of Representatives during one of the most consequential periods in American political history.