Representative Samuel Alfred Craig

Samuel Alfred Craig (November 19, 1839 – March 17, 1920) was a Civil War soldier, attorney, and Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania. He was born in Brookville, Jefferson County, Pennsylvania, where he spent the majority of his life. Raised in western Pennsylvania, he attended the common schools of his native town before pursuing further education at Jefferson College in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, an institution that later became part of Washington & Jefferson College. As a young man, Craig learned the printer’s trade and also taught school, occupations that reflected both his interest in practical skills and his commitment to education.

With the outbreak of the American Civil War, Craig entered military service at an early stage of the conflict. He enlisted in the Union Army as a private on April 19, 1861, joining the ranks of those who responded immediately to President Abraham Lincoln’s call for volunteers. Over the course of his service, he rose steadily through the commissioned officer grades, being promoted successively to second lieutenant, first lieutenant, and then captain of Company B, 105th Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, a unit that saw extensive action in the Eastern Theater. He was later commissioned as a captain in the Veteran Reserve Corps of the United States Army, a formation composed of experienced soldiers assigned to less physically demanding duties, and he served continuously in the Union military for four years and three months.

After the close of the war, Craig returned to Brookville and turned to the study of law, reflecting a transition from military to civic service. He read law in the traditional manner of the period and was admitted to the bar in 1876. Upon admission, he commenced the practice of law in Brookville, building a professional career in his hometown. His legal abilities and standing in the community led to his election as district attorney of Jefferson County, Pennsylvania, in 1878, a position in which he was responsible for prosecuting criminal cases and representing the interests of the county in legal matters.

Craig’s prominence as a lawyer and local official provided a foundation for his entry into national politics as a member of the Republican Party. He was elected as a Republican to the Fifty-first Congress, representing Pennsylvania in the U.S. House of Representatives for one term. His congressional service placed him in Washington, D.C., during a significant period in American history marked by debates over tariffs, veterans’ benefits, and federal economic policy in the late nineteenth century. As a member of the Republican Party representing Pennsylvania, Samuel Alfred Craig contributed to the legislative process during his single term in office, participating in the democratic process and representing the interests of his constituents in the national legislature.

After serving in Congress, Craig sought to continue his legislative career but was an unsuccessful candidate for renomination in 1890. Following his departure from the House of Representatives, he returned to Brookville and resumed the practice of law. He continued to be a respected figure in the legal and civic life of Jefferson County, maintaining his professional activities and local engagements in the years after his congressional service.

Samuel Alfred Craig remained in Brookville for the remainder of his life. He died there on March 17, 1920, at the age of 80. He was interred in Brookville Cemetery, in the community where he had been born, educated, practiced law, and built his public career as a soldier, attorney, and congressman.