Biography

12/19/1842 - 09/11/1900

Major Samuel Alfred Losch (R29) Schuylkill, 1897-1900

Early Life: 

Samuel Alfred Losch  born December 19, 1842, Uniontown, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, son of George Losch, first lieutenant, Company C, 50th Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, Civil War,  1861-1865; major, 4th Division, Pennsylvania National Guard 1866-1871; farmer; bricklayer; canal driver; laborer and operator, Schuylkill Haven & Mine Hill Railroad Company; appointed, clerk, Pennsylvania Department of State, 1872-1873, 1876-1878; elected, Republican, Pennsylvania House of Representatives, 1874 and 1875; not a candidate reelection, 1876; appointed, chief clerk, Pennsylvania Department of State, 1878-1883; elected, delegate, Republican National Convention, 1880; appointed, post office inspector, Pennsylvania, United States Postal Service, 1883-1884; appointed, secretary, New Mexico Territory, 1884-1885; elected, chair, Schuylkill County Republican Committee, 1885-1887; unsuccessful campaign, Secretary of Internal Affairs, Pennsylvania Department of State, 1886; elected, chief clerk, Pennsylvania House of Representatives, 1887-1888; incorporator, Schuylkill Electric Railway Company, 1889; unsuccessful campaigns, United States Congress, 1890, 1894; unsuccessful campaign, Pennsylvania State Senate, 1892; reelected, Republican, Pennsylvania House of Representatives, 1892-1893; not a candidate for reelection, 1894; elected, Republican, Pennsylvania State Senate, 1897-1900; died,  office, Senate, September 11, 1900 (age 57), Atlantic City, Atlantic County, New Jersey; interment, Schuylkill Haven Union Cemetery, Schuylkill Haven, Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania. (i)

Early Career:

First lieutenant, Company C, 50th Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry Civil War, 1861-1865; saw action, Port Royal, SouthCarolina, Pocataligo, and Hilton Head; 2d Bull Run; South Mountain; Antietam; Fredericksburg; the Mud March; Newport News; Paris, Kentucky.; Vicksburg; Jackson; the Wilderness; Spotsylvania; the Assault on the Salient; Cold Harbor; the Petersburg Campaign; Poplar Springs Church; Boydton Plank Road and Hatcher’s Run; and the Appomattox Campaign. Major, 4th Division, Pennsylvania National Guard, 1866- 1871;

Farmer; bricklayer; canal driver; laborer and operator, Schuylkill Haven & Mine Hill Railroad Company; incorporator, Schuylkill Electric Railway Company, 1889.

Professional titles; business ownership; board memberships; local government; club memberships:

Member, Grand Army of the Republic and Kindred Societies, senior vice president, since organized; president, Schuykill haven School Board; member, Patriotic Order Sons of America, Page Lodge 27; member, Free and Accepted Masons; member, Pecos Tribe, No. 323, Improved Order of Red Men; Masonic Mountain City Royal Arch Masons, Chapter 196; Jeremiah "Jere" Helms, Grand Army of the Republic and Encampment No. 19; member, Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States; director, Valley Forge Memorial Association.

Pennsylvania Politics:

Appointed, clerk, Pennsylvania Department of State, under Matthew Stanley Quay, 1872-1873, 1876-1878.

Elected, Republican, Pennsylvania House of Representatives, 1874 and 1875; not a candidate for reelection, House, 1876.

Appointed, chief clerk, Pennsylvania Department of State, Governors Hartranft and Henry M. Hoyt, 1878-1883.

Elected, delegate, Republican National Convention, one of 306; 1880.

Appointed, post office inspector, Pennsylvania, United States Postal Service, 1883-1884.

Appointed, Secretary, New Mexico Territory, President Arthur, 1884; Suspended President Cleveland, 1885.  

Elected, chair, Schuylkill County Republican Committee, 1885-1887.

Unsuccessful campaign, Secretary of Internal Affairs, Pennsylvania Department of State, 1886.

Elected, chief clerk, Pennsylvania House of Representatives, 1887-1888.

Unsuccessful campaigns, United States Congress, 1890, 1894.

Unsuccessful campaign, Pennsylvania State Senate, 1892.

Reelected, Republican, Pennsylvania House of Representatives, 1892-1893; not a candidate, reelection, House, 1894.

Elected, Republican, Pennsylvania State Senate, 1897-1900; chair Mines and Mining Committee; member, Appropriations, Corporations, Legislative Apportionment, Military Affairs and Public Roads and Highways Committees; died in the office of Senate.  

Continued Government Service/National Politics:

Appointed, Secretary, New Mexico Territory, President Chester Alan Arthur, 1884; Suspended, President Stephen Grover Cleveland, 1885.  

Pennsylvania House of Representatives Biography:

https://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/legis/BiosHistory/MemBio.cfm?ID=6058&body=H

Cited:

Smull’s Legislative Hand Book, (1900) Cochran, T.B., Biographical Sketches of Senators, page 1161, 1186 and 1192-1194.

       (i) https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/37294874/samuel-alfred-losch