Sydenham Elnathan ANCONA, Congress, PA (1824-1913)

ANCONA, Sydenham Elnathan, a Representative from Pennsylvania; born near Lititz, Lancaster County, Pa., November 20, 1824; moved to Berks County, Pa., in 1826 with his parents, who settled near Sculls Hill; attended public and private schools; taught school; moved in 1856 to Reading, Pa., where he entered the employ of the Reading Railroad Co.; member of the board of education; elected as a Democrat to the Thirty-seventh, Thirty-eighth, and Thirty-ninth Congresses (March 4, 1861-March 3, 1867); unsuccessful candidate for renomination in 1866; became engaged in the trust, fire-insurance, and relief-association businesses in Reading, Pa.; delegate to the Democratic National Convention at Cincinnati in 1880; during a visit to the Capitol at Washington, D.C., in 1912 was tendered a reception on the floor of the House of Representatives, it being stated at the time that he was the last surviving Member of the Thirty-seventh Congress which assembled at the extraordinary session called by Abraham Lincoln on July 4, 1861; engaged in banking and in the insurance business until his death in Reading, Pa., on June 20, 1913; interment in Charles Evans Cemetery.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present