Jacob D. Leighty

Jacob D. Leighty (November 15, 1839 - October 18, 1912) was a U.S. Representative from Indiana.

Born near Greensburg, Pennsylvania, Leighty In 1844 moved with his parents to De Kalb County, Indiana, where they settled on a farm at Spencerville.He attended the public schools.He taught in district schools. Spent two years at a commercial school at Fort Wayne and then entered Wittenberg College, Springfield, Ohio. On July 1, 1861, after two years in college, he left to enlist in the Union Army and became a member of Company E, Eleventh Indiana Volunteer Zouave Infantry.He engaged in farming and general merchandising with his father until 1875, when he established the town of St. Joe, Indiana.He served as member of the State house of representatives 1886-1888.

Leighty was elected as a Republican to the Fifty-fourth Congress (March 4, 1895-March 3, 1897).He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1896 to the Fifty-fifth Congress. United States pension agent at Indianapolis 1897-1901.He died at St. Joe, De Kalb County, Indiana, on October 18, 1912.He was interred in Riverview Cemetery.

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