Image courtesy of Library of Congress

PACKER, John Black, a Representative from Pennsylvania; born in Sunbury, Northumberland County, Pa., March 21, 1824; received private instructions and later attended Sunbury (Pa.) Academy; member of the corps of engineers employed by the State in the survey and construction of public improvements 1839-1842; studied law; was admitted to the bar on August 6, 1844, and commenced the practice of his profession in Sunbury; also engaged in banking; deputy attorney general 1845-1847; served in the State house of representatives in 1850 and 1851; one of the organizers of the Susquehanna Railroad Co., in 1851; elected as a Republican to the Forty-first and to the three succeeding Congresses (March 4, 1869-March 3, 1877); chairman, Committee on Railways and Canals (Forty-second Congress), Committee on Post Office and Post Roads (Forty-third Congress); declined to be a candidate for renomination in 1876; resumed the practice of law in Sunbury, Pa.; also resumed his banking activities; died in Sunbury, Pa., July 7, 1891; interment in Pomfret Manor Cemetery.