Joel Funk Asper

Republican Representative of Missouri's 7th district

Congresses Served

House Terms

April 20, 1822 (50 years old)

Birthday

October 1, 1872

Death

Moved from Pennsylvania to Ohio with his family in 1827.
Attended public schools and a local college in Warren, Ohio, and studied law.
Admitted to the bar in 1844 and began practicing law in Warren, Ohio.
Held positions as a Justice of the Peace in 1846 and prosecuting attorney of Geauga County in 1847.
Served as a delegate to the Buffalo Free-Soil Convention in 1848 and was an editor of the Western Reserve Chronicle in 1849.
Moved to Iowa in 1850 and published the Chardon Democrat.
Raised a company for the Civil War in 1861, served as its captain, and was wounded in the Battle of Winchester.
Promoted to lieutenant colonel in 1862 and mustered out in 1863 due to wounds.
Became Colonel of the 171st Ohio in 1864, served at a Prisoner of War Camp, and was involved in an incident where his units were illegally paroled.
Resumed law practice in Chillicothe, Missouri, in 1864 and founded the Spectator in 1866.
Served as a delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1868.
Elected to the Forty-first Congress as a Republican, serving from March 4, 1869, to March 3, 1871.
Did not seek renomination in 1870 and continued practicing law until his death in 1872.
Interred in Edgewood Cemetery, Chillicothe, Missouri.