{{Short description|American politician (1827–1908)}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Silas Hare | image = Silas Hare (Texas Congressman and judge).jpg | caption = From ''The San Francisco Call'', February 9, 1902 | state = Texas | district = {{ushr|TX|5|5th}} | term_start = March 4, 1887 | term_end = March 3, 1891 | predecessor = James W. Throckmorton | successor = Joseph W. Bailey | title2 = Texas Criminal Court District Judge<br>Dallas County, Collin County, Grayson County | term_start2 = 1873 | term_end2 = 1876 | predecessor2 = | successor2 = | title3 = Chief Justice of Confederate New Mexico Territory | term3 = 1862 | predecessor3 = | successor3 = | title4 = | term_start4 = | term_end4 = | predecessor4 = | successor4 = | title5 = | term_start5 = | term_end5 = | predecessor5 = | successor5 = | birth_date = {{birth date|1827|11|13}} | birth_place = Ross County, Ohio, U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|1908|11|26|1827|11|13}} | death_place = Washington, D.C., U.S. | party = Democratic | spouse = {{marriage|Octavia Elizabeth Rector|1849|1890|end=died}}<br>{{marriage|Mary Louise Kennedy|1903}} | children = 7 | profession = Lawyer | battles = {{tree list}} *Mexican–American War **Battle of Buena Vista *American Civil War {{tree list/end}} | service_years = 1846-1847<br>1862-1865 | rank = Major (1863, Civil War) | allegiance = United States (1846-1847)<br>CSA (1862-1865) | branch = US Army<br>Confederate Army | unit = 1st Indiana Volunteers (Mexican-American War)<br>First Regiment of the Arizona Brigade (Civil War) }}
'''Silas Hare''' (November 13, 1827 – November 26, 1908)<ref name="Ex-Congressman Silas Hare">{{cite news|title=Ex-Congressman Silas Hare |newspaper=The New York Times|date=28 November 1908}}</ref> was an American lawyer and politician who served two terms as a U.S. Representative from Texas from 1887 to 1891.
==Early years==
Silas Hare Sr. was born in Ross County, Ohio, to Jacob and Elizabeth Freshour Hare on November 13, 1827, and lived the first fourteen years of his life with his grandfather Daniel Hare. His father died in 1835, and in 1841, Hare rejoined his mother and other family members in Hamilton County, Indiana, near Noblesville, where he attended common and private schools.<ref name="Public Men of Indiana">{{cite book|last=Trissal|first=Francis M|title= Public Men of Indiana |year=2010|edition=reprint|publisher= Nabu Press |isbn= 978-1-146-85976-9 |page=215}}</ref> He studied law in Noblesville, and was admitted to the Indiana Bar Association in 1850 and commenced practice in Noblesville, Indiana.
Hare moved to Belton, Texas, in 1853 where he continued the practice of law. In 1852, Hare began traveling to improve his health. He visited Mexico, Central America, Hawaii (at that time, the Sandwich Islands), Oregon.<ref name="Silas Hare"/>
==Military service== Hare served during the Mexican–American War in the 1st Indiana Volunteers 1846 and 1847. At the Battle of Buena Vista, Hare was wounded by a lance.<ref name="Silas Hare" />
During the Civil War Hare served as a captain in the Confederate States Army.<ref>{{cite web |last=Adkins-Rochette |first=Patricia |title=Arizona Brigade in North Texas |url=http://www.bourlandcivilwar.com/ArizonaBrigade.htm| publisher= |access-date=5 July 2010}}</ref> He was appointed quartermaster, and later attained the rank of major in 1863, with the First Regiment of the Arizona Brigade stationed in Texas.
==Public service==
In 1862, he was appointed as Chief Justice of New Mexico territory under the Confederacy, but resigned that year to accept a position as captain in the Confederate Army.<ref>{{cite news |title=Silas Hare |url=https://access.newspaperarchive.com/lincoln-nebraska-state-journal/1908-11-28/page-5/ |access-date=24 January 2025 |publisher=Lincoln Nebraska State Journal |date=November 28, 1908}}</ref> Hare settled in Sherman, Texas, in 1865 and resumed the practice of law. He served as district judge of the criminal court 1873–1876. He served as delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1884.
=== Congress === Hare was elected as a Democrat to the Fiftieth and Fifty-first Congresses (March 4, 1887 – March 3, 1891). He was an unsuccessful candidate for renomination in 1890.<ref name="Representing Texas: a Comprehensive History of U.S. and Confederate Senators and Representatives from Texas">{{cite book |last=Guttery|first=Ben|title=Representing Texas: a Comprehensive History of U.S. and Confederate Senators and Representatives from Texas |year=2008 |publisher=BookSurge Publishing|isbn=978-1-4196-7884-4|page=78}}</ref>
== Later career == In 1890, Hare resumed the practice of law in Washington, D.C.<ref name="Silas Hare">{{Handbook of Texas | name= Silas Hare |author=Douglas, Elizabeth Blair |id= fha70| retrieved=5 July 2010}}Texas State Historical Association</ref>
==Personal life ==
In 1849, he married Octavia Elizabeth Rector of Circleville, Ohio. The couple had seven children: West Point cadet Luther Rector;<ref name="Public Men of Indiana"/><ref name="Luther Rector Hare">{{Handbook of Texas | name= Luther Rector Hare |author=Meketa, Raymond Thomas |id= fhacb| retrieved=5 July 2010}}Texas State Historical Association</ref> Silas Jr who followed his father in public service;<ref name=" Silas Hare Jr">{{Handbook of Texas | name= Silas Hare Jr |author= Douglas, Elizabeth Blair |id= fhacf| retrieved=5 July 2010}}Texas State Historical Association</ref> in addition to Winnie, Henry, George, Eula, and one child who died in infancy. Octavia died June 5, 1890.
In 1903, the 76-year-old Hare married for a second time to 66-year-old Mary Louise Kennedy in a secret ceremony in Baltimore, Maryland, taking his friends by surprise. The elopement left the ''New York Times'' speculating about the honeymoon, ''"They have not returned, and the ex-Congressman's friends have no idea where they are."''<ref name="Ex-Congressman Hare Weds">{{cite news|title= Ex-Congressman Hare Weds |newspaper=The New York Times| date=31 December 1903}}</ref>
== Death == Silas Hare died in Washington, D.C., on November 26, 1908.<ref>"[https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-new-york-times-obituary-for-silas-ha/140345903/ Ex-Congressman Silas Hare]", ''The New York Times'' (November 28, 1908), p. 9.</ref>
Mary Louise Kennedy Hare died November 3, 1912.<ref name="Mrs. Mary Louise Kennedy Hare">{{cite news|title= Mrs. Mary Louise Kennedy Hare | newspaper=The New York Times|date=5 November 1912}}</ref>
==References==
{{Reflist|2}}
==Sources== {{CongBio|H000203}}
{{Bioguide}}
{{s-start}} {{s-par|us-hs}} {{US House succession box | state = Texas | district =5 | before = James W. Throckmorton | after = Joseph W. Bailey | years = 1887–1891 }} {{s-end}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hare, Silas}} Category:1827 births Category:1907 deaths Category:People from Noblesville, Indiana Category:People from Ross County, Ohio Category:People from Sherman, Texas Category:Confederate States Army officers Category:American military personnel of the Mexican–American War Category:People of Texas in the American Civil War Category:Democratic Party United States representatives from Texas Category:Military personnel from Texas Category:19th-century United States representatives