Michael D. Harter Politician

Michael Daniel Harter (April 6, 1846 - February 22, 1896) was a U.S. Representative from Ohio, grandson of Robert Moore.Born in Canton, Ohio, Harter attended the public schools.He engaged in mercantile pursuits and banking.He moved to Mansfield, Ohio, in 1869.At the age of twenty-three became treasurer and manager of the Aultman &Taylor Co. upon its organization.He established the Harter Bank in 1866. He established the Isaac Harter Milling Company in Fostoria, the largest producer of flour in the state.Harter was elected as a Democrat to the Fifty-second and Fifty-third Congresses (March 4, 1891 – March 3, 1895).He declined to be a candidate for renomination in 1894.In congress, he was strongly in favor of the Gold Standard, and against free silver, views in opposition to his own party. His views won out during the Panic of 1893, when congress, in special session, repealed the Sherman Silver Purchase Act.He moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, but spent his summers in Mansfield.He committed suicide in Fostoria, Ohio, February 22, 1896.He was interred in Mansfield Cemetery, Mansfield, Ohio.Harter was married to Mary L. Brown in 1869, and they had three sons and two daughters. His wife and children, except one daughter survived him.