This item is a handwritten expense/payroll check made out to Elisha W. Davis, Speaker of the House in 1861 and 1868. Davis is the only Speaker of the House to engage in combat between terms of service as speaker: he fought in the Civil War in the 121st Pennsylvania Volunteers. Davis was born on September 8, 1828 and worked as a laborer in the Rockland Blast Furnace in Vanango County and as a teacher during the winter months. He also studied law. He served Mercer and Venango Counties as a Republican in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from 1860-1861. He served Philadelphia in the House of Representatives from 1866-1870 and 1879-1880 and in the Senate from1872-1876. The check, in the amount of $1,058 for pay and mileage, is signed by James R. Kelly, Speaker of the House, 1866. Kelly was born in Ireland on March 1, 1839 and immigrated to the United States in 1849. Kelly served as a private in the 31st Ohio Volunteers, released due to illness in 1863. That same year he was elected to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, serving Washington and Beaver Counties from 1864-1866. He was elected to Speaker in 1866. After serving in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, Kelly worked as editor of the Washington Reporter. He died at 32 on August 9, 1871.