Jacob Banks Kurtz

Who was Jacob Banks Kurtz?

Jacob Banks Kurtz was a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania.

J. Banks Kurtz was born in Delaware Township, Juniata County, Pennsylvania. He graduated from Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and from Dickinson School of Law in 1893. He was admitted to the bar and commenced practice in Altoona, Pennsylvania. He served as district attorney of Blair County, Pennsylvania from 1905 to 1912. He was chairman of the committee of public safety and council of national defense for Blair County during the First World War.

Kurtz was elected as a Republican to the Sixty-eighth and to the five succeeding Congresses. He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1934. He resumed the practice of law, and was a delegate to the Republican National Conventions in 1936, 1940, and 1948. He served as city solicitor of Altoona from 1944 to 1946. He died in Altoona, with interment in Alto Reste Burial Park.