John Alexander Ahl

Who was John Alexander Ahl?

John Alexander Ahl was a surgeon, real estate developer, paper mill and iron furnace operator, railroad executive and United States Congressman from Pennsylvania. He was born in Strasburg, Pennsylvania in 1813.

He studied medicine at the University of Maryland, and graduated in 1832. He moved to Centerville, Pennsylvania, where he practiced medicine through 1856. That year, he began in the real estate business, bought a paper mill in Newville, Pennsylvania, and served as a delegate to the 1856 Democratic National Convention in Cincinnati. He was elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1857, leaving upon the completion of his first term. He then manufactured paper and operated an iron furnace in Sharpsburg, Maryland. He also served as the planner and the major builder of the Harrisburg & Potomac Railroad. He died in Newville in 1882, and is buried in Big Spring Presbyterian Cemetery.