Samuel Shellabarger (Ohio politician)
Samuel Shellabarger (December 10, 1817 – August 6, 1896) was an American lawyer and politician who served three different stints as a Republican U.S. Representative from Ohio in the mid-19th century.He studied law and was admitted to the bar, commencing practice in Springfield, Ohio, in 1846.Perhaps the most historically memorable moment of his life came early in this term when he drafted an anti-Ku Klux Klan bill—sometimes referred to as the Civil Rights Act of 1871.After passage by both houses of Congress, the bill was signed into law by President Ulysses S. Grant on April 20.This law was very instrumental in giving Grant the tools he needed to demolish the first-era KKK.