US Congressman, Entrepreneur. He was a United States Representative from the State of Massachusetts. He was born one of two children as Addison Henry Laflin to Walter Laflin (1793-1870), a prosperous entrepreneur and well-known resident of Pittsfield, Massachusetts, who ran a paper manufacturing business and his wife Sophronia Sylvester Laflin (1798-1879), in Lee, Massachusetts, on October 24, 1823. He also had a half-sibling named Edmund G. Laflin (1831-1870). He was educated locally and attended the local common public schools. He then attended and graduated from the prestigious Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts, before moving to Herkimer County, New York, in 1849, where he himself became interested in the paper manufacturing business. He also took an interest in politics and was elected to serve a term as a Member of the New York State Senate representing the 20th District in 1858, and again in 1859. He was preceded in that post by United States Representative Moses Lindley Lee (1805-1876), and succeeded in that post by politician and entrepreneur Francis Morgan Rotch (1822-1863). He then decided to run for a seat in the United States Congress and was elected to represent the outgoing United States Representative Ambrose Williams Clark (1810-1887), on March 4, 1865. A Member of the Republican Party, he then served Massachusetts's 20th District (the Thirty-Ninth Congress, the Fortieth Congress, and the Forty-First Congress), in the United States House of Representatives from March 4, 1865, to March 3, 1871. He was not a Candidate for renomination. Following his term in the United States Congress, he was succeeded in office by the incoming United States Representative Clinton Levi Merriam (1824-1900), on March 4, 1871. In total, he was elected in 1864, reelected in 1866, and reelected in 1868. During his time in the United States Congress, and after leaving the United States Congress, he also served as a Delegate to the Republican State Convention of 1867, and in 1871. He also served as the Head of the Committee on Printing and was a Member of that on Manufactures. He was also personally appointed by then President of the United States Ulysses S. Grant (1822-1885), to serve as Naval Officer of the Port of New York on April 3, 1871, and held that position until he resigned in 1877. Following his resignation from that post, he traveled Europe extensively in hopes that it would help his failing health. He returned home to the United States after about five months. He passed away suddenly after committing suicide by hanging in the garret of his house in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, on September 24, 1878, at the age of 54. He had been in a fragile state since the continuation of his failing health. Following his death, his funeral services were held in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, with the Reverend Jonathan Leavitt Jenkins (1831-1913), of the First Congregational Church in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, officiating. Several friends, family members, and colleagues were in attendance, also there were beautiful floral arrangements, with a quartet singing religious hymns such as, "Come Ye Disconsolate," and "Abide With Me," Following the funeral services, he was buried in the Family Plot in Oakwood Cemetery in Syracuse, New York, with the Reverend Heman Humphrey Neill (1842-1904), of Amherst, Massachusetts, officiating the burial services. During his lifetime, he had also been a Member of several prominent organizations and clubs including the Sons of the American Revolution. He was married to Helen Maria Hall Laflin (1832-1898), in Syracuse, New York, on October 24, 1854, and they had two children together, a daughter named Grace Hall Laflin (1857-1914), and a son named Addison Byron Laflin (1861-1866). His wife Helen survived him passing away in Brooklyn, New York, on July 18, 1898, at the age of 65, and she is also buried in the Family Plot in Oakwood Cemetery in Syracuse, New York, as are both their children, Grace and Addison.