US Congressman. He was born one of three children (Joseph Reed Ingersoll was born in 1786, and Edward Ingersoll was born in 1817), to the prominent lawyer and Continental Congressman Jared Ingersoll and his wife, Elizabeth Pettit Ingersoll in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was educated with academic training and then was to attend the College of New Jersey (later Princeton University) in Princeton, New Jersey, but he dropped out of college in 1799. He then studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1802. He commenced his practice of law in his hometown of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and then went on a trip to Europe accompanied by United States Minister to the United Kingdom Rufus King. On October 18, 1804, he married Mary Wilcocks (the daughter of Alexander Wilcocks) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and the couple would have nine children together (Charles Ingersoll was born in 1805, Alexander Wilcocks Ingersoll was born in 1807, Harry Ingersoll was born in 1809, John Ingersoll was born in 1811, Benjamin Wilcocks Ingersoll was born in 1813, Elizabeth Ingersoll was born in 1815, Edward Ingersoll was born in 1817, Ann Wilcocks Ingersoll was born in 1822, and Samuel Ingersoll was born in 1824). He then decided to enter politics and he ran for a seat in the United States Congress and was elected. A Member of the Democratic-Republican, he then served Pennsylvania's 1st District (Thirteenth Congress, alongside John Conrad and Adam Seybert) in the United States House of Representatives from 1813 to 1815. While serving in the United States Congress he was also Chairman of the Committee on the Judiciary representing the Thirteenth Congress. He was not a Candidate for renomination in 1814. After his term in the United States Congress expired on March 3, 1815, he was succeeded in office by United States Representative Joseph Hopkinson, United States Representative William Milnor, United States Representative Thomas Smith, and United States Representative Jonathan Williams. He was then appointed to the post of the United States District Attorney for the State of Pennsylvania and served in that capacity from 1825 to 1829. He was later removed from the office of United States District Attorney by then-President Andrew Jackson. He also served as a Member of the Pennsylvania State House of Representatives in 1830, and as a Delegate to the Pennsylvania State Constitutional Convention in 1837. He was then appointed to the position of the Secretary of the Legation to Prussia on March 8, 1837. He was an unsuccessful Candidate to fill the vacancy caused by the death of United States Representative Francis Jacob Harper on March 18, 1837, to represent the Twenty-Fifth Congress. He was an unsuccessful Candidate for election again to represent the Twenty-Sixth Congress in 1838. He then ran again for a seat in the United States Congress and was elected. A Member of the Democratic Party, he then served Pennsylvania's 3rd and 4th Districts (Twenty-Seventh Congress and to the three succeeding Congresses) from 1841 to 1849. While serving the United States Congress he was Chairman of the United States House Committee on Foreign Affairs representing the Twenty-Eighth Congress and Twenty-Ninth Congress. After his term in the United States Congress expired on March 4, 1843, he was succeeded in office by United States Representative John T. Smith on March 4, 1843, and when his term in the United States Congress expired on March 3, 1849, he was succeeded in office by United States Representative John Robbins. He was not a Candidate for renomination in 1848. He lastly was appointed to the position of Minister to France but he was not confirmed by the United States Senate in 1847. He was also a prolific author. He published numerous contributions anonymously to the Democratic Press Newspaper of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and to the National Intelligencer Newspaper of Washington, D.C., on the controversies with England before the War of 1812 (1811 to 1815), several "Speeches" concerning the War of 1812 (1813 to 1815), a discourse before the American Philosophical Society on the “Influence of America on the Mind,” which was republished in England and in France in 1823, a translation of a French work on the freedom of navigation, in the "American Law Journal" of 1829, and many other literary and political discourses. His other published works include, "Chiomara" (1800), "Edwy And Elgira" (1801), "Right And Wrongs, Power And Policy Of The United States of America" (1808), "Inchiquin The Jesuit's Letters On American Literature And Politics" (1810), "Julian" (1831), "Historical Sketch Of The Second War Between The United States And Great Britain" (1845 to 1852), Recollections, Historical, Political, Biographical, And Social, Charles J. Ingersoll" (1861), and his last work, "History Of The Territorial Acquisitions Of The United States" (1862). He passed away on May 14, 1862, at the age of 79, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and was buried in the Woodlands Cemetery in that city. His wife Mary passed away on August 28, 1862, at the age of 78, and was buried with her husband. His prominent family members include, besides his father Continental Congressman Jared Ingersoll, his brother Joseph Reed Ingersoll was a United States Representative from Pennsylvania, his maternal grandfather was Charles Pettit, a Delegate for the State of Pennsylvania to the Confederation Congress, and his son Edward Ingersoll was an author who wrote on legal topics.