Schuyler ( pronounced `` Sky-ler '' ) Colfax , Jr. ( March 23 , 1823 â `` January 13 , 1885 was a U.S. Representative from Indiana , Speaker of the House of Representatives , and the seventeenth Vice President of the United States . Schuyler Colfax , Jr. ( ; March 23 , 1823 -- January 13 , 1885 ) was a United States Representative from Indiana ( 1855-1869 ) , Speaker of the House of Representatives ( 1863-1869 ) , and the 17th Vice President of the United States ( 1869-1873 ) .