Jacob Hart Ela (July 18, 1820 – August 21, 1884) was a U.S. Representative from New Hampshire.
Born in Rochester, New Hampshire, Ela attended the village school in Rochester. At fourteen years of age he was apprenticed in a woolen manufactory and subsequently learned the printer's trade.
He served as member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives in 1857 and 1858 and as United States marshal from July 1861 to October 1866.
The name Ela first comes to the US in the late 1630's. The family originates from Haverhill, MA, in the early 16th century. The Ela family cemetery is located at Walnut Hill Cemetery in Haverhill, MA.
Ela was elected as a Republican to the Fortieth and Forty-first Congresses (March 4, 1867-March 3, 1871). He served as chairman of the Committee on Expenditures in the Department of the Interior (Forty-first Congress). He was appointed by President Grant as Fifth Auditor of the Treasury on January 1, 1872, and served until June 2, 1881. On June 3, 1881, he was appointed Auditor of the Treasury for the Post Office Department and served in that position until his death in Washington, D.C., on August 21, 1884. He was interred in North Side Cemetery, Rochester, New Hampshire.