Representative Charles Tatgenhorst

Charles Tatgenhorst Jr. (August 19, 1883 – January 13, 1961) was an American lawyer, jurist, and Republican politician who served one term as a U.S. Representative from Ohio from 1927 to 1929. His public career spanned municipal service, a brief tenure in Congress, and later judicial and regulatory responsibilities at the state level.

Tatgenhorst was born in Cincinnati, Hamilton County, Ohio, on August 19, 1883. He was educated in the public schools of Cincinnati, reflecting the typical civic and educational environment of an industrial Midwestern city in the late nineteenth century. After completing his primary and secondary schooling, he pursued legal studies in his native city.

He graduated from the Cincinnati Law School in 1910. That same year he was admitted to the bar and commenced the practice of law in Cincinnati. Early in his career, Tatgenhorst entered public service at the municipal level, serving as assistant city solicitor for Cincinnati from 1914 to 1919. In this capacity he gained experience in municipal law and local governance during a period marked by urban growth and Progressive Era reforms. In 1919 he moved to Cleves, Ohio, a community in Hamilton County, where he continued the practice of law while maintaining his engagement in local and regional affairs.

Tatgenhorst’s congressional career began with a special election. A member of the Republican Party representing Ohio, he was elected to the Seventieth Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Representative Ambrose E. B. Stephens. He served from November 8, 1927, to March 3, 1929. His service in Congress occurred during a significant period in American history, in the late 1920s, when the nation was experiencing economic expansion prior to the onset of the Great Depression. During his one term in office, he participated in the legislative process and represented the interests of his Ohio constituents as part of the Republican majority in the House of Representatives. He was not a candidate for renomination in 1928, thereby concluding his brief but notable tenure in national office.

After leaving Congress, Tatgenhorst resumed the practice of law in Cincinnati, returning to private practice while remaining active in professional and civic circles. His legal reputation and experience led to judicial office when he was elected judge of the Ohio First District Court of Appeals on November 3, 1936. He served on the appellate bench until February 8, 1937, contributing to the adjudication of cases arising from the trial courts of the district. Although his tenure on the court was relatively short, it marked an important phase in his career as a jurist.

Tatgenhorst continued to serve the legal profession and the state in various capacities after his appellate judgeship. He was a member of the Ohio State bar examining board from 1938 to 1942, helping to oversee admission to the practice of law and maintain professional standards within the Ohio bar. In January 1941 he became a member of the Ohio State Banking Board, participating in the oversight of financial institutions during a period that included the later years of the Great Depression and the early years of World War II. In addition to his public and professional roles, he was active in corporate governance, serving as a director of the Cincinnati Street Railway Company and the Sullivan Electric Company, positions that reflected his engagement with the city’s transportation and utility sectors.

In his personal life, Tatgenhorst married Clara Streble. The couple had one son, Charles Robert Tatgenhorst, who later joined his father’s law practice, continuing the family’s involvement in the legal profession. Charles Tatgenhorst Jr. died in Cincinnati, Ohio, on January 13, 1961. He was interred in Spring Grove Cemetery in Cincinnati, a resting place for many of the city’s prominent citizens, closing a life marked by service as a lawyer, legislator, and judge in his native state.