Representative Christopher Augustus Bergen

Christopher Augustus Bergen (August 2, 1841 – February 18, 1905) was an American Republican Party politician and attorney who represented New Jersey’s 1st congressional district in the United States House of Representatives for two terms from 1889 to 1893. His service in Congress occurred during a significant period in American history, and as a member of the House of Representatives he participated in the democratic process and represented the interests of his New Jersey constituents.

Bergen was born on August 2, 1841, in Bridge Point, Somerset County, New Jersey. He received his early education at the local Harlingen School and later attended Edge Hill Classical School. Demonstrating an early aptitude for scholarship, he pursued higher education at the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University). He studied law while at Princeton and was graduated in 1863, completing his formal academic preparation at the height of the Civil War era.

Following his graduation, Bergen continued his legal training and was licensed by the Supreme Court of New Jersey as an attorney in 1866. He commenced the practice of law in Camden, New Jersey, where he established himself as a member of the local bar. His legal career in Camden provided the foundation for his later public service, and he became identified with the Republican Party during a period of Reconstruction and industrial growth in the state.

Bergen entered national politics as a Republican and was elected to the Fifty-first and Fifty-second Congresses. He represented New Jersey’s 1st congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from March 4, 1889, to March 3, 1893. During these two terms in office, he contributed to the legislative process as a member of the Republican majority, participating in debates and votes on issues confronting the country in the late nineteenth century. A committed party member, he worked to advance the interests of his district within the broader national agenda of the Republican Party.

In 1892, Bergen sought to continue his congressional career but was an unsuccessful candidate for renomination. With the conclusion of his service in the House in March 1893, he returned to Camden and resumed the practice of law. He continued his professional work as an attorney, maintaining his standing in the legal community and remaining a figure of some prominence in New Jersey public life, even without holding further national office.

In his personal and family life, Bergen was the father of Martin V. Bergen, who followed him into the legal profession and also achieved distinction in athletics. Martin V. Bergen played football and baseball at Princeton University and later served as a football coach at Princeton, Grinnell College in Iowa, and the University of Virginia, reflecting the family’s continuing association with Princeton and public endeavor.

In 1903, after many years in Camden, Christopher Augustus Bergen moved to Haverford, Pennsylvania. He lived there for the final years of his life and died in Haverford on February 18, 1905. His remains were returned to New Jersey, and he was interred in Evergreen Cemetery in Camden, underscoring his long-standing ties to the city where he had built his legal and political career.