Representative Frederick Simpson Deitrick

Frederick Simpson Deitrick (April 9, 1875 – May 24, 1948) was a U.S. Representative from Massachusetts and a member of the Democratic Party who served one term in the United States Congress from 1913 to 1915. He was born in New Brighton, Beaver County, Pennsylvania, where he attended the local public schools. Raised in western Pennsylvania, he pursued higher education close to home, reflecting an early commitment to academic and professional advancement that would shape his later legal and political career.

Deitrick graduated from Geneva College in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, in 1895. Seeking a career in law, he went on to study at Harvard Law School in Cambridge, Massachusetts, from which he graduated in 1898. Following his legal studies, he was admitted to the bar in 1899. He then established his law practice in Boston, Massachusetts, beginning a professional life that would be closely tied to the legal and civic affairs of the Greater Boston area.

Alongside his legal practice, Deitrick became active in Massachusetts state and local politics in the early years of the twentieth century. He served as a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 1902 to 1905, participating in the legislative process at the state level and gaining experience in public policy and governance. After his service in the state legislature, he continued his involvement in municipal affairs as a member of the board of aldermen of Cambridge in 1908 and 1909, helping to oversee local government in the city that was home to his legal and professional activities.

Building on his state and local experience, Deitrick was elected as a Democrat to the Sixty-third Congress, representing Massachusetts in the United States House of Representatives from March 4, 1913, to March 3, 1915. His term in Congress coincided with a significant period in American history, during the administration of President Woodrow Wilson and at the outset of major Progressive Era reforms. As a member of the House of Representatives, Frederick Simpson Deitrick participated in the democratic process and contributed to the legislative work of the chamber, representing the interests of his Massachusetts constituents during a time of substantial national political and social change.

Deitrick sought to continue his congressional career but was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1914. After leaving Congress at the conclusion of his term in March 1915, he returned to Boston and resumed the practice of law. He maintained his professional focus on legal work, drawing on his extensive experience in both law and public service, and remained part of the civic and professional life of Massachusetts in the years following his national legislative service.

Frederick Simpson Deitrick died in Middleton, Massachusetts, on May 24, 1948. He was interred in Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, a historic burial ground that is the resting place of many notable figures in Massachusetts political and intellectual life. His career reflected a progression from local and state office to national service in Congress, anchored throughout by his work as an attorney in Boston and his long-standing engagement in the public affairs of his adopted state.