Representative John Brutzman Storm

John Brutzman Storm (September 19, 1838 – August 13, 1901) was a Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania and a prominent jurist in the state’s judiciary. He was born in Hamilton Township, Monroe County, Pennsylvania, where he was raised in a rural community in the Pocono region. His early education was obtained in the common schools of the area, reflecting the limited but expanding educational opportunities available in mid-nineteenth-century Pennsylvania.

Storm pursued higher education at Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, one of the state’s leading liberal arts institutions. He was graduated from Dickinson College in 1861, on the eve of the American Civil War. Following his graduation, he chose the law as his profession. He studied law in Pennsylvania, was admitted to the bar in 1863, and commenced the practice of law in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, the county seat of Monroe County. In addition to his legal practice, he became involved in local educational affairs and served as county superintendent of public schools for seven years, contributing to the administration and improvement of public education in the region.

Building on his legal and educational work, Storm entered public life as a Democrat. He was elected as a Democrat to the Forty-second Congress, serving from March 4, 1871, to March 3, 1873, and was reelected to the Forty-third Congress, serving from March 4, 1873, to March 3, 1875. During this period, he represented a Pennsylvania district in the U.S. House of Representatives at a time when the nation was grappling with Reconstruction and post–Civil War political realignments. He was not a candidate for renomination in 1874 and returned to his legal practice in Stroudsburg after the expiration of his second consecutive term.

After several years out of federal office, Storm again sought and won election to Congress. He was elected to the Forty-eighth Congress, serving from March 4, 1883, to March 3, 1885, and was reelected to the Forty-ninth Congress, serving from March 4, 1885, to March 3, 1887. In these later terms he continued to serve as a Democratic representative from Pennsylvania during a period marked by debates over tariffs, civil service reform, and economic policy in the Gilded Age. Consistent with his earlier pattern, he was not a candidate for renomination in 1886, and his congressional service concluded at the end of the Forty-ninth Congress.

Following his final departure from Congress, Storm resumed the practice of law in Stroudsburg, where he had long been an established member of the bar. His legal career culminated in his service as president judge of the Forty-third Judicial District of Pennsylvania, a position that placed him at the head of the local judiciary. In this capacity he presided over civil and criminal matters in a district that included Monroe County, applying his decades of legal and legislative experience to the administration of justice.

John Brutzman Storm remained a resident of Stroudsburg for the rest of his life. He died there on August 13, 1901. He was interred in Stroudsburg Cemetery, Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, closing a career that combined service in education, law, and four terms in the United States House of Representatives.