Representative Philadelph Van Trump

Philadelph Van Trump (November 15, 1810 – July 31, 1874) was an American politician and lawyer who served three terms as a U.S. Representative from Ohio from 1867 to 1873. He was born in Lancaster, Fairfield County, Ohio, where he attended the local public schools. As a young man he learned the art of printing, a trade that introduced him to public affairs and the world of letters. He subsequently became editor of the Gazette and Enquirer in Lancaster, using the newspaper as a platform for engagement in political and civic issues in his community.

While working in journalism, Van Trump studied law and prepared for a legal career. He was admitted to the bar and commenced the practice of law in Lancaster on May 14, 1838. His legal practice developed alongside increasing involvement in politics. Initially aligned with the Whig Party, he served as a delegate to the Whig National Convention in 1852, reflecting his early prominence in state and national political circles. As the American party system realigned in the 1850s, he became associated with the American Party and, in 1857, was its unsuccessful candidate for Governor of Ohio.

Van Trump continued to play an active role in the shifting political landscape on the eve of the Civil War. In 1860 he served as a delegate to the Bell and Everett State convention in Ohio and was chosen president of that convention, supporting the Constitutional Union ticket that sought to avert sectional conflict. His legal reputation led to judicial office, and he served as judge of the court of common pleas from 1862 to 1867. During this period he also sought higher judicial office, standing unsuccessfully for election to the Supreme Court of Ohio in 1863, 1864, and 1865.

By the close of the Civil War, Van Trump had become identified with the Democratic Party in Ohio. He was elected as a Democrat to the Fortieth, Forty-first, and Forty-second Congresses, serving in the U.S. House of Representatives from March 4, 1867, to March 3, 1873. His three terms in Congress coincided with the critical Reconstruction era, during which he participated in the legislative process and represented the interests of his Ohio constituents as the nation grappled with the political, legal, and social consequences of the Civil War. As a member of the Democratic Party representing Ohio, he contributed to debates over federal authority, civil rights, and the reintegration of the former Confederate states, taking part in the democratic process during a significant period in American history. He was not a candidate for renomination in 1872.

During his congressional career and afterward, Van Trump remained active in party affairs at the state level. In 1869 he served as president of the Democratic State convention in Ohio, underscoring his continuing influence within the party and his role in shaping Democratic strategy and leadership in the postwar period. After leaving Congress in 1873, he returned to Lancaster and resumed the practice of law, continuing the profession he had first entered more than three decades earlier.

Philadelph Van Trump died in Lancaster, Ohio, on July 31, 1874. He was interred in Elmwood Cemetery in Lancaster. His career spanned journalism, law, judicial service, and legislative office, and his public life reflected the major political realignments and constitutional struggles of mid-nineteenth-century America.