Henry Dilworth Gilpin (April 14, 1801 – January 29, 1860) was an American lawyer and statesman who served as the 14th

Attorney General of the United States The United States attorney general (AG) is the head of the United States Department of Justice, and is the chief law enforcement officer of the federal government of the United States. The attorney general serves as the principal advisor to the p ...

under President Martin Van Buren from 1840 to 1841. He served as the 2nd

Solicitor of the United States Treasury The Solicitor of the Treasury position was created in the United States Department of the Treasury by an act of May 29, 1830 , which changed the name of the Agent of the Treasury. Function The Solicitor of the Treasury served as legal advisor to th ...

from 1837 to 1840 and

U.S. Attorney United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal c ...

for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania from 1831 to 1837.

Early life and education

Gilpin was the son of Philadelphia-born industrialist

Joshua Gilpin Joshua Gilpin (November 8, 1765 – August 22, 1841) was an American paper manufacturer from Philadelphia. Along with his brother, Thomas Gilpin, Jr. and his uncle Miers Fisher, he established the first paper manufacturing business in Delaware i ...

and Mary Dilworth, and was born in Lancaster, England, just before his parents returned to America. His father had been on extended tour of Britain and Europe, lasting from 1795 to 1801, during which he obtained information about the new manufacturing methods used in paper-making for his family paper mills on Brandywine Creek in Delaware. The family returned to England for another stay in 1812 and Gilpin attended school near London. He returned to the United States in about 1816. He graduated from the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

in 1819. He studied law with

Joseph R. Ingersoll Joseph Reed Ingersoll (June 14, 1786 – February 20, 1868) was an American lawyer and statesman from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In 1835 he followed his father, Jared Ingersoll, and his older brother, Charles Jared Ingersoll, to represent Penns ...

and was admitted to the bar in 1822.

Career

He served as U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania from 1831 to 1837, and then as

in 1837. During this time he joined the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...

(elected in 1832) From 1833 to 1835 he was on the board of the Bank of the United States. Gilpin supported President

Andrew Jackson Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was an American lawyer, planter, general, and statesman who served as the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before being elected to the presidency, he gained fame as ...

's belief that the bank had become too powerful and worked to ensure that the banks charter was denied which caused the bank to close in 1836. Jackson nominated Gilpin to be the territorial governor of Michigan in 1835 but the confirmation was blocked by Jackson's enemies in Congress. President Martin Van Buren named him 14th

in 1840. He served until 1841, during which time he presented the U.S. government's side of the '' Amistad'' case to the

U.S. Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

. From 7 June 1852 until 13 June 1859 he served as president of the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. He served as vice president and trustee of the

Pennsylvania Historical Society The Historical Society of Pennsylvania is a long-established research facility, based in Philadelphia. It is a repository for millions of historic items ranging across rare books, scholarly monographs, family chronicles, maps, press reports and v ...

and as an associate member of the

Massachusetts Historical Society The Massachusetts Historical Society is a major historical archive specializing in early American, Massachusetts, and New England history. The Massachusetts Historical Society was established in 1791 and is located at 1154 Boylston Street in Bost ...

. He served as a director of Girard College from 1856 to 1858 and as a trustee of the University of Pennsylvania. He worked as secretary of the

Chesapeake and Delaware Canal The Chesapeake & Delaware Canal (C&D Canal) is a -long, -wide and -deep ship canal that connects the Delaware River with the Chesapeake Bay in the states of Delaware and Maryland in the United States. In the mid‑17th century, mapmaker Augus ...

His position with the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal allowed him to travel throughout the Eastern United States and his writings were later published by his father in a seven volume book titled ''Atlantic Souvenirs (1826-1832)''. He contributed articles on politics and literature to several newspapers and journals including the ''American Quarterly'', the ''

Democratic Review ''The United States Magazine and Democratic Review'' was a periodical published from 1837 to 1859 by John L. O'Sullivan. Its motto, "The best government is that which governs least", was famously paraphrased by Henry David Thoreau in "Resistance t ...

'' and the '' North American Review''. He published several profiles of politicians including

Henry Clay Henry Clay Sr. (April 12, 1777June 29, 1852) was an American attorney and statesman who represented Kentucky in both the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. He was the seventh House speaker as well as the ninth secretary of state, al ...

, Andrew Jackson and Daniel Webster. Gilpin died in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

in 1860 and was interred at

Laurel Hill Cemetery Laurel Hill Cemetery is a historic rural cemetery in the East Falls neighborhood of Philadelphia. Founded in 1836, it was the second major rural cemetery in the United States after Mount Auburn Cemetery in Boston, Massachusetts. The cemetery is ...

Legacy

The Henry D. Gilpin Fund was created by his will for the Chicago Historical Society to establish the Gilpin library.

Bibliography

*
An Annual Discourse Before the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts Delivered in the Hall of the Musical Fund Society, on the 29th of November 1826
', H.C. Carey & I. Lea, Philadelphia (1827) *
A Biographical Sketch of Thomas Jefferson
', Philadelphia (1828) *
The Papers of James Madison Purchased by Order of Congress; Being His Correspondence and Reports of Debates During the Congress of the Confederation and His Reports of Debates in the Federal Convention; Now Published From the Original Manuscripts, Deposited in the Department of State, By Direction of the Joint Library Committee of Congress, Under the Superintendence of Henry D. Gilpin
', Langtree & O'Sullivan, Washington (1840) *
Address Delivered at the University of Pennsylvania Before the Philomathean Society on the Occasion of Their Biennial Celebration, May 23d 1845
', King & Baird, Printers, Philadelphia (1845)

Citations

Sources

External links

Dickinson College Archives & Special Collections - Letter from James Buchanan to Henry GilpinHistorical Society of Pennsylvania - Gilpin family papers
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gilpin, Henry Dilworth 1801 births 1860 deaths 19th-century American male writers 19th-century American politicians American bankers American Quakers Burials at Laurel Hill Cemetery (Philadelphia) Gilpin family La Amistad Members of the American Philosophical Society Pennsylvania Jacksonians Pennsylvania lawyers People associated with the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts People from Lancaster, Lancashire United States Attorneys for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania United States Attorneys General United States Department of the Treasury officials University of Pennsylvania alumni Van Buren administration cabinet members