Henry William Hoffman (November 10, 1825 – July 28, 1895) was a

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

from

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

. Born in

Cumberland, Maryland Cumberland is a U.S. city in and the county seat of Allegany County, Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its s ...

, Hoffman attended the public schools and Allegany County Academy. He graduated from Jefferson College (now

Washington & Jefferson College Washington & Jefferson College (W&J College or W&J) is a private liberal arts college in Washington, Pennsylvania. The college traces its origin to three log cabin colleges in Washington County established by three Presbyterian missionaries to ...

) in Pennsylvania, in 1846. He studied law, and was

admitted to the bar An admission to practice law is acquired when a lawyer receives a license to practice law. In jurisdictions with two types of lawyer, as with barristers and solicitors, barristers must gain admission to the bar whereas for solicitors there are dist ...

in 1848. Hoffman was elected by the American Party to the Thirty-fourth Congress (March 4, 1855 – March 3, 1857). He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1856 to the Thirty-fifth Congress and for election in 1858 to the Thirty-sixth Congress. After his tenure in Congress, Hoffman served as treasurer of the

Chesapeake & Ohio Canal The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, abbreviated as the C&O Canal and occasionally called the "Grand Old Ditch," operated from 1831 until 1924 along the Potomac River between Washington, D.C. and Cumberland, Maryland. It replaced the Potomac Canal, wh ...

Co. from 1858 to 1860. Hoffman was elected

Sergeant at Arms of the House of Representatives The Sergeant at Arms of the United States House of Representatives is an officer of the House with law enforcement, protocol, and administrative responsibilities. The Sergeant at Arms is elected at the beginning of each Congress by the membership ...

in the Thirty-sixth Congress and served from February 3, 1860, to July 5, 1861. He was appointed by President

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...

as collector of customs at

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

, and served from 1861 to 1866. He resumed the practice of law in

. Hoffman was elected associate judge of the sixth Maryland circuit court in 1883 and served until his death in

, July 28, 1895. He is interred in Rose Hill Cemetery.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hoffman, Henry William 1825 births 1895 deaths Lawyers from Cumberland, Maryland Know-Nothing members of the United States House of Representatives from Maryland Maryland state court judges Washington & Jefferson College alumni Sergeants at Arms of the United States House of Representatives 19th-century American politicians 19th-century American judges Politicians from Cumberland, Maryland Burials at Rose Hill Cemetery (Cumberland, Maryland) Members of the United States House of Representatives from Maryland