Charles Elmer Dietrich (July 30, 1889 – May 20, 1942) was a Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives from

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

for one term from 1935 to 1937.

Early life and career

Charles E. Dietrich was born in

Tunkhannock, Pennsylvania Tunkhannock is a borough in Wyoming County, Pennsylvania, 31 miles (50 km) northwest of Wilkes-Barre. In the past, lumbering was carried on extensively. Today, many residents are employed by the Procter & Gamble plant in nearby Washington To ...

. He graduated from

Wyoming Seminary , motto_translation = Truth, beauty, and goodness , address = 201 North Sprague Avenue , location = , region = , city = Kingston , county = Luzerne , st ...

Kingston, Pennsylvania Kingston is a borough in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located on the western bank of the Susquehanna River opposite the city of Wilkes-Barre. Kingston was first settled in the early 1770s; it was incorporated as a borough in ...

, in 1907. He owned and operated a theater from 1914 to 1942. He was engaged in agricultural pursuits from 1924 to 1942. He served as

prothonotary The word prothonotary is recorded in English since 1447, as "principal clerk of a court," from L.L. ''prothonotarius'' ( c. 400), from Greek ''protonotarios'' "first scribe," originally the chief of the college of recorders of the court of the B ...

and clerk of the courts of

Wyoming County, Pennsylvania Wyoming County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is part of Northeastern Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 26,069. Its county seat is Tunkhannock. It was created in 1842 from part of Luzerne County. W ...

, from 1920 to 1935. He was a delegate to the

1932 Democratic National Convention The 1932 Democratic National Convention was held in Chicago, Illinois June 27 – July 2, 1932. The convention resulted in the nomination of Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt of New York for president and Speaker of the House John N. Garner from Te ...

Congress

In 1934 Dietrich defeated disgraced incumbent Louis T. McFadden and was the only Democrat to win the 15th district between 1912 and 1950. He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1936.

After Congress

He resumed former business pursuits, and died in Tunkhannock. Interment in Sunnyside Cemetery.

Sources

The Political Graveyard
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dietrich, Charles E. 1889 births 1942 deaths Pennsylvania prothonotaries People from Tunkhannock, Pennsylvania Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Pennsylvania 20th-century American legislators