Gorman, Arthur P. (Arthur Pue), 1839-1906

Arthur P. Gorman was United States senator from Maryland, 1880-1899 and 1903-1906, and president of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Company.

Arthur Pue Gorman (1839–1906) was a United States Senator from Maryland. Beginning as a page in the House of Representatives (1852), he was transferred to the Senate through the influence of Illinois senator Stephen A. Douglas, who made him his private secretary. Gorman subsequently served the Senate as page, messenger, assistant doorkeeper, assistant postmaster, and finally postmaster. In September of 1866, Gorman was appointed collector of internal revenue for the fifth district of Maryland, and he served as director and later as president of the Chesapeake Ohio Canal Co.

Gorman served in the Maryland House of Delegates from 1869 to 1875, with one session as speaker of the house. He served in the Maryland State Senate (1875-1881) and then in the United States Senate (1881-1899 and 1902-1906), where he soon became a leader of the conservative wing of his party (the "Bourbon Democrats"). During his congressional tenure he was the Democratic caucus chairman (1890-1898), chairman of the Senate Committee on Printing, and a member of the Senate Committee on Private Land Claims. He played a major role in financial and tariff legislation, especially the Wilson-Gorman Tariff of 1894.

Arthur P. Gorman (1839-1906), United States senator from Maryland, was born in Woodstock, Howard County, Md., on 11 March 1839. He attended the public schools and was appointed a page in the House of Representatives in 1852. He transferred to the Senate through the influence of Stephen A. Douglas, who made him his private secretary, and subsequently served the Senate as page, messenger, assistant doorkeeper, assistant postmaster, and finally postmaster. He was removed from his Senate office in September 1866 and immediately appointed collector of internal revenue for the fifth district of Maryland, 1866-1869. He was a director and later president of the Chesapeake Ohio Canal Co.

Gorman was a member of the State house of delegates, 1869-1875, serving as speaker for one session; a member of the State senate, 1875-1881; and was elected as a Democrat to the United States Senate in 1880. He was reelected in 1886 and 1892, serving from 4 March 1881 to 3 March 1899. He was Democratic caucus chair, 1890-1898, and chair of the Committee on Printing in the Fifty-third Congress and of the Committee on Private Land Claims in the Fifty-fifth Congress. After losing his seat in 1898, Gorman was again elected to the United States Senate in 1902 and served from 4 March 1903 until his death in Washington, D.C., on 4 June 1906. He served as Democratic caucus chair, 1903-1906.

Gorman was married to Hannah Donegan Gorman (1837-1910). They had a son, Arthur Pue Gorman, Jr. (1873-1919).

Adapted from the Biographical Directory of the American Congress, with additional information from Register of the Gorman Papers in the Maryland Historical Society.