Gilpin, Charles

Born: 1809-11-17 Wilmington, Delaware

Died: 1891-10-29 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Flourished: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Charles Gilpin was an attorney, civic leader, and mayor of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He moved as a young man from Delaware to Philadelphia, where he studied at the Germantown Academy and read law with eminent attorney Joseph Ingersoll. He earned admission to the Philadelphia bar in 1834, and continued to practice law in the city for the next fifty years. Interested in civic affairs, he won election to the Common Council in 1839 and to the Select Council in 1840, serving in the latter body until 1849. In 1850, Gilpin won election as mayor of Philadelphia, running as a Whig. He won reelection in 1851, 1852, and 1853, serving until 1854. In 1858, Gilpin became solicitor to the sheriff, holding that position through and beyond the Civil War. In 1860, he was practicing law and owned real estate valued at $11,000 and had a personal estate of $16,000. Shifting his allegiance to the Republican Party after the demise of the Whigs, Gilpin was a staunch supporter of the Union during the Civil War, helping to raise a volunteer regiment and supporting two substitutes fighting on his behalf. In 1864, President Abraham Lincoln appointed him U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. In April 1843, he married Sarah Hood, with whom he had six children. He was a member of the Union League and Freemasons. He attended Calvary Presbyterian Church.

John W. Jordan, Encyclopedia of Pennsylvania Biography (New York: Lewis Historical, 1916), 6:1963; John W. Jordan, ed., Colonial Families of Philadelphia (New York and Chicago: Lewis, 1911), 1:433-34; John Russell Young, Memorial History of the City of Philadelphia From its First Settlement to the Year 1895 (New York: New York History, 1898), 2:436-37; Appointment of Charles Gilpin as U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania; U.S. Census Office, Eighth Census of the United States (1860), Ward 8, Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, PA, 345.