US Congressman. He was also known as Phil Van Trump. He was born in Lancaster, Ohio, to John Van Trump, and was educated in local common and public schools. Following his education, he learned the art of printing and eventually became the editor of the Lancaster Gazette and Lancaster Enquirer publications in Lancaster, Ohio. His father passed away in 1835. In 1836, he married Marie Louise Beecher in Lancaster, Ohio, and the couple would have six children (Francis "Fanny" was born in 1837, Philemon Beecher was born in 1838, Maria Louise was born in 1841, Charles was born in 1843, Henry Stanberry was born in 1848, and Thomas Ewing was born in 1852). He then studied law and was admitted to the bar. He commenced to practicing law on May 14, 1838, when he joined a partnership with H.F. Stanberry in Lancaster, Ohio. He then decided to enter politics and was a Delegate to the Whig National Convention which was held in 1852. He then ran as an unsuccessful candidate of the American Party for Governor of Ohio in 1857. He also served as a Delegate to and was President of the Bell and Everett State Convention in 1860 and as President and as a Judge of the Court of Common Pleas from 1862 to 1867. During his time as a judge, he saw many cases even one of a kidnapping that involved man named Dr. Olds and then-Governor David Tod. The judge was threatened with bayonets and military imprisonment if he did not drop the case. The judge who was a harsh believer in delivering swift justice would have thrown Governor David Tod in jail under the kidnapping act if the Ohio Supreme Court had not intervened. He ran unsuccessfully three times to be a Judge on the Supreme Court of Ohio in 1863, 1864, and lastly in 1865. He then decided to run for a seat in the United States Congress and was elected. A Democrat, he then served Ohio's 12th District (Fortieth, Forty-First, and Forty-Second Congresses) in the United States House of Representatives from 1867 to 1873. He was not a candidate for renomination in 1872. He lastly served as President of the Democratic State Convention in 1869 before his retirement. After retiring from public service he resumed the practice of law in Lancaster, Ohio, until his death five years later. He passed away at his residence in Lancaster, Ohio, from heart disease at the age of 63. His wife had predeceased him in 1861 at the age of 46 and they are buried together in the Elmwood Cemetery in Lancaster, Ohio. After a lifetime of public service, he had died relatively poor because he had been seen as a very generous man who had given away most of his wealth to those who needed it more than he did. One of his obituaries of the time said he was "a man of excellent qualities, a man of ability and strict integrity." His son Philemon Beecher Van Trump became a noted mountaineer and writer.