Gilbert De La Matyr

Gilbert De La Matyr (July 8, 1825, in Pharsalia, New York – May 17, 1892, in Akron, Ohio) was an American cleric and politician from New York and Indiana who served one term in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1879 to 1881. Raised in upstate New York, he entered the ministry of the Methodist Episcopal Church, pursuing religious training that would shape both his pastoral career and his later public life. He completed a theological course of the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1854, after which he was admitted to the ministry and became an itinerant elder, traveling to serve congregations in different communities.

De La Matyr’s early ministerial work was closely tied to the institutional life of the Methodist Episcopal Church. As an itinerant elder, he held pastorates in several large cities, gaining prominence within the denomination. His leadership was recognized when he served as a member of the General Conference in 1868, the church’s highest legislative body, where he participated in deliberations on doctrine and church governance. During this period he also served for one term as a Presiding Elder, supervising a district of Methodist congregations and overseeing the work of other ministers.

During the American Civil War, De La Matyr’s religious vocation intersected with national service. In 1862 he helped enlist the 8th New York Heavy Artillery Regiment, contributing to the Union war effort at a critical moment in the conflict. He then served as chaplain of that regiment for three years, ministering to soldiers in camp and in the field, providing spiritual support, and attending to the moral and religious needs of the troops. His wartime experience deepened his public profile and reinforced his commitment to national issues.

Following the war, De La Matyr began to move more directly into political life while continuing his clerical duties. In 1867 he ran on the Republican ticket for the office of New York State Prison Inspector, reflecting his interest in public administration and reform, but he was defeated by the Democratic candidate, Solomon Scheu. After this unsuccessful bid for statewide office, he continued his pastoral work and eventually settled in Indianapolis, Indiana. There he maintained his ministerial responsibilities and became a well-known religious figure in the city, which provided the base for his later political career.

De La Matyr entered national politics as a representative of the agrarian and monetary reform movements of the post–Civil War era. In Indianapolis he was elected as a National Greenback candidate to the Forty-sixth United States Congress, representing Indiana. As a member of the National Greenbacker Party, he advocated for policies associated with the Greenback movement, which sought an expanded paper currency and relief for farmers and laborers in the wake of economic dislocation. He served in the U.S. House of Representatives from March 4, 1879, to March 3, 1881, participating in the legislative process during a significant period in American history and representing the interests of his Indiana constituents for one term in office.

After his congressional service, De La Matyr returned fully to the ministry and relocated to the West. In 1881 he moved to Denver, Colorado, where he again engaged in preaching and pastoral work. In Denver he became pastor of Evans Chapel, a Methodist congregation that grew under his leadership. In 1886 he helped organize the construction of an expanded sanctuary for the church, which was named Grace Church, reflecting both the growth of the congregation and his role in its development.

In the final phase of his career, De La Matyr continued to serve in prominent Methodist pulpits. Beginning in 1889 he was pastor of the First Methodist Episcopal Church of Akron, Ohio, one of the leading congregations in that city. He remained in Akron in active ministry until his death there on May 17, 1892. Over the course of his life, Gilbert De La Matyr combined religious leadership with political engagement, serving as a Civil War chaplain, a Methodist elder and pastor in several major cities, and a National Greenback congressman from Indiana during the Forty-sixth Congress.