Ludwig Worman

Ludwig Worman (1761 – October 17, 1822) was a Federalist member of the United States House of Representatives from Pennsylvania who represented a Berks County district in the early years of the republic. He was born in 1761 in Tinicum Township, Pennsylvania, then a largely rural area of the colony and later state, where he spent his early years. Details of his family background and early schooling are not well documented, but his subsequent career indicates that he came of age in an environment shaped by small-scale industry and agriculture in southeastern Pennsylvania.

As a young man, Worman learned the tanning business, a trade of considerable economic importance in the late eighteenth century, supplying leather for shoes, harnesses, and other essential goods. In 1784, not long after the end of the American Revolution, he moved from Tinicum Township to Earl Township in Berks County, Pennsylvania. There he established a tannery, becoming part of the region’s growing artisan and commercial class. His success in this enterprise positioned him as a figure of some local prominence, linking him to the economic and civic life of Earl Township and the surrounding area.

Worman’s standing as a businessman and community member eventually led him into public life. Aligning himself with the Federalist Party, which advocated a strong national government and closer commercial ties with Great Britain, he entered national politics at a time when the Federalists were in decline in many parts of the country. Despite this broader political shift, he secured election as a Federalist to the Seventeenth Congress, representing Pennsylvania in the United States House of Representatives. His term began on March 4, 1821, and he served continuously until his death.

During his congressional service, Worman sat in a period marked by debates over internal improvements, tariffs, and the evolving balance of power between the federal government and the states. Although the detailed record of his individual speeches and votes is sparse, his affiliation with the Federalist Party placed him among those favoring a more active national role in economic development and a cautious approach to the rapid expansion of democratic participation that characterized the era. His tenure in Congress coincided with the waning influence of the Federalists, who were being eclipsed by Democratic-Republicans and emerging new political alignments.

In 1822, while still serving in the Seventeenth Congress, Worman sought reelection to the Eighteenth Congress. He was an unsuccessful candidate in that contest, reflecting both the shifting political landscape in Pennsylvania and the broader national decline of Federalist fortunes. Before the new Congress convened, however, his career was cut short. Worman died in office on October 17, 1822, in Earl Township, Berks County, Pennsylvania, where he had long resided and conducted his tanning business.

Ludwig Worman was interred in Earl Township Cemetery in Earl Township, Pennsylvania. His death placed him among the early members of the United States Congress who died while still in office between 1790 and 1899. Remembered primarily for his brief service in the House of Representatives and his role as a Federalist representative from a rural Pennsylvania district, his life reflects the trajectory of many early American legislators who rose from local trades and community leadership to national office in the formative decades of the United States.