Irving Price Wanger (March 5, 1852 – January 14, 1940) was a Republican member of the

U.S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

from

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

. Wanger was born in

North Coventry Township, Pennsylvania North Coventry Township is a township in Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 7,866 at the 2010 census. History The township derives its name from Coventry, England, the native home of an early settler. The Pottsto ...

, the son of Rebecca (Price) and George Wanger. He served as deputy

prothonotary A prothonotary is the "principal clerk of a court," from Late Latin, L.L. ''prothonotarius'' (Wiktionary:circa, c. 400), from Greek ''protonotarios'' "first scribe," originally the chief of the college of recorders of the court of the Byzantine E ...

Chester County, Pennsylvania Chester County (Pennsylvania Dutch language, Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Tscheschter Kaundi''), colloquially referred to as Chesco, is a County (United States), county in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is located in ...

, in 1871. He commenced the study of law at

Norristown, Pennsylvania Norristown is a Borough (Pennsylvania), borough with Home Rule Municipality (Pennsylvania), home rule status and the county seat of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States, in the Delaware Valley, Philadelphia metropolitan area. Located ...

, in 1872. He served as deputy prothonotary of

Montgomery County, Pennsylvania Montgomery County, colloquially referred to as Montco, is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population of the county was 856,553, making it the third-most populous county in Pennsylvania after Philadel ...

from 1873 to 1875. He was admitted to the bar in 1875, and commenced the practice of law in Norristown. He was as an elected burgess of Norristown in 1878. He was a delegate to the

1880 Republican National Convention The 1880 Republican National Convention was held from June 2 to June 8, 1880, at the Interstate Exposition Building in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Delegates nominated James A. Garfield of Ohio and Chester A. Arthur of New York (state), N ...

. He was elected district attorney of Montgomery County in 1880 and again in 1886. He served as chairman of the Montgomery County Republican committee in 1889. Wanger was an unsuccessful candidate for election in 1890. He was elected as a Republican to the Fifty-third and to the eight succeeding Congresses. He served as chairman of the

United States House Committee on Expenditures in the Post Office Department The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is the main investigative committee of the United States House of Representatives. The committee's broad jurisdiction and legislative authority make it one of the most influential and powerful pan ...

during the Fifty-fifth through Sixty-first Congresses. He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1910. He lived for a short time in

Wilmington, Delaware Wilmington is the List of municipalities in Delaware, most populous city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish colonization of the Americas, Swedish settlement in North America. It lie ...

. He resumed the practice of his profession in Norristown and

Media, Pennsylvania Media is a borough (Pennsylvania), borough in and the county seat of Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located about west of Philadelphia. It is part of the Delaware Valley, also known as the Philadelphia metropolitan area. ...

, in 1920. He died in Norristown in 1940 and was buried in Mount Zion Cemetery in

Pottstown, Pennsylvania Pottstown is a Borough (Pennsylvania), borough in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States. Pottstown was laid out in 1752–53 and named Pottsgrove in honor of its founder, John Potts (Pennsylvanian), John Potts. The old name was abando ...

Sources

The Political Graveyard

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wanger, Irving Price 1852 births 1940 deaths Pennsylvania lawyers Politicians from Chester County, Pennsylvania District attorneys in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Pennsylvania The Hill School alumni 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives 20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives