| Nelson Holmes Van Vorhes | |
| Image Name: | NHVanVorhes.jpg |
| State: | Ohio |
| District: | 15th |
| Term Start: | March 4, 1875 |
| Term End: | March 3, 1879 |
| Preceded: | William P. Sprague |
| Succeeded: | George W. Geddes |
| State House2: | Ohio |
| District2: | Athens County |
| Term Start2: | December 2, 1850 |
| Term End2: | January 1, 1854 |
| Preceded2: | Anselm T. Holcomb, Joseph K. Will |
| Succeeded2: | Samuel B. Pruden |
| Alongside2: | H. S. Bundy |
| Term Start3: | January 7, 1856 |
| Term End3: | January 1, 1860 |
| Preceded3: | Samuel B. Pruden |
| Succeeded3: | A. B. Monahan |
| Term Start4: | January 3, 1870 |
| Term End4: | January 4, 1874 |
| Preceded4: | William P. Johnson |
| Succeeded4: | Charles H. Grosvenor |
| Office5: | Speaker of the Ohio House |
| Term Start5: | January 1, 1856 |
| Term End5: | January 3, 1858 |
| Predecessor5: | Francis C. LeBlond |
| Successor5: | William Burnham Woods |
| Term Start6: | January 1, 1872 |
| Term End6: | January 4, 1874 |
| Predecessor6: | A. J. Cunningham |
| Successor6: | George L. Converse |
| Party: | Republican |
| Otherparty: | Whig |
| Birth Date: | 23 January 1822 |
| Birth Place: | Washington County, Pennsylvania |
| Death Place: | Athens, Ohio |
Nelson Holmes Van Vorhes (January 23, 1822 – December 4, 1882) was an American newspaperman and politician who served two terms as a U.S. Representative from Ohio from 1875 to 1879.
Born in Washington County, Pennsylvania, Van Vorhes moved to Athens County, Ohio, in 1832 and engaged in agricultural pursuits.Apprenticed to a printer for six years.He was editor and proprietor of The Athens Messenger 1844-1861.He served as member of the State House of Representatives 1850-1872 and served four years as speaker.
Van Vorhes lost the election for Ohio Secretary of State as a Whig in 1853.Van Vorhes was elected probate judge in 1854, but resigned.He was an unsuccessful candidate for election in 1858 to the Thirty-sixth Congress.He served as delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1860.He entered the Union Army as a private in 1861 and was mustered out as colonel of the 92nd Ohio Infantry in the Summer of 1863, when his health failed. His father was: Abraham Van Vorhes who also served in the Ohio General Assembly and Minnesota Territorial Legislature and his brother was: Andrew J. Van Vorhes who served in the Minnesota House of Representatives.[1]
Van Vorhes was elected as a Republican to the Forty-fourth and Forty-fifth Congresses (March 4, 1875 – March 3, 1879).He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1878 to the Forty-sixth Congress.He died in Athens, Ohio, December 4, 1882, and was interred in West Union Street Cemetery.
Retrieved on 2008-10-18