J. Philip Roman
MSA SC 3520-12507
Member, 1867 Constitutional Convention, Allegany County
J. Philip Roman was born on November 25, 1821 in Cecil County, Maryland. He studied law under his older brother, James Dixon Roman. He moved to Cumberland in 1843, at the age of twenty-three. In 1864 he married Eloise Lowndes. The only political office he ever held was as a delegate to the 1867 Constitutional Convention. He ran as a Whig for Congress in 1852 but was defeated by William T. Hamilton. In 1868 he was a candidate for nomination at the Democratic Convention but after two days of ballotting his nomination was withdrawn and Patrick Hamill was nominated.
He devoted most of his time to business pursuits rather than to practicing law. He had investments in coal lands and mining, and owned valuable wharf property in Baltimore. He was the founder and first president of the Second National Bank of Cumberland. He served as president until his death on February 28, 1871, two months after his son J. Philip was born (November 7, 1870). He is buried in the Rose Hill Cemetery in Cumberland, Maryland.
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