Upshur County, West Virginia Biography of HOMER O. VAN TROMP, M. D. This file was submitted by Valerie Crook, E-mail address: The submitter does not have a connection to the subject of this sketch. This file may be freely copied by individuals and non-profit organizations for their private use. All other rights reserved. Any other use, including publication, storage in a retrieval system, or transmission by electronic, mechanical, or other means requires the written approval of the file's author. This file is part of the WVGenWeb Archives. If you arrived here inside a frame or from a link from somewhere else, our front door is at http://www.usgwarchives.net/wv/wvfiles.htm The History of West Virginia, Old and New Published 1923, The American Historical Society, Inc., Chicago and New York, Volume III, pg. 414 HOMER O. VAN TROMP, M. D. The medical and surgical practice of the French Creek community in Upshur County is ably looked after by Doctor Van Tromp, who was born and grew up in this community and has made a splendid record in his chosen profession. He has practiced here for nearly ten years. Doctor Van Tromp was born at French Creek Septem- ber 26, 1877, son of John A. and Margaret (Ward) Van Tromp. His father was born in Rockingham County, Vir- ginia, in March, 1840, and at the age of eighteen came to this section of West Virginia. He had acquired his early education in his native state, and he also attended sub- scription school in West Virginia. He was a student, and for many years was a successful teacher. He served nine months in the Twenty-fourth West Virginia Cavalry, and was discharged at the close of war. After his marriage he taught school in Upshur and Harrison counties, and finally moved to French Creek to educate his children at the old academy, and is still living at French Creek. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church and a prohibitionist. John A. Van Tromp and wife had seven children, one of whom died at the age of nineteen. Those living are: John M., a teacher and surveyor in Upshur County; Lulu, wife of Jerome Fultz, of Jane Lew, West Virginia; Dr. Homer O.; Miss Iva L., who has been a teacher; Miss Mary E.; and Aleta, who is a graduate of the Fairmont State Normal and has been a teacher. Dr. Homer O. Van Tromp was reared at French Creek, attended the free schools there and took the work of the summer normal schools. As a young man he studied elec- tricity and steam engineering, and for a time was electri- cian at the West Virginia State Reform School and was also in Washington, District of Columbia, employed as chief engineer at the National Training School for Boys. For several years he had set his mind on a medical career, and in preparation therefor he entered the Eclectic School of Medicine at Cincinnati, where he was graduated in 1913, and in the same year returned to French Creek to begin practice. Doctor Van Tromp is a member of the County, State and American Medical Associations. He is a busy man in his profession, and at the same time takes a deep interest in everything connected with the general welfare and progress of the community. He is a stockholder in the Bank of Adrian, in the Upshur County Fair Associa- tion and the Buckhannon Chamber of Commerce. He is a republican, a Presbyterian, and is affiliated with Rock Cave Lodge No. 81, A. F. and A. M., and he and his wife are members of Aletha Chapter of the Eastern Star. In 1907 Doctor Van Tromp married Blanch E. Brooks, a daughter of Adolphus Brooks and member of a prom- inent family of educators and horticulturists in Upshur County.