Jacob Harold Gallinger (March 28, 1837 – August 17, 1918) was an American politician who was

United States senator The United States Senate consists of 100 members, two from each of the 50 U.S. state, states. This list includes all senators serving in the 119th United States Congress. Party affiliation Independent Senators Angus King of Maine and Berni ...

from

New Hampshire New Hampshire ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

from 1891 to 1918 and President pro tempore of the Senate from 1912 to 1913.

Early life and career

Jacob Harold Gallinger was born in

Cornwall, Ontario Cornwall is a city in Eastern Ontario, Canada, situated where the provinces of Central Canada, Ontario and Quebec and the U.S. state of New York (state), New York converge. It is Ontario's easternmost city. Although it is the seat of the United ...

British Canada British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and cultur ...

on March 28, 1837. His father's family were German and his mother's was German American. He was home-schooled from an early age. Gallinger moved to the U.S. at an early age and first worked as a printer.

Medical career

Gallinger studied medicine at the Cincinnati Eclectic Medical Institute and graduated at the head of his class in May 1858. He studied abroad for three years, writing and working as a printer to cover his expenses. In 1861, he returned to the United States and engaged in the practice of homeopathic medicine and surgery in

Keene, New Hampshire Keene is a city in Cheshire County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 23,047 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, down from 23,409 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. It is the county seat and the only city in ...

before moving to

Concord, New Hampshire Concord () is the capital city of the U.S. state of New Hampshire and the county seat, seat of Merrimack County, New Hampshire, Merrimack County. As of the 2020 United States census the population was 43,976, making it the List of municipalities ...

in April 1862. He practiced medicine actively until 1885. He was an active member of the American Institute of Homeopathy from 1868 to 1880, and throughout his political career, he was a forthright advocate of the homeopathic school of thought and practice. Besides the AIH, he was a member of many state and national medical societies and a frequent contributor to the journals of his profession. He was on the board of trustees of Columbia Hospital for Women, and a member of the board of visitors to Providence Hospital.

Early political career

State legislature

Gallinger was elected to the

New Hampshire House of Representatives The New Hampshire House of Representatives is the lower house in the New Hampshire General Court, the bicameral State legislature (United States), legislature of the state of New Hampshire. The House of Representatives consists of 400 members com ...

in 1872 and re-elected in 1873. He served as a member of the state constitutional convention in 1876. He was then elected to the

New Hampshire Senate The New Hampshire State Senate is the upper house of the New Hampshire General Court, alongside the lower New Hampshire House of Representatives. The Senate has been meeting since 1784. The Senate consists of 24 members representing Senate distri ...

and served from 1878 to 1880. In 1879, he was elected Senate President. He became

surgeon general Surgeon general (: surgeons general) is a title used in several Commonwealth countries and most NATO nations to refer either to a senior military medical officer or to a senior uniformed physician commissioned by the government and entrusted with p ...

of New Hampshire under Governor Natt Head, with the rank of brigadier general, from 1879 to 1880. In 1882, he was elected chairman of the New Hampshire Republican Party and remained in that role until his resignation in 1890.

United States House of Representatives

In 1884, Gallinger was elected to the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, 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 Artic ...

, serving from March 4, 1885, to March 3, 1889, but declined to be a candidate for reelection in 1888. In 1888, Gallinger served as chairman of the New Hampshire delegation to the

Republican National Convention The Republican National Convention (RNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1856 by the Republican Party in the United States. They are administered by the Republican National Committee. The goal o ...

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, where he seconded the nomination of

Benjamin Harrison Benjamin Harrison (August 20, 1833March 13, 1901) was the 23rd president of the United States, serving from 1889 to 1893. He was a member of the Harrison family of Virginia—a grandson of the ninth president, William Henry Harrison, and a ...

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

for president.

United States Senate

In 1890, Gallinger was elected to the New Hampshire House again, but served only a short time before the legislature elected him to the United States Senate in 1891. He was reelected by the legislature without Republican opposition in 1897, 1903 and 1909, and by popular vote in 1914. He served from March 4, 1891, until his death in Franklin, New Hampshire in 1918. As Senator, Gallinger chaired the New Hampshire delegations to the

of 1888, 1900, 1904 and 1908, and for a time was a member of the

Republican National Committee The Republican National Committee (RNC) is the primary committee of the Republican Party of the United States. Its members are chosen by the state delegations at the national convention every four years. It is responsible for developing and pr ...

. In 1898, Gallinger returned to the role of chairman of the New Hampshire Republican Party and was re-elected in 1900 and 1902. In 1901, he was also elected to represent New Hampshire on the Republican National Committee. As Senator he was considered a master of parliamentary law and was frequently called upon to preside over the Senate. He was also an active public speaker in and out of the Senate. He was President pro tempore during the Sixty-second Congress and was also Republican Conference chairman. He also chaired the Committee on Transportation Routes to the Seaboard, Committee on Pensions, Committee on the District of Columbia, and the Merchant Marine Commission. He was named a member of the National Forest Reservation Commission, established by the

Weeks Act The Weeks Act is a federal law (36 Stat. 961) enacted by the United States Congress on March 1, 1911. Introduced by Massachusetts Congressman John W. Weeks and signed into law by President William Howard Taft, the law authorized the United Stat ...

, which Gallinger sponsored in the Senate.

Personal life and death

Gallinger received the honorary degree of A.M. from

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College ( ) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, Dartmouth is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the America ...

in 1885 and served as trustee of

George Washington University The George Washington University (GW or GWU) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally-chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Originally named Columbian College, it was chartered in 1821 by ...

for several years. He was interred at Blossom Hill Cemetery, Concord.

Notes

References

* ''

American National Biography The ''American National Biography'' (ANB) is a 24-volume biographical encyclopedia set that contains about 17,400 entries and 20 million words, first published in 1999 by Oxford University Press under the auspices of the American Council of Lea ...

'' * ''

Dictionary of American Biography The ''Dictionary of American Biography'' (DAB) was a multi-volume dictionary published in New York City by Charles Scribner's Sons under the auspices of the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS). History The dictionary was first propo ...

'' * Schlup, Leonard. "Consistent Conservative: Jacob Harold Gallinger and the Presidential Campaign of 1912 in New Hampshire." ''International Review of History and Political Science'' 21 (August 1984): 49–57. * U.S. Congress. Memorial Services for Jacob Harold Gallinger. 65th Cong., 3rd sess., 1918–1919. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1919. * * *
Jacob H. Gallinger, late a representative from New Hampshire, Memorial addresses delivered in the House of Representatives and Senate frontispiece 1919
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gallinger, Jacob H. 1837 births 1918 deaths Emigrants from pre-Confederation Ontario to the United States Republican Party members of the New Hampshire House of Representatives People from Cornwall, Ontario Chairpersons of the New Hampshire Republican State Committee Republican Party United States senators from New Hampshire Presidents of the New Hampshire Senate Republican Party New Hampshire state senators Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from New Hampshire Presidents pro tempore of the United States Senate 20th-century United States senators 19th-century members of the New Hampshire General Court 19th-century United States senators 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives