Jacob Harold Gallinger

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Jacob Harold Gallinger (March 28, 1837 - August 17, 1918), was a United States Senator from New Hampshire who served as president pro tempore of the Senate in 1912 and 1913.

Born in Cornwall, Ontario (Canada), Gallinger moved to the U.S. at an early age and studied medicine at the Cincinnati Eclectic Medical Institute, from which he graduated in 1858. He studied abroad for two years, and then returned to the United States and engaged in the practice of homeopathic medicine and surgery in Concord, New Hampshire. He was an active member of the American Institute of Homeopathy from 1868-80, and throughout his political career, he was a forthright advocate of the homeopathic school of thought and practice. He was elected to the New Hampshire House of Representatives and served from 1872 to 1873.

He served as a member of the State constitutional convention in 1876. He was then elected to the New Hampshire Senate and served from 1878 to 1880. He became surgeon general of New Hampshire, with the rank of brigadier general, from 1879 to 1880. He was then elected as a Republican to the United States House of Representatives, serving from March 4, 1885 to March 3, 1889, but declined to be a candidate for reelection in 1888.

After a brief stint returning to the New Hampshire House, Gallinger was elected to the United States Senate in 1891. He was reelected in 1897, 1903, 1909, and 1914, and served from March 4, 1891 until his death in Franklin, New Hampshire in 1918.

He was President pro tempore during the Sixty-second Congress, and was also Republican Conference chairman. His additional achievements included chairman of the Committee on Transportation Routes to the Seaboard, Committee on Pensions, Committee on the District of Columbia, and chairman of the Merchant Marine Commission.

Gallinger was interred at Blossom Hill Cemetery, Concord.

Preceded by
Ossian Ray
U.S. Congressman from New Hampshire
18851889
Succeeded by
Orren C. Moore
Preceded by
Henry W. Blair
United States Senator from New Hampshire
18911918
Succeeded by
Irving W. Drew
Preceded by
William P. Frye
President pro tempore of the United States Senate
Varying pro tems
Succeeded by
James P. Clarke
Preceded by
Shelby Moore Cullom
Dean of the United States Senate
March 4, 1913–August 17, 1918
Succeeded by
Henry Cabot Lodge

[edit] References

  • American National Biography; Dictionary of American Biography; 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.
  • Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress