Washington Gardner

Washington Gardner

Washington Gardner (born February 16, 1845 in Morrow County , Ohio , †  March 31, 1928 in Albion , Michigan ) was an American politician . Between 1899 and 1911 he represented the state of Michigan in the US House of Representatives .

Career

Despite his youth, Washington Gardner took from October 1861 as a soldier in the Union Army in the Civil War part. Until he retired from military service in December 1865, he reached the rank of sergeant. Meanwhile, he was seriously wounded during the fighting in Georgia . After the war he attended school in Berea and Hillsdale College in Hillsdale (Michigan) and until 1870 the Ohio Wesleyan University in Delaware. He then studied theology at Boston University until 1871 . After completing a law degree at Albany Law School and being admitted to the bar, he began working in his new profession in Grand Rapids . He also served as a clergyman for the Methodist Episcopal Church for twelve years . In 1888, Gardner became the Michigan Regional Director of the Grand Army of the Republic Veterans Association . Between 1889 and 1894 he taught as a lecturer at Albion College .

Politically, Gardner was a member of the Republican Party . From 1894 to 1899 he was Secretary of State, the executive officer of the Michigan government. In the congressional elections of 1898 he was elected to the US House of Representatives in Washington, DC , in the third constituency of his state , where he succeeded Democrat Albert M. Todd on March 4, 1899 . After five re-elections, he was able to complete six legislative terms in Congress by March 3, 1911 . There he was from 1909 chairman of the committee to control the expenditure of the Ministry of Commerce and Labor . In the elections of 1910, Gardner was not confirmed.

In 1913 and 1914 he became federal chairman of the Grand Army of the Republic; between 1921 and 1925 he worked as a pension officer. Washington Gardner died on March 31, 1928 in Albion, where he was also buried.

Web links

• Washington Gardner in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)

• Washington Gardner in the database of Find a Grave (English)