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Robert J. Gamble
United States Senator
from South Dakota
In office
March 4, 1901 – March 3, 1913
Preceded byRichard F. Pettigrew
Succeeded byThomas Sterling
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from South Dakota's at-large district
In office
March 4, 1899 – March 3, 1901
Preceded byFreeman T. Knowles
Succeeded byEben W. Martin
In office
March 4, 1895 – March 3, 1897
Preceded byWilliam V. Lucas
Succeeded byFreeman T. Knowles
Personal details
Born
Robert Jackson Gamble

(1851-02-07)February 7, 1851
Genesee County, New York, U.S.
DiedSeptember 22, 1924(1924-09-22) (aged 73)
Sioux Falls, South Dakota, U.S.
Resting placeYankton City Cemetery
Political partyRepublican

Robert Jackson Gamble (February 7, 1851 – September 22, 1924) was a U.S. Representative and Senator from South Dakota. He was the father of Ralph Abernethy Gamble and brother of John Rankin Gamble, members of South Dakota's prominent Gamble family.

Early life[edit]

Gamble was born in Genesee County, near Akron, New York, the son of Robert Gamble and Jennie (Abernethy) Gamble.[1] In 1862, he moved with his parents to Fox Lake, Wisconsin.[1] In 1874, he graduated from Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin with a Bachelor of Science degree, and he later received his Master of Science from Lawrence.[1][2] While attending college, Gamble taught school in the summer to pay his tuition.[2] After graduating, he studied law with the Milwaukee firm of Jenkins, Elliot & Wheeler, and was admitted to the bar in 1875.[2] He moved to Yankton in the portion of the Dakota Territory which later became South Dakota.[2]

Start of career[edit]

A Republican, he became a district attorney for the second judicial district of the Territory of Dakota in 1880, and was Yankton's city attorney in 1881 and 1882.[2] He served on the Territorial Council in 1885.[2] In 1894 he was elected to Seat B, one of South Dakota's two at-large seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, and he served in the Fifty-fourth Congress.[2] He ran unsuccessfully for reelection in 1896, but was again elected to Seat B in 1898, and served in the Fifty-sixth Congress.[2] During the Fifty-sixth Congress, he became the chairman of the U.S. House Committee on Expenditures on the Public Buildings.[3]

U.S. Senator[edit]

In 1901, Gamble was elected to the United States Senate.[2] Re-elected in 1906, he served until March 1913, after being an unsuccessful candidate for renomination.[2] During his senate career, he was chairman of the: Committee on Indian Depredations (57th Congress); Committee on Transportation Routes to the Seaboard (58th to 60th Congresses); Committee on Indian Affairs (62nd Congress); and Committee on Enrolled Bills (64th Congress).[3]

Later life[edit]

In 1915, Gamble moved to Sioux Falls and resumed the practice of law.[3] From 1916 to 1924 he served as a referee in bankruptcy for the southern district of South Dakota. He was a member of the National Executive Committee of the League to Enforce Peace.[3]

Death and burial[edit]

Gamble died in Sioux Falls, and was buried at Yankton City Cemetery in Yankton.[3]

Honors[edit]

In 1909, Lawrence University awarded Gamble the honorary degree of LL.D.[1]

Family[edit]

In 1884, Gamble married Carrie S. Osborne of Portage, Wisconsin.[1] They were the parents of two sons, Ralph and George.[1]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e f Who's Who in South Dakota, p. 65.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Lawrence College Alumni Record, 1857-1915, p. 206.
  3. ^ a b c d e Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1774-2005, p. 1098.

Sources[edit]

Books[edit]

External links[edit]

U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by South Dakota's at-large congressional district
1895–1897 		Succeeded by
Preceded by South Dakota's at-large congressional district
1899–1901 		Succeeded by
U.S. Senate
Preceded by United States Senator (Class 2) from South Dakota
1901–1913 		Succeeded by
source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_J._Gamble