Jacob H. Gallinger
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.
Jacob H. Gallinger
James Wolcott Wadsworth Jr. (1915)
March 28, 1837
Cornwall, Ontario, British Canada
August 17, 1918 (aged 81)
Franklin, New Hampshire, U.S.
Early life and career[edit]
Jacob Harold Gallinger was born in Cornwall, Ontario, British Canada on March 28, 1837. His father's family were German and his mother's was German American.[1]
He was home-schooled from an early age.[1]
Gallinger moved to the U.S. at an early age and first worked as a printer.[1]
Medical career[edit]
Gallinger studied medicine at the Cincinnati Eclectic Medical Institute and graduated at the head of his class in May 1858.[1] He studied abroad for three years, writing and working as a printer to cover his expenses.[1] In 1861, he returned to the United States and engaged in the practice of homeopathic medicine and surgery in Keene, New Hampshire before moving to Concord, New Hampshire in April 1862.[1] He practiced medicine actively until 1885.[1]
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[edit]
State legislature[edit]
Gallinger was elected to the New Hampshire House of Representatives in 1872 and re-elected in 1873.[1] 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. In 1879, he was elected Senate President.[1]
He became surgeon general 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.[1]
United States House of Representatives[edit]
In 1884, Gallinger was elected 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.
In 1888, Gallinger served as chairman of the New Hampshire delegation to the Republican National Convention at Chicago, where he seconded the nomination of Benjamin Harrison of Indiana for president.
Personal life and death[edit]
Gallinger received the honorary degree of A.M. from Dartmouth College in 1885 and served as trustee of George Washington University for several years. He was interred at Blossom Hill Cemetery, Concord.