John J. Gardner

John J. Gardner
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from New Jersey's 2nd district
In office
March 4, 1893 – March 3, 1913
Preceded byJames Buchanan
Succeeded byJ. Thompson Baker
Member of the
New Jersey Senate from
Atlantic County
In office
1878–1893
Preceded byHosea F. Madden
Succeeded bySamuel D. Hoffman
Mayor of Atlantic City, New Jersey
In office
1868–1872
Preceded byLemuel G. Eldridge
Succeeded byCharles Souder
In office
1874–1875
Preceded byCharles Souder
Succeeded byWillard Wright
Personal details
BornJohn James Gardner
(1845-10-17)October 17, 1845
Atlantic County, New Jersey, U.S.
DiedFebruary 7, 1921(1921-02-07) (aged 75)
Indian Mills, New Jersey, U.S.
Resting placeAtlantic City Cemetery in Pleasantville, New Jersey
PartyRepublican
Alma materUniversity of Michigan
ProfessionPolitician
Signature

John James Gardner (October 17, 1845 – February 7, 1921) was an American businessman, Civil War veteran, Republican Party politician and statesman who represented Atlantic County, New Jersey in the New Jersey Senate from 1878 to 1893 and United States House of Representatives (as the representative for New Jersey's 2nd congressional district) from 1893 to 1913. He was also mayor of Atlantic City, New Jersey.

At the time of his election to Congress, Gardner was the longest serving member in the history of the New Jersey Senate, having represented Atlantic County for five consecutive terms from 1878 to 1893. He was widely considered one of the most powerful legislators in New Jersey history and known for his caustic and aggressive manner.[1]

Early life and career

John James Gardner was born on October 17, 1845 in Atlantic County, New Jersey to John and Jane Gardner.[1]

Gardner spent most of his life in Atlantic City and attended the common schools there. He was raised to be a water man until 1861, when he enlisted in the 6th New Jersey Volunteer Infantry during the American Civil War. Following the war, he re-enlisted for one year with the United States Veteran Volunteers.[1]

He attended the University of Michigan Law School in 1866 and 1867. He engaged in the real estate and insurance business. At one time, he worked as a newspaper editorialist and was widely quoted.[1]

Political career

Gardner was elected as an alderman in Atlantic City in 1867. He served as mayor of Atlantic City on three separate occasions: 1868 to 1870, 1873 to 1874 and 1876.[1] He served as member of the common council and coroner of Atlantic County in 1876.

New Jersey Senate (1878–93)

He was a member of the New Jersey Senate from 1878 to 1893, serving as its president in 1883. During his long term as senator, Gardner became most famous as the chair of the investigating committee established following the 1883 New Jersey gubernatorial election. His committee, led by committee counsel William H. Corbin, uncovered a vast electoral fraud conspiracy in Hudson County favoring the Democratic nominee and eventual winner, Leon Abbett. After a lengthy trial which involved alleged jury tampering, the investigation resulted in the conviction and imprisonment of sixty-four local election officials.[1]

Gardner was a delegate to the 1884 Republican National Convention. He was a consistent leader in the Republican Party and at its state conventions for more than a quarter of a century.[1]

U.S. House of Representatives (1893–1913)

In 1892, Gardner was elected as a Republican to the United States House of Representatives, representing New Jersey's 2nd congressional district. He served in the 53rd through 62nd Congresses, from March 1893 until March 1913.[1] He was defeated for reelection in 1912 and resumed agricultural pursuits.

As a representative, Gardner preferred to focus on drafting and passing legislation rather than the investigative abilities he had been known for in the New Jersey legislature. He served as chairman of the Committee on Labor, and in 1898, speaker Thomas Brackett Reed appointed him to the United States Industrial Commission, which sought to adjudicate between capital and labor. He was the author of legislation regulating penal labor and establishing a national eight-hour workday.[1]

He also served on the Committee on the Post Office for the entirety of his time in Congress, and he served for three years on the commission to investigate the postal service that led to a number of reforms. Gardner was the primary author of a law creating postal savings banks, as well as laws framing governmental rentals of postal facilities from railroads.[1]

He was also a supporter of legislation to improve the rivers and harbors of New Jersey, including Raccoon Creek in his district, for which he delivered a ten-minute speech. He also secured federal improvements to the Maurice River, Mantua River, Tuckerton Creek, Absecon Creek, Rancocas Inlet, and Absecon Inlet in his district. Working with Senator Frank O. Briggs, he secured improvement of the Delaware River between Trenton and Philadelphia.[1]

Following the death of William J. Sewell in 1901, Gardner was a candidate for Sewell's vacant United States Senate seat. However, the party nomination went to John F. Dryden.

Views

Gardner consistently supported agricultural interests and opposed the reciprocity treaty proposed by President William Howard Taft. His success in establishing postal savings banks led him to support land banking, and he was working on legislation to that end when he was defeated in 1912.[1]

From his position on the Committee on the Post Office, Gardner defended the American postal system at length following Joseph L. Bristow's 1903 report on postal fraud. On another occasion, he delivered an hours-long speech comparing it positively to the Canadian postal service.[1]

In April 1898, Gardner was among the six representatives who voted against the declaration of war on Spain. Despite this, he sought to resign from Congress to seek a commission in the United States military. His request was rendered unnecessary when the United States won a relatively quick and easy victory.[1]

Personal life and death

Gardner married Mittie Scull on February 1, 1873 in Philadelphia. They had six children; by 1917, only two survived: Josephine Scull Gardner and Thomas Kemble Reed Gardner.[1] Outside of politics, Gardner was a farmer for most of his life; in retirement, he farmed more than 500 acres of land.[1]

He died of heart disease at his farm in Indian Mills in Shamong Township, New Jersey on February 7, 1921,[2] and was interred in Atlantic City Cemetery in Pleasantville, New Jersey.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Scannell, John James (1917). Scannell's New Jersey's First Citizens and State Guide. Vol. II. Paterson, N.J.: J. J. Scannell.
  2. ↑ Staff. "Ex-Congressman John J. Gardner", The New Jersey Law Journal, Volume 44, p. 95. Accessed February 4, 2013. "While not a lawyer it was not his fault that he was not a member of the New Jersey Bar. This is to be said of Ex-Congressman John J. Gardner of, formerly, Atlantic City, who died on his farm at Indian Mills, Burlington county on Feb. 7th last, of heart disease."
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