Augustus P. Gardner
Encyclopedia
Augustus Peabody Gardner (November 5, 1865 – January 14, 1918) was a Representative from Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...

. Gardner was the son-in-law of Henry Cabot Lodge
Henry Cabot Lodge
Henry Cabot "Slim" Lodge was an American Republican Senator and historian from Massachusetts. He had the role of Senate Majority leader. He is best known for his positions on Meek policy, especially his battle with President Woodrow Wilson in 1919 over the Treaty of Versailles...

.

Life and career

Gardner was born on November 5, 1865 in Boston, Massachusetts to Joseph Peabody Gardner and Harriet Sears Amory. He was the descendant of Thomas Gardner (planter)
Thomas Gardner (planter)
Thomas Gardner was an Overseer of the "old planters" party of the Dorchester Company who landed, in 1624 at Cape Ann, to form a colony at what is now known as Gloucester...

 and nephew of John "Jack" Lowell Gardner II
John Lowell Gardner II
John "Jack" Lowell Gardner II was an American businessman, art collector, and philanthropist. He and his wife, Isabella Stewart Gardner, were patrons of the arts whose collection is now housed in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, in Boston.- Background :Jack Gardner's mother, Catherine Endicott...

 whose wife was Isabella Stewart Gardner
Isabella Stewart Gardner
Isabella Stewart Gardner – founder of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston – was an American art collector, philanthropist, and one of the foremost female patrons of the arts....

. Jack and Isabella 'adopted' Augustus and his two brothers (Joseph and William) after the death of their father in 1875. Their mother had died in 1865. He graduated from Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...

 in 1886. He studied law at Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of Harvard University. Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, it is the oldest continually-operating law school in the United States and is home to the largest academic law library in the world. The school is routinely ranked by the U.S...

, but never practised, instead devoting himself to the management of his estate.

On June 14, 1892, Gardner married Constance Lodge
Cabot family
The Cabot family was part of the Boston Brahmin, also known as the "first families of Boston."-Family origin:The Boston Brahmin Cabot family descended from John Cabot , who immigrated from his birthplace to Salem, Massachusetts in 1700...

, daughter of Henry Cabot Lodge
Henry Cabot Lodge
Henry Cabot "Slim" Lodge was an American Republican Senator and historian from Massachusetts. He had the role of Senate Majority leader. He is best known for his positions on Meek policy, especially his battle with President Woodrow Wilson in 1919 over the Treaty of Versailles...

, at Saint Anne's Church, Nahant, Massachusetts.

Spanish-American War

Gardner was a captain and assistant adjutant general on the staff of General James Wilson during the Spanish-American War
Spanish-American War
The Spanish–American War was a conflict in 1898 between Spain and the United States, effectively the result of American intervention in the ongoing Cuban War of Independence...


Political office

He was elected a member of the Massachusetts Senate
Massachusetts Senate
The Massachusetts Senate is the upper house of the Massachusetts General Court, the bicameral state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The Senate comprises 40 elected members from 40 single-member senatorial districts in the state...

 in 1899 and served from 1900 to 1901. Gardner was elected, as a Republican, to the Fifty-seventh Congress by special election, after the resignation of United States Representative William H. Moody
William Henry Moody
William Henry Moody was an American politician and jurist, who held positions in all three branches of the Government of the United States.-Biography:...

. Gardner was reelected to the eight succeeding Congresses (November 4, 1902 – May 15, 1917). Gardner was the chairman of the Committee on Industrial Arts and Expositions during the Fifty-ninth and Sixtieth Congresses.

Rescue of the Lodges from France

At the beginning of World War I, Gardner's Sister in law, Mrs. George Cabot Lodge and her children Henry
Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr.
Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr. was a Republican United States Senator from Massachusetts and a U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, South Vietnam, West Germany, and the Holy See . He was the Republican nominee for Vice President in the 1960 Presidential election.-Early life:Lodge was born in Nahant,...

, John
John Davis Lodge
John Davis Lodge , was an American politician, and 79th Governor of Connecticut from 1951 to 1955. He was also an actor and U.S. Ambassador to Spain, Argentina and Switzerland.-Early life:Lodge was born in Washington, D.C....

, and Helene were stranded in France. In August 1914 Gardner traveled to France to extract the Lodges from France, and brought them to safety in London.

World War I

Gardner resigned from Congress to enter the army. During the First World War, he served at Governors Island
Governors Island
Governors Island is a island in Upper New York Bay, approximately one-half mile from the southern tip of Manhattan Island and separated from Brooklyn by Buttermilk Channel. It is legally part of the borough of Manhattan in New York City...

. He was colonel in the Adjutant General’s Department, and later was transferred at his own request to the One Hundred and Thirty-first Regiment, United States Infantry, with the rank of major.

He died on January 14, 1918.

Further reading

  • Gardner, Constance Lodge.: Augustus Peabody Gardner, Major, United States National Guard, 1865-1918 (1919).
  • Who's who in State Politics, 1912 Practical Politics p. 18 (1912).
  • New York Times, Gardiner-Lodge Page 4, (June 15, 1892).
  • New York Times, MAJ. GARDNER DIES AT CAMP WHEELER; Author of the Famous 'Wake Up, America!' Speech a Victim of Pneumonia at 52. 15 YEARS IN CONGRESS Ex-Massachusetts Representative Was the First Member to Leave for Military Service. A Graduate of Harvard. A Champion of Labor. His Tribute to France. page 13, (January 15, 1918).
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