Hamilton Rowan Gamble

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Hamilton Rowan Gamble

Hamilton Rowan Gamble (November 26, 1798 January 31, 1864) was the chief justice

Chief Justice

The Chief Justice in many countries is the name for the presiding member of a Supreme Court in Commonwealth or other countries with an Anglo-Saxon justice system based on English common law, such as the Supreme Court of the United States, the Supreme Court of Canada, the Supreme Court of India, the Supreme Court of Pakistan, the Supreme Court...
of the Missouri Supreme Court who issued a dissenting opinion in the Dred Scott Decision. He also served as the provisional Governor of Missouri during the American Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War , also known as the War Between the States and several Naming the American Civil War, was a civil war in the United States....
after Union forces

Union Army

The Union Army was the army that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S....
captured the state capital at Jefferson City

Jefferson City, Missouri

Winchester, Virginia

Winchester is an independent city located in the extreme northwestern portion of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the USA. The city's population was 23,585 according to the United States Census 2000....
. In 1818, Gamble joined his brother Archibald Gamble in St. Louis, Missouri

St. Louis, Missouri

St. Louis is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri, located near the confluence of the Mississippi River and the Missouri River. St....
.

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Hamilton Rowan Gamble (November 26, 1798 January 31, 1864) was the chief justice

Chief Justice

American Civil War

The American Civil War , also known as the War Between the States and several Naming the American Civil War, was a civil war in the United States....
after Union forces

Union Army

The Union Army was the army that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S....
captured the state capital at Jefferson City

Jefferson City, Missouri

Dred Scott Decision

Hamilton Gamble was born in Winchester, Virginia

Winchester, Virginia

St. Louis, Missouri

St. Louis is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri, located near the confluence of the Mississippi River and the Missouri River. St....
. He became prosecuting attorney of the Circuit Court

Missouri Circuit Courts

The Missouri Circuit Courts are the State court trial courts of original jurisdiction and general jurisdiction of the U.S. state of Missouri....
of Howard County, Missouri

Howard County, Missouri

Howard County is a county located in the U.S. state of Missouri. As of 2007, the population was 9,879. Its county seat is Fayette, Missouri. The county was organized in 1816 and named for Benjamin Howard , first governor of Missouri Territory....
. In 1824 he was appointed secretary of state

Secretary of State

Secretary of State is a commonly used title for a member of government. The role varies between countries, and in some cases there are multiple Secretaries of State in the government....
by Frederick Bates

Frederick Bates

Frederick Bates , brother of Edward Bates and James Woodson Bates, was an United States politician. Born in 1777 in Belmont, Virginia, Bates started his career as a Justice of the Territorial Supreme Court for Michigan Territory in Detroit, Michigan....
and moved to the original capital at St. Charles, Missouri.

In 1827, he married Caroline J. Coalter of Columbia, South Carolina

Columbia, South Carolina

Columbia is the state capital and largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The population was 116,278 according to the United States Census, 2000 ....
. She was a sister to the wife of Edward Bates

Edward Bates

Edward Bates was a United States lawyer and statesman. He served as United States Attorney General under Abraham Lincoln from 1861 to 1864. He was also the brother of both Frederick Bates and James Woodson Bates....
, who was later President

President of the United States

The President of the United States is the head of state and head of government of the United States and is the highest political official in the United States by influence and recognition....
Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln was the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States. He successfully led the country through its greatest internal crisis, the American Civil War, preserving the Union and ending slavery....
’s attorney general

Attorney General

In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general, or attorney-general, is the main legal advisor to the government, and in some jurisdictions he or she may in addition have executive responsibility for law enforcement or responsibility for public prosecutions....
during the Civil War.

In 1846, Gamble was elected to the Missouri Supreme Court by the (Whig Party

Whig Party (United States)

The Whig Party was a political party of the United States during the era of Jacksonian democracy. Considered integral to the Second Party System and operating from 1833 to 1856, the party was formed in opposition to the policies of President of the United States Andrew Jackson and the Democratic Party ....
). He almost immediately became chief justice. Though a slave owner

Slavery

Slavery is a form of forced labor where a person is compelled to Labor for another . Slaves are held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase, or birth, and are deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to receive Remuneration in return for their labor....
, he dissented in the Missouri portion of what went on to become the Dred Scott Decision, saying that Dred Scott was free because he had entered a free state.

He resigned his judgeship in 1855 due to failing health , and in 1858 moved to Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania , often colloquially referred to as PA by natives and Northeasterners, is a U.S. state located in the Northeastern United States and Mid-Atlantic States regions of the United States....
.

Provisional Governor of Missouri

As the secession crisis deepened, Missouri attempted to follow a policy of armed neutrality, in which the state would not support either side in the war but remain in the Union. A special election in February established a Missouri Constitutional Convention

Missouri Constitutional Convention (1861-63)

The Missouri Constitutional Convention was a Constitutional convention in the American Civil War that decided that Missouri stay in the Union and also evicted the elected governor to create a provisional government during the war....
to determine the relationship between Missouri and the United States. The convention voted against secession and affirmed the state's neutrality.

The outbreak of hostilities at Fort Sumter

Fort Sumter

Fort Sumter is a Seacoast Defense #Third system masonry coastal fortification located in Charleston, South Carolina harbor, South Carolina. The fort is best known as the site upon which the shots initiating the American Civil War were fired, at the Battle of Fort Sumter....
led to unrest in Missouri. The Liberty Arsenal

Liberty Arsenal

The Liberty Arsenal was an United States Army arsenal at Liberty, Missouri in Clay County, Missouri, that was seized by Confederate States of America sympathizers on April 20, 1861, being an early occurrence in a sequence of skirmishes and battles that was to define Missouri in the American Civil War....
was seized by a secessionist mob a week later. Governor Claiborne Jackson called up the state militia for drill in St. Louis and to receive some arms clandestinely obtained from the Confederacy. This resulted in a confrontation with the aggressive Union commander Nathaniel Lyon

Nathaniel Lyon

Nathaniel Lyon was the first Union Army General officer to be killed in the American Civil War and is noted for his actions in the state of Missouri at the beginning of the conflict....
who forced the surrender of the militia in the Camp Jackson Affair. A deadly riot ensued and the Missouri legislature authorized the reorganization of the militia into the Missouri State Guard

Missouri State Guard

The Missouri State Guard was a state militia organized in the state of Missouri during the early days of the American Civil War. While not initially a formal part of the Confederate States Army, the State Guard fought alongside Confederate troops and, at times, under regular Confederate officers....
controlled by the governor. General William Harney reached an agreement with the new Missouri State Guard commander Sterling Price

Sterling Price

Sterling Price was a lawyer, politician, and militia General officer from the U.S. state of Missouri, an United States Army general during the Mexican-American War, and a Confederate States Army History of Confederate States Army Generals#major general during the American Civil War....
known as the Price-Harney Truce

Price-Harney Truce

The Price-Harney Truce was a document signed on May 21, 1861 between United States Army General William S. Harney and Missouri State Guard commander Sterling Price at the beginning of the American Civil War....
. However, the policy changed when Lyon was named by Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln

Department of the West

The Department of the West, later known as the Western Department, was a major command of the United States Army during the 19th century....
.

Negotiations between Lyon, Jackson, and price failed and Lyon promptly began military actions to secure the state capital. Lyon captured Jefferson City, Missouri

Jefferson City, Missouri

Jefferson City is the Capital of the United States U.S. state of Missouri and the county seat of Cole County, Missouri. Located in Callaway County, Missouri and Cole County, Missouri counties, it is the principal city of the Jefferson City metropolitan area, which encompasses the entirety of both counties....
in mid-June 1861, forcing Governor Jackson and the state government into exile.

The Missouri Constitutional Convention reconvened to consider the status of the state in July. The convention declared the governor's office to be vacant and appointed Gamble as governor of a provisional government

Provisional government

A provisional government is an emergency or interim government set up when a political void has been created by the collapse of a previous administration or regime....
of Missouri on August 1.

Although Gamble was considered by secessionists to be an unelected puppet of the Union forces, he did oppose harsh treatment of the state, particularly the Fremont Emancipation

John C. Frémont

John Charles Fr?mont , was an United States military Commissioned officer, List of explorers, the first candidate of the History of United States Republican Party for the office of President of the United States, and the first presidential candidate of a major party to run on a platform in opposition to slavery....
which unilaterally freed the state's slaves in 1861 and imposed martial law. Lincoln agreed to Gamble's requests, rescinded the emancipation and removed John C. Fremont

John C. Frémont

John Charles Fr?mont , was an United States military Commissioned officer, List of explorers, the first candidate of the History of United States Republican Party for the office of President of the United States, and the first presidential candidate of a major party to run on a platform in opposition to slavery....
from command.

Gamble was to die in office in 1864 due to complications from a broken arm caused by putting his arm out of a train window and the resulting infection.