19 Facts About Henry Gardner

Henry Joseph Gardner was the 23rd Governor of Massachusetts, serving from 1855 to 1858.

Henry Gardner won reelection in 1856 only with Republican support, given in exchange for Know Nothing support for the Republican presidential candidate, John Fremont.

The younger Henry Gardner was first educated in private schools in the Boston area, and then attended Phillips Exeter Academy, from which he graduated in 1831.

Henry Gardner then attended Bowdoin College, and embarked on a career as a dry goods merchant in Boston, a business in which he remained until 1876.

Henry Gardner was a moderately conservative Websterite Whig who was involved in the state party organization, serving on its central organizing committee.

Henry Gardner switched from a moderate Websterite position on slavery to an abolitionist stance, and supported positions on prohibition of alcohol that he had previously opposed.

Henry Gardner notably omitted popular substantive reform issues such as the ten-hour workday, and avoided the contentious subject of slavery.

The bill, signed into law by Henry Gardner, was immediately protested, and legislators who passed it were later criticized for charging bar tabs to the state when they traveled.

Henry Gardner reported that the state saved $100,000 by this process.

Under the pressure of a public petition campaign spearheaded by William Lloyd Garrison, the legislature passed two Bills of Address, in 1855 and 1856, calling for Judge Loring to be removed from his state office, but in both cases Henry Gardner declined to remove Loring.

Henry Gardner said that the law would exacerbate relations between North and South, and called for its repeal.

Prominent antislavery Know Nothing supporters in Massachusetts, including Henry Gardner Wilson, began another attempt to form a party with abolition as a major focus.

Henry Gardner easily won reelection, although many Republicans voted for a protest candidate instead of supporting him.

Henry Gardner attempted to parlay the Republican support into an election to the United States Senate replacing Charles Sumner.

Henry Gardner was opposed by Republican Nathaniel Prentice Banks and Democrat Erasmus Beach.

Henry Gardner sought to focus the contests on local issues, but slavery predominated as an issue, and Banks won a comfortable victory.

In 1858 Henry Gardner sought to bring what remained of the Know Nothings into a coalition with the Democrats, but his attempts to find a suitable candidate were unsuccessful.

Henry Gardner continued in his dry goods business until 1876, and became an agent for the Massachusetts Life Insurance Company in 1887.

Henry Gardner died in Milton, Massachusetts on July 21,1892.