Born in Winchester, Virginia, on November 29, 1798, Hamilton Gamble studied law before moving to St. Louis, Missouri in 1818. He served in various positions, including deputy circuit court clerk, secretary of state and state legislator, and was elected to the Missouri Supreme Court in 1851, where he became presiding judge. He resigned from the court in 1854 for health reasons, and moved to Pennsylvania in 1858.

In January 1861 the secession crisis brought Gamble back to Missouri, where he was elected to the Missouri State Convention, the body called to discuss Missouri’s position in the Union. He was appointed chairman of a select committee in March 1861 to deliberate Missouri’s future. Gamble wrote the committee’s report, which stated that Missouri’s interests lay with the Union, and that sufficient reasons for secession did not exist.

Despite the convention’s resolution, Missouri Governor Claiborne Jackson and other Southern sympathizers refused to remain in the Union. In June 1861, hostilities broke out between the two sides; Jackson, the lieutenant governor and portions of the state legislature abandoned the state capital. When the convention was reconvened a month later, those offices were declared vacant. Gamble was appointed provisional governor until a planned election in November 1861; the election was repeatedly postponed, however, until 1864.

Once in office, Gamble worked to restore order in Missouri. While Gamble worked closely with Federal authorities throughout the war, he also struggled to maintain state authority. He was concerned with the tensions caused by Federal troops policing the state, and worked to organize the Missouri militia to replace Federal troops. Additionally, Gamble faced continual financial problems, and was forced to rely on Federal funding, as Governor Jackson had emptied the state treasury.

For most of his term, Gamble suffered frequent bouts of illness and the additional strains of the office took its toll. He died on January 31, 1864, from complications of a broken arm.

Carte-de-Visite by J. A. Scholten, St. Louis, Mo.

Image Courtesy Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield; WICR 11505