Gilbert Hitchcock | |
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United States Senator from Nebraska |
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In office March 4, 1911 – March 3, 1923 |
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Preceded by | Elmer Burkett |
Succeeded by | Robert B. Howell |
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Nebraska's 2nd district |
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In office March 4, 1903 – March 3, 1905 |
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Preceded by | David Henry Mercer |
Succeeded by | John L. Kennedy |
In office March 4, 1907 – March 3, 1911 |
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Preceded by | John L. Kennedy |
Succeeded by | Charles O. Lobeck |
Personal details | |
Born |
Gilbert Monell Hitchcock September 18, 1859 Omaha, Nebraska |
Died | February 3, 1934 Washington, D.C. |
(aged 74)
Resting place |
Forest Lawn Memorial Park Omaha, Nebraska |
Political party | Democratic |
Spouse(s) | Jessie Crounse Hitchcock (1861–1925) |
Alma mater |
University of Michigan Law School |
Gilbert Monell Hitchcock (September 18, 1859 – February 3, 1934) was a congressman and U.S. Senator from Nebraska, and the founder of the Omaha World-Herald newspaper.
Born in Omaha, Nebraska, Hitchcock was the son of U.S. Senator Phineas Warren Hitchcock of Nebraska. He attended the public schools of Omaha and the gymnasium at Baden-Baden, Germany. He graduated in 1881 from the law department of the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, where he was admitted to the Zeta Psi fraternity; he was then admitted to the bar and commenced practice in Omaha in 1882. He continued the practice of law until 1885, when he established and edited the Omaha Evening World; four years later, he purchased the Nebraska Morning Herald and consolidated the two into the morning and evening editions of the Omaha World-Herald.
In 1883 he married Jessie Crounse, the daughter of Nebraska Supreme Court justice and future governor Lorenzo Crounse.
His family had traditionally been Republicans, but Gilbert broke tradition and became a Democrat in response to agricultural issues and the leadership of fellow Nebraskan William Jennings Bryan.
Hitchcock was an unsuccessful Democratic candidate for the Congress in 1898; four years later, he was elected as a Democrat to the Fifty-eighth Congress (March 4, 1903 – March 3, 1905). He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1904 to the Fifty-ninth Congress. Hitchcock was elected as a Democrat to the Sixtieth and Sixty-first Congresses (March 4, 1907 – March 3, 1911).