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| Lincolnxl » Famous Residents of Lincoln » Charles H. Gere |
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Charles H. Gere
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Born in 1838 at Gainsville in Wyoming County, Charles H. Gere was the son of Horatio Nelson and Julia Delay Grant Gere. He was a student of the public school and later of the Oxford University. Being a member of the Union Philosophical Society, he completed his graduation in the year 1861. Charles Henry Gere acquired his education in Pennsylvania, and studied law in Baltimore. Before he came to Nebraska in the year1865, Gere played a major part in the Civil War. Butler became the first governor of the state in 1867 and Gere acted as his private secretary.
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Charles H. Gere was a Republican and was regarded as the main source in establishing the state of Nebraskaas well as the city of Lincoln. He was a powerful leader in the movement to approve the Capital Commission's action in centralizing the institutions of the state in one place,than dividing them in cities. He participated in the first session of the legislature, which took place on July 4, 1866, in Omaha. Later on, he served two terms in the State Senate from 1869 to 1870 and from1881 to 1882. In 1875 Gere attended as a member of the constitutional convention of the state. Being a member of the education committee, he introduced a bill through which the state university was founded. In 1881, he served as a member of the Board of Regents, where he remained president for ten years. Gere founded a good number of free public libraries of Nebraska.
The first newspaper of Lincoln, The Nebraska Commonwealth, was founded by Charles H Gere. In the year 1867, the newspaper was renamed as the Nebraska State Journal. In 1870, when State Journal became the famous newspaper, Gere stopped law practice and got fully involved in the newspaper.
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