Gardner (1852-1938) a Senator from Maine, born near Port Huron, Michigan on September 13, 1852, moved to Union with his parents in 1864. He attended the common schools, Eastman’s Business College, Poughkeepsie, New York, and Coburn Classical Institute in Waterville.
He engaged in the lumber, lime, and creamery business in Rockland, and in agricultural and cattle raising. A member of the State board of agriculture, he was master of the Maine State Grange from 1897 to 1907.
An unsuccessful candidate for Governor in 1908, he was appointed as chairman of the board of State assessors 1911, but resigned, having been appointed U.S. Senator. Gardner was appointed and subsequently elected as a Democrat to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the death of William P. Frye and served from September 23, 1911, until March 3, 1913.
He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1913. He was immediately appointed a member of the International Joint Commission, created to prevent disputes regarding the use of the boundary waters between the United States and Canada, in 1913, and served as chairman of the United States section 1914-1923.
Gardner returned to Rockland and retired, then moved to Augusta where he died on July 24, 1938; with interment in Achorn Cemetery in Rockland.
Additional resources
Obadiah Gardner Congressional Biography https://bioguideretro.congress.gov/Home/MemberDetails?memIndex=g000060 (accessed December 20, 2020)