Philip H. Gilbert

{{Short description|American politician (1870–1932)}} {{more citations needed|date=June 2012}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Philip Henri Gilbert | birth_date = {{birth date |1870|10|25}} | birth_place = [[Napoleonville, Louisiana]], US | death_date = October 18, 1932 (aged 61) | death_place = Napoleonville, Louisiana | office = [[District Attorney]] of the Louisiana 27th Judicial District | term_start = 1908 | term_end = 1916 | office2 = District [[Judge]] of the 27th Judicial District | term_start2 = 1916 | term_end2 = 1920 | office3 = District Judge of the 23rd Judicial District | term_start3 = 1928 | term_end3 = 1932 | office4 = [[Louisiana State Senate|Louisiana State Senator for Assumption, Lafourche, and Terrebonne parishes]] | term_start4 = 1924 | term_end4 = 1930 | preceded4 = Robert B. Butler Clay J. Dugas | succeeded4 = [[Harvey Peltier, Sr.]] | office5 = 32nd interim [[Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana]] | term_start5 = 1926 | term_end5 = 1928 | preceded5 = [[Oramel H. Simpson]] | governor5 = [[Oramel H. Simpson]] | succeeded5 = [[Paul N. Cyr]] | spouse = Ella Marie Savoie Gilbert (married 1894-1932, his death) | children = 8 | relations = Risley C. "Pappy" Triche, Jr. (grandson) Judge [[Jane M. Triche-Milazzo]] (great-granddaughter) | party = [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrat]] }}

'''Philip Henri Gilbert''' (October 25, 1870 – October 18, 1932) was a [[lawyer]] and [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] [[politician]] from [[Napoleonville, Louisiana|Napoleonville]] in [[Assumption Parish, Louisiana|Assumption Parish]] in [[South Louisiana]].

Gilbert was the [[district attorney]] of the Louisiana 27th Judicial District from 1908 to 1916 and judge of the same district from 1916 to 1920. As the [[President of the Louisiana State Senate]] from 1924 to 1926, Gilbert succeeded to the [[Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana|lieutenant governorship]] on an interim basis until the expiration of the regular term in 1928.

==Early years== Gilbert was instrumental in the construction of St. Anne's Catholic Church in Napoleonville, he was a church trustee and a founding member of his local chapter of the Catholic men's organization, the [[Knights of Columbus]].

Until he was sixteen years old, Gilbert attended the public and private schools of Assumption Parish. In 1905, he began his studies at the [[Tulane University Law School]] in [[New Orleans]], from which he obtained a [[Bachelor of Laws]] degree.

On January 24, 1894, Gilbert married Ella Marie Savoie. The couple had eight children.

==Political offices==

Gilbert ran unsuccessfully for [[Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana|lieutenant governor]] in 1920 against [[Hewitt Bouanchaud]], who was elected along with [[John M. Parker]] as [[governor of Louisiana|governor]].

From 1924 to 1930, he was the state senator for Assumption, [[Lafourche Parish, Louisiana|Lafourche]], and [[Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana|Terrebonne]] parishes in what was then the 12th District. He was the [[President of the Louisiana State Senate|Senate President]] from 1926 to 1928 and the [[President of the Louisiana State Senate|Senate President Pro Tempore]] from 1928 to 1930.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.senate.la.gov/Documents/Membership/EAHSenatorList1880ForwardJan2012.pdf|title=Membership of the Louisiana State Senate since 1880|publisher=senate.la.gov|accessdate=January 20, 2017}}</ref> Gilbert was also the assistant clerk for the 1908 Louisiana Constitutional Convention and a member of the 1921 Louisiana Constitutional Convention. After the death of Governor [[Henry L. Fuqua]] in 1926, Lieutenant Governor [[Oramel H. Simpson]] succeeded to the governor's office, and Gilbert as president of the state senate became the interim lieutenant governor until his abbreviated term expired in 1928.

On May 16, 1929, as the Senate President Pro Tempore, Gilbert, a loyal supporter of the new governor, [[Huey Pierce Long, Jr.]], was the first to sign the [[Round-robin (document)|round robin]] to announce that the two-thirds state Senate majority could not be obtained for Long's conviction of the [[Impeachment in the United States|impeachment]] voted by the [[Louisiana House of Representatives]]. Long called his friend "a splendid scholar and parliamentarian. ... The intense hate of my enemies toward me has been a matter of frequent comment. It is more than offset, however, by the loyalty of friends."<ref>[[Huey Pierce Long, Jr.]], ''Every Man a King: The Autobiography of Huey P. Long'' ([[New Orleans]]: National Book Club, Inc., 1933), pp. 168-171.</ref>

In 1928, Gilbert became judge of the Louisiana 23rd Judicial District, a post that he held until his death.

Gilbert was also a delegate to the [[1916 Democratic National Convention]], which [[Nomination|re-nominated]] [[U.S. President]] [[Woodrow Wilson]] and [[Vice President of the United States|Vice President]] [[Thomas R. Marshall]].

==Business==

Gilbert was the president of the Lula Company, Inc., which operates the Lula Plantation in Assumption Parish. This firm operated its own [[sugar]] refinery. He was president of the Avon Planting Company, Ltd., which operated the Avon Plantation, near Napoleonville.

He served as president of the Bank of Assumption which opened its doors for business in Napoleonville in 1901.

{{Portal bar|Biography|United States|Law|Politics|Business and Economics|Christianity}}

==References== {{reflist}}

{{s-start}} {{s-off}} {{succession box | title = [[List of Lieutenant Governors of Louisiana|Interim Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana]] Philip Henri Gilbert | years = 1926-1928 | before = [[Oramel H. Simpson]] | after = [[Paul N. Cyr]]}} {{succession box | title=[[Louisiana State Senate|Louisiana State Senator for Assumption, Lafourche, and Terrebonne parishes]] Philip Henri Gilbert | years =1924-1930 | before=Robert B. Butler Clay J. Dugas | after=[[Harvey Peltier, Sr.]]}} {{s-end}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gilbert, Philip H.}} [[Category:1870 births]] [[Category:1932 deaths]] [[Category:Tulane University Law School alumni]] [[Category:Lieutenant governors of Louisiana]] [[Category:Democratic Party Louisiana state senators]] [[Category:Louisiana state court judges]] [[Category:District attorneys in Louisiana]] [[Category:Businesspeople from Louisiana]] [[Category:People from Napoleonville, Louisiana]] [[Category:Cajun people]] [[Category:Huey Long]] [[Category:Catholics from Louisiana]] [[Category:20th-century members of the Louisiana State Legislature]]