[includes portrait photos]
[Biography: Husband of Martha Chaires; father of Jane, Robert, Letitia, and Howard. Uncle of John P. Holliday. Second wife was Angelica Gamble. Arrived in Florida with his family in 1826. Assisted his father in managing the family cotton plantation at Welaunee. As well as farming he was an active investor promoting Florida's growth, and was instrumental in building the first railroad in Leon County as well as the railroad from Tallahassee to Jacksonville, now part of the S.A.L. system. In politics Robert H. Gamble was a Whig until the Whigs merged with the Democrats after the Civil War. He opposed secession but sided with his native state when the time came, and fought as Captain of Gamble's Artillery at the Battle of Olustee. Served as State Comptroller under Gov. Harrison Reed (appointed 1868). He was offered, but declined, nomination to be governor of Florida.
Civil War: Captain, Florida Light Artillery, CSA]
