Warren Gard / Congressman Warren Gard

Side A: Warren Gard (1873-1929), son of Samuel Z. Gard and Mary Duke, was born in Hamilton, Ohio. He established his practice in Hamilton after graduating from Cincinnati Law School and being admitted to the Ohio Bar in 1894. Gard served as Butler County Prosecuting Attorney from 1898-1903, and as a judge on the Court of Common Pleas from 1907-1912. In 1910, he married Pearl Zuver Woods (1875-1946). In 1912, he was elected as a Democrat to the U.S. House of Representatives, serving from 1913-1921. Gard delivered a eulogy for his friend, Warren G. Harding, on August 8, 1923, the national day of mourning for the deceased president. Gard had been a 35-year member of the bar when he died. He is buried next to his wife in the Gard plot in Greenwood Cemetery. (Continued on other side) Side B: (Continued from other side) During his service in Congress, Representative Gard was a member of the House Judiciary Committee, worked to prepare legislation that authorized America’s entry into WWI, and fought to repeal wartime prohibition. In 1920, President Woodrow Wilson appointed Gard to a commission charged with investigating independence for the Philippines, then an American colony. Accompanying Gard on a fact-finding trip to the islands was his wife, Pearl, and their niece, Kathleen Neilan (1908-1973). One of Representative Gard’s accomplishments was introducing and securing the passage of H.R. 755, which incorporated the Boy Scouts of America. Congress passed the bill unanimously, and President Wilson signed it into law on June 15, 1916.