Robert Murray Gibson (August 20, 1869 – December 19, 1949) was a

United States district judge The United States district courts are the trial courts of the United States federal judiciary, U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each United States federal judicial district, federal judicial district, which each cover o ...

of the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania. Prior to his legal career, he briefly played professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

for the

Chicago Colts The following is a North American professional sports league organization, franchise history of the Chicago Cubs of Major League Baseball, a charter member of the National League who started play in the National Association of Base Ball Players, ...

and Pittsburgh Alleghenys.

Early life and education

Born in Duncansville,

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, Gibson received an

Artium Baccalaureus Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree from

Washington & Jefferson College Washington & Jefferson College (W&J College or W&J) is a private liberal arts college in Washington, Pennsylvania. The college traces its origin to three log cabin colleges in Washington County established by three Presbyterian missionaries to ...

in 1889.

Baseball career

After graduating from college, Gibson joined Cap Anson's

as a pitcher, making his big league debut on June 4, 1890 at the age of twenty. The 6'3", 185-pound right-hander pitched only one game for the Colts, a

complete game In baseball, a complete game (CG) is the act of a pitcher pitching an entire game without the benefit of a relief pitcher. A pitcher who meets this criterion will be credited with a complete game regardless of the number of innings played—pitche ...

win, before moving to the Pittsburgh Alleghenys, where he lost all three of his starts. In 21 innings of work, he had an ERA of 9.86. He walked 25 and

struck out In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means that the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is denot ...

only four. As a hitter, Gibson had a .176 batting average in seventeen at-bats. He committed a total of five errors, two of which were from when he spent time in the outfield.

Career

Gibson

read law Reading law was the method used in common law countries, particularly the United States, for people to prepare for and enter the legal profession before the advent of law schools. It consisted of an extended internship or apprenticeship under the ...

to enter the bar in 1894. He was an

Assistant United States Attorney An assistant United States attorney (AUSA) is an official career civil service position in the U.S. Department of Justice composed of lawyers working under the U.S. Attorney of each U.S. federal judicial district. They represent the federal gove ...

for the Western District of Pennsylvania from 1904 to 1914 and a special assistant to the

United States Attorney General The United States attorney general (AG) is the head of the United States Department of Justice, and is the chief law enforcement officer of the federal government of the United States. The attorney general serves as the principal advisor to the p ...

from 1912 to 1913. He was an assistant district attorney of

Allegheny County Allegheny County () is a County (United States), county in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is located in Southwestern Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,250,578, making it the state's seco ...

, Pennsylvania from 1914 to 1922.

Federal judicial service

On July 18, 1922, Gibson was nominated by President

Warren G. Harding Warren Gamaliel Harding (November 2, 1865 – August 2, 1923) was the 29th president of the United States, serving from 1921 until his death in 1923. A member of the Republican Party, he was one of the most popular sitting U.S. presidents. A ...

to a seat on the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania vacated by Judge

Charles Prentiss Orr Charles Prentiss Orr (February 22, 1858 – May 16, 1922) was a United States federal judge, United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania. Education and career Born in Allegheny, Penns ...

. Gibson was confirmed by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

on July 24, 1922, and received his commission the same day. He served as Chief Judge from 1948 to 1949, assuming

senior status Senior status is a form of semi-retirement for United States federal judges. To qualify, a judge in the Federal judiciary of the United States, federal court system must be at least 65 years old, and the sum of the judge's age and years of servi ...

on January 31, 1949. Gibson served in that capacity for less than a year, until his death on December 19, 1949, in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

, Pennsylvania. He was interred in

Homewood Cemetery Homewood Cemetery is a historic urban cemetery in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located in Point Breeze and is bordered by Frick Park, the neighborhood of Squirrel Hill, and the smaller Smithfield Cemetery. It was established i ...

in Pittsburgh.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gibson, Robert 1869 births 1949 deaths Judges of the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania Washington & Jefferson College alumni United States district court judges appointed by Warren G. Harding 20th-century American judges Baseball players from Pennsylvania Major League Baseball pitchers Chicago Colts players Pittsburgh Alleghenys players Penn State Nittany Lions baseball players Wheeling National Citys players Wheeling Nailers (baseball) players Jamestown (minor league baseball) players Memphis Giants players 19th-century baseball players Burials at Homewood Cemetery United States federal judges admitted to the practice of law by reading law Assistant United States Attorneys