Representative George Russell Stobbs

George Russell Stobbs (February 7, 1877 – December 23, 1966) was an American attorney, military officer, and Republican politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from Massachusetts for three consecutive terms from 1925 to 1931. Over the course of his public career he was active in local government, the state guard, federal legislative service, and party affairs, and he contributed to the legislative process during a significant period in American history.

Stobbs was born in Webster, Massachusetts, on February 7, 1877, the son of Charles Richard Stobbs and Anna Lincoln. He attended the local schools of Webster before enrolling at Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire, from which he graduated in 1895. He then entered Harvard University, receiving his bachelor’s degree in 1899 and a master’s degree in 1900. Continuing at Harvard Law School, he earned his law degree in 1902, was admitted to the bar shortly thereafter, and commenced the practice of law in Worcester, Massachusetts.

Early in his career, Stobbs became active in local civic and political affairs in his native Webster. He served on the Webster school board from 1903 to 1906, helping to oversee local educational matters. At the same time he was involved in Republican Party organization, notably as a member of Webster’s Young Men’s Republican Club, of which he served as president in 1904. In 1908 he relocated to Worcester, where he entered into law practice in partnership with George S. Taft. His legal career soon extended into judicial and prosecutorial roles: he served as a special justice for the central district court of Worcester from 1909 to 1916, and as assistant district attorney for the middle district of Massachusetts from 1917 to 1921.

In addition to his legal and political work, Stobbs had a record of military service. During World War I, while the Massachusetts National Guard was deployed overseas, he commanded Company H of the 20th Infantry Regiment of the Massachusetts State Guard from 1917 to 1920, attaining the rank of captain. The State Guard was a volunteer organization that assumed many in-state responsibilities of the National Guard during the war. Later, from 1927 to 1942, he served in the Judge Advocate General’s Department of the Officers Reserve Corps, rising from major to lieutenant colonel, thereby combining his legal expertise with military service.

Stobbs entered national politics in the 1920s. In 1924 he was the successful Republican nominee for a seat in the United States House of Representatives from Massachusetts. He was elected to the 69th Congress and subsequently reelected to the 70th and 71st Congresses, serving from March 4, 1925, to March 3, 1931. As a member of the House of Representatives, he participated in the democratic process and represented the interests of his Massachusetts constituents during a period marked by postwar economic expansion and the onset of the Great Depression. During his House career, he was appointed in 1926 as one of the managers to conduct impeachment proceedings against George W. English, judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Illinois, reflecting the confidence of House leadership in his legal and parliamentary abilities. A Republican throughout his congressional tenure, he did not run for reelection in 1930, thus concluding three terms in office.

After leaving Congress, Stobbs resumed the practice of law in Worcester. He became the senior partner in the firm of Stobbs, Stockwell & Tilton, continuing a long professional association with the bar of Massachusetts. He also remained active in public and party affairs. In 1930 he served as a United States delegate to the Inter-Parliamentary Union Congress in London, participating in international parliamentary dialogue. He was a delegate to the 1932 Republican National Convention and later took part in Republican state conventions in 1940 and 1942, maintaining his influence within the party at both the state and national levels.

In his personal life, Stobbs married Mabel Florence Murdock (1875–1944) in 1905. The couple had two sons, Russell (1907–1975) and Hamilton (1910–1938). He lived for many years in Worcester, where his legal, civic, and political activities were centered. George Russell Stobbs died on December 23, 1966, at the age of 89. He was buried in Worcester Rural Cemetery, closing a life that spanned from the late nineteenth century through the mid-twentieth century and encompassed service to his community, state, and nation.