He was a successful trial lawyer and politically conservative Democrat, who won election as governor after his opponent, Thomas Talbot, vetoed legislation to relax alcohol controls.

Born in Connecticut, Gaston was educated at Brown University, where he helped establish the second chapter of Delta Phi in 1838.

[3] Gaston then moved to Roxbury, Massachusetts (then independent of neighboring Boston), where his parents had taken up residence, to pursue the study of law.

They were the parents of three children,[2] including William A. Gaston, who joined his law firm,[5] and also became a leader in the Democratic party, losing at runs for the governorship in 1902 and 1903.

This weak showing, combined with a poor response to a smallpox epidemic in the city, contributed to his loss in a bid for a third term.

Gaston ran on a platform calling for a liberalization of the state's harsh alcohol prohibition laws, which his opponent, incumbent Republican William B. Washburn, had supported.

[2][8] Washburn resigned in 1874 after winning election to the United States Senate, and Gaston ran in 1874 against Acting Governor Thomas Talbot.

Gaston was also helped by discontent with the corruption endemic in the administration of President Ulysses S. Grant and the disunity among the Republicans, from whom Benjamin Butler siphoned votes with a third-party run.

[10] His victory was also an early indicator of the growing power of Irish Americans in the state, who made up an important base of his support.

[5] Gaston promoted the repeal of the state's prohibition law, replacing it with restrictions and licensing of alcohol sales determined by the cities and towns.

[12] Gaston's quest for a second term was ended by public outrage over his failure to sign the death warrant of convicted juvenile murderer Jesse Pomeroy.

Republican Alexander H. Rice, who defeated Gaston in an otherwise lackluster campaign, also refused to sign the execution order, but his Council eventually recommended commutation of Pomeroy's sentence to life in solitary confinement.