Education
He was graduated from Williams College, Williamstown, Massachusetts, in 1860.
United States representative lawyer politician
He was graduated from Williams College, Williamstown, Massachusetts, in 1860.
He studied law. He was admitted to the bar in 1862 and commenced practice in Rock Island, Illinois. Gest was elected as a Republican to the Fiftieth and Fifty-first Congresses (March 4, 1887-March 3, 1891). He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1890 to the Fifty-second Congress.
Circuit judge of the fourteenth judicial district of Illinois from June 1897 until his death in Rock Island, Illinois, August 9, 1912.
He was interred in Chippiannock Cemetery.