USA > Wisconsin > A political history of Wisconsin > Part 24
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Henry Carson
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well, "for at that time he was in the prime of life, weighed over 200 pounds, and there was no waste timber in him. He had the agility of a cat, the strength of an ox and the courage of a lion."
After Pryor had refused to meet Potter on the terms proposed on the ground that the terms were "brutal," he published a card in The National Intelligencer of Washington, giving Potter due notice that he would attack him on the street whenever they should meet. Of course Potter at once armed himself to the teeth for the anticipated encounter, and he daily expected an attack, but the threat was never carried out. The two belligerents met on the street one morning, but instead of shooting Potter. Pryor locked arms with his companion and they quietly walked off. This affair made Judge Potter greatly talked about all over the country, and the incident overshadowed the really valuable services that he rendered to his district and the nation at large. His six years in Congress as the representative of the largest. most populous and wealthiest district in the State, gave him the reputation of being one of the most active and valuable members of the lower house. and his agreeable manners and genial disposi- tion made him as popular with his colleagues as he was useful to the nation. No man ever left Congress with a better record.
Washburn and Sloan had much to do in State affairs after they left Congress. Macy and Larrabee died by violence. The former perished in the burning steamboat Niagara off Port Wash- ington September 24, 1856. and the latter was killed in an acci- . dent on the Southern Pacific Railroad.
An eye witness describes Macy's tragic death as follows: "I saw Congressman Macy when he made his jump into the boat full of people and threw them all into the water. Macy was on the upper deck and the boat was being lowered from the stern, where it was carried. in the same manner as the yawls of vessels nowa- days. The boat was packed with people and had been lowered a short distance so it was seven feet perhaps below the roof of the cabin on which Macy was. He ran from the forward part of the steamer and when he reached the stern jumped for the boat. He was a very heavy man, and the force of his falling
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weight tore the falls from one end and the entire load of people was tumbled into the water. Many went down at once, others clung to a rope which trailed from the stern."
John B. Macy was born in Nantucket. R. L., March 15, 1799. He was liberally educated and came to Wisconsin in 1850. He made heavy purchases of lands in Fond du Lac county, and moved to the town of Empire, near Lake De Nevu, where he built a magnificent home. He was a leader in all undertaking's calculated to develop the country, and did much to attract capital to Wiscon- sin. It was through Mr. Macy's influence that Robert J. Walker and others were induced to invest in the railway which is now a part of the Northwestern railroad, which had its beginning in the city of Fond du Lac. He was sent to Congress to boom the railroad and the Fox River Improven:ent. He was a splendid specimen of physical manhood. Over six feet tall, he had a commanding presence, genial manners and made friends easily. His home was the abode of courtesy, hospitality an I intelligence.
When the apportionment was made. based upon the census of 1860, it was found that Wisconsin would be entitled to six members in the House of Representatives. In redistricting the State under the new Apportionment Act, all of the old Repre- sentatives disappeared from the halls of Congress except one- Walter D. MeIndoe, who had served one year as the Repre- sentative from the old Second district, filling out the unexpired term of Luther Hanchett, deceased, but who now turned up from the new Sixth district. The new faces that appeared at the beginning of the Thirty-eighth Congress (1863-65) were James S. Brown, of Milwaukee: Ithamar C. Sloan, of Janesville: Amasa Cobb, of Mineral Point: Charles A. Eldridge, of Fond du Lac: and Ezra Wheeler, of Berlin. Brown was known to the public as the first Attorney General of the State, elected on the ticket with Nelson Dewey: Sloan was a prominent lawyer of Janesville: Cobb had been Speaker of the Assembly and a State Senator; Eldridge had represented Fond du Lac in the State Senate in 1850-1: Wheeler was one of the committee on the part of the Assembly to prosecute the impeachment trial of Judge Hubbell ten years before, and MeIndoe had already served one term in the previous
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Congress. The delegation consisted of four Republicans (Sloan. Cobb, Wheeler and MeIndoe), and two Democrats ( Brown and Eldridge). Eldridge was known as a Copperhead all through the war. In the Thirty-ninth Congress (1865-67) there were only two changes in the delegation, Gen. Halbert E. Paine took the place of James S. Brown from the First district, and Philetus Sawyer displaced Ezra Wheeler in the Fifth. Sloan, Cobb, Eldridge and McIndoe were reelected-five Republicans and one Democrat. General Paine went early to the war, and soon returned home minus one leg, which he left on a Louisiana battlefield as a testimony of his love for the Union. Sawyer had just entered upon the longest Congressional career of any Representative that the State has ever sent to Washington. When some future his- torian writes the biographies of "The Men Who Have Risen." he will be likely to give a large share of space to an account of the career of Philetus Sawyer. Coming from Vermont to Wisconsin over fifty years ago, with nothing but his hands, his clear head, and his indomitable energy and sterling character. he has made fame and fortune for himself of a kind that few can boast and none excel. His SIst birthday found him in good health, with one of the larg- est fortunes of any man in Wisconsin-all the fruit of his own industry, frugality and good management, and able to point to a longer term of service in the Congress of the United States than any other man can show in the State. When he was a member of the House of Representatives from the Oshkosh district. Mr. Colfax, who was then Speaker, said to a friend one day: "Mr. Sawyer is one of the most valuable members of this House. He has never been absent from his seat during a session, to my knowledge. He never makes a speech, and never fails to get his own bills passed. He is always at work helping some member who needs help, and that puts them under obligation to him so that whatever he wants goes. I often hear members say: "I don't know anything about this measure, but if Sawyer wants it. I know it is all right and I am for it! " Coming from the Speaker of the House, this was high praise: praise from Sir Hubert him- self. What an example he has set for the young men of Wis- consin to follow! Emerson must have had some such man as Senator Sawyer in his mind when he wrote: "Out of a pine stick
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a Western man will whittle a judgeship, a seat in Congress, and a foreign mission!"
A new face appeared in the next delegation (1867-69)-Benja- min F. Hopkins, of Madison, taking the place of I. C. Sloan in the Second district. Hopkins was a brother-in-law of Horace Rublee, and one of the most skillful politicians the State has ever known. In the Sixth district, Cadwallader C. Washburn, who had served six years in Congress from the okl Second district (1855-61). reappeared after six years' absence, and succeeded McIndoe. The delegation in the Forty-first Congress (1869-71) was unchanged except that B. F. Hopkins died, and David Atwood, of The Madison State Journal, was elected to fill out his unexpired term. In the Forty-second Congress (1871-73) four new members put in an appearance. The Democrats had gained one member in the person of Alexander Mitchell, who succeeded Halbert E. Paine in the First district, defeating Gen. F. C. Winkler, the Republican candidate. In Mitchell's first race he was defeated by Gen. Halbert E. Paine. In his last campaign Mr. Mitchell had William Penn Lyon, who was afterwards Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, for his Republican opponent. Mr. Mitchell was well and favorably known to the people as a suc- cessful banker and railroad promoter-never as a politician-as the first citizen of Milwaukee and of the State at large. He had voted twice for Mr. Lincoln and cordially supported the administra- tion in its efforts to preserve the Union, but after the war closed and Andrew Johnson became president, like Senator Doolittle. Mr. Mitchell adopted Mr. Johnson's theory in regard to the recon- struction of the rebel States, and from that time on he gave his vote and his influence to the Democratic party. While in Congress Mr. Mitchell made a speech on the currency question that attracted wide attention among the bankers and financiers of the nation, in which he showed a perfect familiarity with his subject and pointed ont the conservative methods which he insisted the government should follow. He was a close friend of Samuel J. Tilden and had that gentleman been chosen president in 1876. Mr. Mitchell would undoubtedly have been offered the treasury portfolio.
The other new men in the delegation were Gerry W. Hazel-
Jesse Stone
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ton, of Columbia, who had won distinction as a lawyer and was already well known to the people of the State as a discreet and useful legislator. J. Allen Barber, of Grant county, stood for the Third district, instead of . Amasa Cobb. Barber was an okl stager, a first-class man, prominent in public life in territorial times, and Speaker of the Assembly in 1863. In the Sixth district Jerry M. Rusk, afterwards Governor for three terms, and a member of Harrison's Cabinet. took the seat formerly occupied by C. C. Washburn.
The redistricting of the State after the taking of the Federal census in 1870, when Wisconsin was given cight members in the House of Representatives, instead of six, did not make many changes in the personnel of the Congressional delegation. The districts were all altered, but most of the old members of the Forty- second Congress had seats in the Forty-third. Two new men were elected to the Forty-third, and the six members who had represented the State in the previous Congress (1873-75). were all reelected. The new men were Charles G. Williams, of Janes- ville, representing the new First district. and Alexander S. McDill, from the Eighth. Mr. Williams was a Rock county lawyer of note, a son-in-law of Judge David Noggle, a good speaker, who had been an active member of the State Senate for four years in war time. He had long been a candidate for Con- gress, but had been defeated in the nominating conventions first by Benjamin F. Hopkins, and next by David Atwood and G. W. Hazelton, so that he was well known by the politicians of his district. He had a prepossessing personal appearance. was of an affable and friendly disposition, and had the habit of infusing a great deal of enthusiasm into his public addresses. He spent ten years in Congress and became an influential and useful member of the House. Although his district was largely Republican and he was personally very popular with his friends, he was defeated by John Winans, a Democrat, who had the aid of the dissatisfied Republicans and disappointed officeseekers. Mr. Williams was appointed Registrar of the Land Office at Watertown, S. D., by President Arthur, where he died in 1887.
In the Forty-fourth Congress (1875-77), there were many (2+)
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changes. Williams and Rusk were the only members of the previous Congress who were reelected. The new men were Lucien B. Caswell. Henry S. Magoon, Samuel D. Burchard. Alanson M. Kimball and George W. Cate. William Pitt Lynde, the first man elected to Congress when the State was admitted. turned up as a representative from the Fourth district after an absence of twenty-six years. He might properly be classed as a new man. Caswell had just entered on what proved to be the longest term of service of any Wisconsin member in the House of Representatives. He held his seat for fourteen years continu- ously, except that he lost it in the eclipse of Republican faith in 1883, and resumed it again in 1885. Mr. Caswell was born at Swanton, Vermont, November 27, 1827, and came to Wisconsin with his parents in 1837. when he was 10 years old. He studied some time at the Beloit College, but did not graduate. He served in the Legislature in 1863. 1872 and 1874, and was a delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1868. His long term in Congress, coupled with his good judgment, correct methods and conservatism, gave him influence and prominence . with his associates in the halls of legislation.
Henry S. Magoon was the first native of Wisconsin to be elected to Congress. He was born in Monticello January 31, 1832, and was educated at the Western Military College. Dren- non, Ky. After graduation he was professor of ancient languages in the Nashville University, Tennessee, and remained there until 1857, when he returned to' Wisconsin and began the practice of law. He served one term in the State Senate, 1871-2, defeating the venerable Charles Dunn. He was elected to the Forty-fourt !! Congress as a Republican over Charles F. Thompson, Democrat. In 1875 he opened a law office in Milwaukee, dying shortly after.
A political contest of long standing and becoming more bitter with age, between Gen. Edward S. Bragg and A. K. Delaney, in the old Fifth district, helped to bring to the front Samuel D. Burchard, of Beaver Dam. He was born in Leyden, N. Y., July 17, 1836, and removed with his father to Wisconsin in 1845. He served four years in the Union army, rising to the rank of major. Ile served two years in the State Senate, and two sessions in the
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Forty-fourth Congress, defeating Barber. Republican, by a large majority.
Alanson Kimball, who took the seat occupied by Philetus Sawyer in the Sixth district, was a merchant. and had been a member of the State Senate in 1863-4. He was elected over Gabriel Bouck. Democrat, by 92 votes.
General Bragg's reputation as a soklier preceded him in Con- gress. The Confederates knew him as the commander of the Iron . Brigade that showed on every occasion the unconquerable spirit of the Old Guard under Marshal Ney, and as Bragg had fought the rebels on many a well-contested field in the South, so he suc- cessfully opposed and defeated many a spurious claim for damages to property that was presented in Congress for payment. Bragg was a delegate to the National Democratic Convention in Chicago in 1884, when Cleveland was nominated the first time for the presidency, and took a hand in the fight between Cleveland's sup- porters and Tammany hall. It was during the General's laconic speech in the convention in support of Cleveland's nomination that he gave his New York opponents a fatal stab when he declared that "we love Cleveland for the enemies he has made" -- a sentence that aroused intense enthusiasm and did much to turn the tide of battle in Cleveland's favor. Cleveland rewarded Bragg for his friendship by appointing him minister to Mexico, but the quiet life of a diplomat was not congenial to his love of activity, and he returned home at the expiration of his term to take a leading part in the currency question that divided his party into two angry and irreconcilable factions. Bragg's contests for the nomination to Congress in his own district were usually attended by violent opposition in his own party, and on one occasion over 1.000 ballots were taken before a choice was made. But he generally succeeded ; when he did not he dictated the choice, and it was not his chier opponent who was selected: for example, when Summer was chosen over Delaney in 1882. General Bragg has always made it exceedingly interesting for the other Congressional aspirants in his district. His first round was with C. A. Eldridge, the regular Democratic candidate of the district for ten years. Bragg being defeated, but receiving the votes of the Republicans and War
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Democrats. In 1874, at the Democratic Congressional Conven- tion of the Fifth district, Sam Burchard, of Dodge county; Con- rad Krez, of Sheboygan county; Joseph Vilas, of Manitowoc county; and Edward S. Bragg, of Fond du Lac county, appeared as candidates for the nomination. Bragg finally turned his sup- . port over to Burchard, giving him the nomination, doing so with- out the knowledge of Burchard or his friends, but Dodge county delegates were so gratified that they voluntarily agreed that Bragg should have their support at the next convention. In 1876 Bragg had the entire vote in convention of all the counties in the district except Dodge. Dodge county voting for Delaney, with the excep- tion of one vote from Watertown, which was given for Bragg, Bragg being nominated. I>> 1878 Bragg was renominated by unanimous vote of the convention excepting Dodge county, which voted for Delaney. In 1880 there was a repetition of 1878, Dodge county voting for Delancy.
Previous to the Congressional Convention of 1882 the district had been changed by taking out Manitowoc and Sheboygan counties and putting in Waukesha and Washington. In the con- vention Bragg and Delaney were the candidates, and the votes stood a tie between them for many hundred ballots, finally result- ing in Sumner, of Waukesha, being nominated, he getting one vote from Waukesha county and Delaney's support. In 1884 Bragg and Delaney were again candidates. before the convention, Bragg receiving all the votes .in convention excepting Dodge . county, which went to Delaney.
In 1886 Bragg was not a candidate and did not allow his name to go before the convention. He attended the convention as a delegate, however, and had his Democracy challenged by some of the Delaney following. Delaney (who was in the minority in the convention, and declared that unless he was given the non- ination the district would go Republican) was finally given the nomination over O'Meara, of Washington county, and was defeated at the polls, every county in the district going against him by vari- ous majorities. This was a campaign in which Guenther, a non- resident of the district, was elected by a large majority, the only case of the kind in Wisconsin.
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George W. Cate, who took the place of Dr. MeDill from the Eighth district, was a prominent lawyer, circuit judge and Demo- cratic politician. He was a native of Montpelier, Vt., born in 1825. He was trained to the law and came to Wisconsin in 1845. His fine ability soon attracted the attention of his fellow citizens and lie was elected to the Legislature in 1852-3. He was appointed by Speaker H. L. Palmer as one of the special committee on behalf of the Assembly to prosecute the impeachment trial of Judge Levi Hubbell. and his connection with that celebrated case brought him into wide and favorable notice as a lawyer. In 1854 he was elected circuit judge, and hell that office for nearly twenty years. He resigned his judgeship in 1875 to take a seat in the Fifty-fourth Congress, to which he had been elected by the close majority of two votes. over Alexander S. MeDill, Republican, who was his predecessor in the House of Representatives. Messrs. Magoon, Burchard, Kimball, Rusk and Cate, who were members of the Forty-fourth Congress (1875-77). were not reelected to the Forty-fifth. George C. Hazelton took the place of Magoon in the Third: E. S. Bragg succeeded Burchard in the Fifth: Kimball gave way to Bouck: Rusk to Herman L. Humphrey in the Seventh, and Cate to Thaddeus C. Pound in the Eighth. These were all new men. . Williams, Caswell and Lynde were reelected. Hazelton. Bragg. Bouck and Humphrey had served with distinction in the State Senate and Pound had been Speaker pro tem, of the Assembly, and was Lieutenant Gov- ernor one term (1872-74). Bouck and Bragg had served with credit in the Union army. Humphrey had been a popular circuit judge, and Hazelton had been preceded in the Forty-second and Corty-third Congresses by his brother, Gerry W. Hazelton. from the old Second district. The two Hazeltons and the two Sloans were the only brothers ever elected to Congress from Wisconsin. Bouck enjoyed the distinction of being the son of a former Gov- ernor of New York, and of being Speaker of the Assembly in 1874. when the famous "Potter law" was passed. and he was credited with doing all he could to promote that far-reaching measure. He was Attorney General in 1858-60. In the Forty- sixth Congress (1879-81). all of the previous members were
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reelected except Mr. Lynde, retired. and Peter V. Deuster took his seat from the Milwaukee district. Mr. Deuster had become widely known to the people of the State as the editor of The Mil- waukee Seebote, a German Catholic Democratic newspaper of large circulation and wide influence. Mr. Deuster was a violent opponent of Mr. Lincoln's administration, and his method of carrying on the war, and some of his published anti-war editorials were so bitter that threats were openly made to raise a mob and .throw the press and type of The Seebote into the Milwaukee river. and hang Mr. Deuster to the nearest lamp post. But instead of proceeding to such unlawful measures, better counsel prevailed, and instead of provoking mob violence, The Seebote was allowed to continue its daily issues, and its editor, long afterward, however, sent to Congress for six years. Later President Cleveland recog- nized his ability and party services by sending him back to his native city in Germany as consul for the United States.
There was but one change in the Forty-seventh Congress. Richard Guenther taking the place of Gabriel Bouck in the Sixth district-all the others holding over. Mr. Guenther was a prom- inent German-American who had served four years as State Treasurer, 1878-82.
The apportionment based upon the Federal census of 18So gave Wisconsin nine members of the House, and when the Forty- eighth Congress assembled it was found that the Democrats occupied six of the nine seats, the first time that that party had secured a majority of the representatives since 1853, when Wells, Macy and Eastman were at the front, a period of thirty years. Bragg had dropped out from the Fifth district, Peter V. Deuster had been reelected in the Fourth, and the three other Democratic members were new men. John Winans, from the Janesville dis- triet, had defeated "Charley" Williams, a most extraordinary performance. as the district had always been overwhelmingly Republican. Winans had been a leading Democratic politician. for many years a lawyer of recognized ability, related to the famous Winans family of Baltimore, and was a strong man every way. Daniel H. Summer was a resident of Waukesha, and was nominated in the Second district as a compromise candidate to settle, for the
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time being, the old feud between Cien. Edward S. Bragg and A. K. Delaney. Burr W. Jones, from the Madison district, a new man and a good one, had. like Winans, taken advantage of the disagreement in the Republican ranks, and spent one term in Congress. Joseph Rankin, from the Fifth district. who succeeded Bragg. had been conspicuous in State politics, and had served in the State Legislature, was chairman of the Democratic State Central Committee in 18;7-9. and was at all times very popular with all parties. Gilbert M. Woodward was elected in the strong Republican Seventh district. He had a printing office education, a lawyer by profession, had served four years in the Union army, and had fought in some of the bloodiest battles of the Civil war. He was a delegate to the Union Convention that nominated Horace Greeley for President in 1872. and to the Democratic National Convention at Cincinnati in 18So, which nominated General Han- cock. Of the three Republican members in that Congress, Richard Guenther was reelected, but it was the first appearance in Wash- ington of William T. Price and Isaac Stephenson-Price supplant- .ing Judge Humphrey, and Stephenson succeeding Pound. Price and Stephenson had both made fortunes in the lumber trade, and both had been active in the State Legislature and in the councils of the Republican party.
Edward S. Bragg and Lucien B. Caswell, who had been dropped out of the previous Congress, came back to the Forty- ninth. Robert M. La Follette, Republican, took the place of Burr Jones in the Madison district, and Isaac W. Van Schaick dis- placed P. V. Deuster in the Fourth. Mr. La Follette was the second native of Wisconsin to be elected to Congress, having been born in Dane county June- 14. 1855. He was a graduate of the State University, and was one of the youngest members of the Forty-ninth Congress. He soon made his mark in the House, and served on the Committee of Ways and Means with President MeKinley, with whom he became a great favorite. At the Repub- lican State Convention Mr. La Follette has twice made a gallant fight for the nomination for Governor. He had a large and enthusiastic following. He is still a young man, and his public career has not yet ended. Two deaths occurred in the Wisconsin
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