USA > Wisconsin > A political history of Wisconsin > Part 27
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39
307
A POLITICAL HISTORY OF WISCONSIN.
JAMES T. LEWIS.
James T. Lewis was born in Clarendon, New York, October 30, 1819. His father was Shubael Lewis, a respected member of a family which was among the early settlers of New England. After receiving a liberal education James T. Lewis, in 18442, began the study of law with Gov. Selden, of Clarkson, New York. Subsequently he removed to Columbus, Wisconsin, which has since been his home. In 1845 he was admitted to the bar. The same year he was married to Miss Orlena M. Sturgis, daughter of a prominent merchant of Clarendon, New York. Mr. Lewis was soon recognized as a fit man for public station, and was success- ively chosen district attorney, county judge and member of the Second Constitutional Convention. In 1852 he was elected to the Assembly, and in the following year was a member of the State Senate, as such taking part in the historic Hubbell impeachment trial. For two years from January, 1854, he was Lieutenant Governor; in 1862-3 he was Secretary of State, and for the two years beginning with January, 1864. he was Governor. It was the time of the Civil War. The principle which governed his administration is embodied in a declaration which he made at the time: "He who is not a faithful friend to the government of his country in this trying hour is no friend of mine." Governor Lewis was indefatigable in forwarding troops to the front, and in contributing to their welfare after they got there. He visited the Wisconsin soldiers in their camps and at the hospitals, and finally secured from the surgeon-general an order transferring Wiscon- sin soldiers to hospitals within the State. This hastened the recov- ery of many a languishing sufferer and saved the lives of not a few who would otherwise have died. He was active in establishing a home for soldiers' orphans. He secured the correction of an error by which the quota of soldiers necessary to be furnished by Wisconsin was reduced 4,000. He successfully prosecuted claims against the general government by which half a million of dollars was restored to the State. He declined the usual appropriation for a governor's contingent fund, and in many other ways econ- omized the expenditure of public money. When his term drew to a close he declined to accept a renomination. The convention,
308
A POLITICAL HISTORY OF WISCONSIN.
finding his decision unalterable, adopted a resolution expressing its regret and declaring it's deep sense of the great efficiency and excellence of his administration. Ex-Gov. Lewis has always enjoyed in a high degree the confidence of his fellow citizens irre- spective of party. When he was a candidate for Secretary of State he received every vote cast in the city of Columbus. His majority when he ran for the Governorship-23,664-was the largest which up to that time had ever been accorded to any candi- date for any office in this State, and was never equaled until 1890. His interest in the cause of education has manifested itself in many ways, and Lawrence University, in recognition of this, as well as of his personal culture, some years ago bestowed upon him the degree of LL.D.
MATT. H. CARPENTER.
Matthew Hale Carpenter was born at Moretown, Vermont, December 22, 1824. Ilis mother died when he was eleven years of age, and he became the protege of Hon. Paul Dillingham, under whose tutelage he began the study of law. In 1843 he was appointed a cadet at West Point, where he remained for two years, when ill-health compelled his return to his home. He subse- quently resumed his law studies in the office of Gov. Dillingham, and was admitted to the bar in the spring of 1847. at Montpelier, Vermont. Then he went to Boston, where he became the aman- uensis of Rufus Choate, and where he was admitted to the bar of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts in 1848. In the same year he came to Wisconsin and opened a law office at Beloit. .Within a month after his arrival, however, he became afflicted with an inflammation of the eyes which rendered him totally blind during a great part of three years. He went East for treatment. returning in 1851 to Beloit, where he soon acquired a valuable practice. In November. 1851. he was elected District Attorney for Rock county, but owing to errors in his Christ an name on some of the ballots and informality in the returns from one of the towns. the certificate of eketion was given to his opponent. A writ of quo warranto was issued by the Attorney General, upon the rela-
.
309
A POLITICAL HISTORY OF WISCONSIN.
tion of Mr. Carpenter, resulting in the decision by the Supreme Court that Carpenter was entitled to the office. His practice and reputation rapidly increased, and in 1858, seeking a larger field for his ability, he removed to Milwaukee, where he resided during the remainder of his life. Except the office of District Attorney. Mr. Carpenter never held any office other than United States Senator. The historical portion of this work contains an extended reference to his brilliant public career. He died at Washington February 24. 1881, and his remains were brought to Milwaukee for interment. The public funeral ceremonies were among the most impressive ever witnessed in Wisconsin-a tribute to the esteem in which his genius was held by the people of the State. On the Fourth of July, 1894, his marble bust, purchased by public subscriptions, was, with appropriate ceremonies, presented to the State Historical Society, at Madison.
COL. LUCAS M. MILLER.
Col. Lucas M. Miller, of Oshkosh, who represented the Sixth . Wisconsin District in the Fifty-second Congress of the United States, was born in Laviadia, Greece, 1824. He is the son of a Greek chieftain, who was killed by the Turks during the Greek revolution. Soon after his birth his mother died, and he was cared for a short time by a woman who found him in an abandoned town shortly after a battle had taken place within its streets. Subse- quently she applied to Colonel J. P. Miller for assistance. The colonel was an American, who joined the. Greek army at the beginning of the revolution; was commissioned as Colonel and distinguished himself as a brave and efficient officer, and rendered very material service to the Greeks by securing the donation of ser- eral vessels laden with provisions and clothing by the citizens of his country for the benefit of the destitute people of Greece: the Colonel, learning the history of the orphan boy, concluded to adopt him, and when he returned to this country settled in Montpelier. Vermont. Lucas attended the schools of the town until he was sixteen, when his father was injured to an extent incapacitating him for his business, which was assumed by his adopted son. At
·
310
A POLITICAL HISTORY OF WISCONSIN.
the age of twenty-one the young man took out naturalization papers, was admitted to the bar, and soon after moved to the Terri- tory of Wisconsin and settled in Oshkosh in 1846. Here he pur- chased several hundred acres of land and engaged in farming. He still occupies a portion of the land. Soon after settling in Wis- consin, during the Mexican war, he was appointed Colonel by Governor Dodge; in 1853 he was a member of the Wisconsin Legislature; was one of the Commissioners of the State Board of Public Works; for many years he was Chairman of the County Board of Supervisors of Winnebago County. At various times he has been urged to run for various State offices. At the time he was nominated for Congress he was in Vermont and did not hear of it until the next day after the convention had adjourned: had he been at home he would not have accepted the nomination. He remained in Vermont until two weeks before his election; on his return home he informed the people of the District that he had been nominated contrary to his wishes; if elected he proposed to. attend to their interests, and if not elected he proposed to attend to his own business. He was elected to the Fifty-second Congress . as a Democrat, receiving 15.573 votes, against 13.409 votes for Chas. B. Clark, Republican, and 1. 156 votes for George W. Gates, Prohibitionist. While in Congress Col. Miller took an active part in the debates upon various important subjects. His speeches against taking the tariff off wool, on the silver question, on Indian affairs, and on the free delivery of the mail in the country. attracted considerable attention. The first mentioned speech was regarded with much favor in the wool-growing States; and was extensively circulated in the country. A speech in favor of increasing the navy, delivered by him at the solicitation .of Mr. Herbert, Chair- man of the Committee of Naval Affairs, afterwards Secretary of the Navy, secured to him a very complimentary letter from Admiral Dewey, who at that time was stationed at Washington. Col. Miller took an active part in securing the county seat in Osh- kosh, donating the land upon which the court house now stands. He rendered material aid in securing the State Land Office, the State Insane Asylum, and the Normal School, all of which insti- tutions have been of much benefit to Oshkosh, and has been instru-
-
311
A POLITICAL HISTORY OF WISCONSIN.
mental in securing various railroads and manufacturing establish- ments, which have materially contributed to the prosperity of that city.
WILLIAM E. SMITH.
William E. Smith was of Scotch descent. His father, Alexan- der Smith, was a man of education and culture, and was manager of a large landed estate in Scotland until 1835, when he migrated to the United States. William E .- born June 18, 1824-was then eleven years old. At the age of ten he had won a prize for pro- ficiency in classics in the schools of Edinburgh. The first winter which the Smiths spent in America was passed in New York, and in the following spring the fanrily moved to Oakland county, Michigan, and began the struggle of making a home on a quarter- section of new land. Living in a log cabin and clearing land did not break the fiber of his fine nature, but his courage met hardships bravely, and surmounted all difficulties. Improving his opportuni- ties for attending school, and reading all the books he could get. the young farmer developed intellectual as well as physical vigor. In 1841 be obtained a position as a cerk in a small store, where he remained about five years. In 1846 he was offered and accepted a place in a New York dry goods house, where, by his diligence, he attracted the attention of a large jobbing house, and procured for himself an important position. Here his integrity and business ability received substantial recognition by an offer of a partnership with the son of his employer in the town of Fox Lake, Wisconsin. whither he went in 1849. Mr. Smith's power of impressing people is illustrated by the fact that almost before he became a citizen of Wisconsin he was elected to the Legislature, and, during the ses- sion of 1851, was one of the most practical and influential mem- bers of the Assembly. Declining a renomination, he devoted his attention to business with diligence, until 1858, when he was elected State Senator, an office to which he was reflected in 1862. While in the Senate he was a member of the Committee on Edu- cation. In 1865 he was elected State Treasurer, being reelected in 1867. Returning to Fox Lake at the end of his term, he was
-
312
A POLITICAL HISTORY OF WISCONSIN.
again elected to the Assembly in 1870, and was chosen Speaker. In 1872 Mr. Smith removed to Milwaukee, to engage in the whole- sale grocery business with Messrs. J.A. Roundy and Sidney Haux- hurst, and continued as head of the firm until elected Governor in 1877, to which office he was reelected in 1879. It has been aptly said of him as the chief executive of the State. that "he was practical, faithful and safe." Applying strict principles to his duties, he kept everything in order and neglected nothing. After the expiration of his second term as Governor he formed a part- nership with his son, Ira B. Smith, and H. M. Mendel, under the firn: name of Smith, Mendel & Co. Besides the offices mentioned Mr. Smith held many other positions of public trust. For fif- teen years he was Regent of the State Normal schools, and for four years a Director of the State Prison. For twenty-six years he was a trustee of Milwaukee Female College, and for many years a trustee of Milwaukee College, Wayland University and the Uni- versity of Chicago. He was also for many years a trustee and a , member of the executive committee of the Northwestern Life . Insurance Company. His life was controlled by weil-established principles. In public as well as in private he was always the same courteous, thorough-going, conscientious business man. In early life Mr. Smith was an ardent Whig. Upon the organization of the Republican party he became a Republican. He was an influential member of the party until his death, which occurred February 13. 1883.
GEORGE H. PAUL.
George H. Paul is remembered as one of the most trenchant writers and most influential editors who ever devoted their ener- gies to the support of the Democratic party in Wisconsin. Inde- pendently of his services as a journalist, his name stands high in the roll of the prominent men of the State. Mr. Paul was born at Danville, Vermont. March 14, 1826. At eleven years of age he began in the office of The North Star a connection with the print- ing business which he continued during the greater portion of his life. In 1840 he entered Phillips Academy, where he spent three
1
1
313
A POLITICAL HISTORY OF WISCONSIN.
years preparing for college. He received the degree of A. M. from the University of Vermont, and spent a year in the study of law at Harvard. being admitted to the bar in 1848. During all the time while he was securing his education, he supported hin- self by teaching and working at the printing business. In 1848 he became editor and proprietor of The Burlington (Vermont) Sentinel. and transformed that paper into a daily-the first daily newspaper regularly published in Vermont. In the same year President Polk appointed him postmaster at Burlington. In 1851 he sold The Sentinel and removed to Kenosha, Wisconsin, where he began the publication of The Kenosha Democrat. In 1853 President Pierce appointed him postmaster at Kenosha. He was reappointed to this office by President Buchanan, and held it till the expiration of his commission in 1861. He was Mayor of Ken- osha, and held other offices of trust and honor. In the spring of the latter year he went to New York, where he did editorial work for several months. Returning to Wisconsin, he became inter- ested with J. M. Lyon in the proprietorship of The Daily News, and was the leading spirit in the management of that paper until May, 1874. In 1867 he was a member of the Milwaukee Charter Commission, and in 1870 a member of the Board of School Com- missioners. He resigned from the board to accept the position of superintendent of the public schools, which he held until May, 1871. In February, 1874. he was appointed a member of the Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin, a position which he held until his death in 1890, and during most of the time he was president of the board. He was a member of the Wiscon- sin Board of Railway Commissioners during the administration of Governor Taylor, from 1874 to 1876, and served two terms in the State Senate, from 1877 to 1881, representing what was at that time the Sixth Senatorial district. comprising the portion of Mil- waukee city and county lying south of the Menomonee river. While a member of the Senate Mr. Paul was the author of numer- ous measures of importance. among them being the bills for cre- ating the Milwaukee County Insine Asylum and the State Indus- trial School for Girls: also the bills creating the office of Health Commissioner in the city of Milwaukee, and protecting the public (27)
-
314 .
A POLITICAL HISTORY OF WISCONSIN.
health by a system of intercepting sewers for the protection of the rivers of the city. He was one of the trustees of the Milwaukee County Insane Asylum for a number of years. In 1885 Presi- dent Cleveland appointed Mr. Paul postmaster at Milwaukee, and he served in that capacity till the appointment of his successor by President Harrison in ISSy. Mr. Paul was a delegate to four national Democratic conventions. He was a member for Wis- consin of the National Democratic Committtee from 1864 to 1868 and from 1872 to 1876. In 1872-3 he was chairman of the Democratic State Central Committee of Wisconsin, and planned and conducted the campaign which brought the Democrats into power in the State after an exile of fifteen years. Mr. Paul was one of the organizers of the Milwaukee Cement Company, and for many years held the secretaryship of that corporation.
Z. G. SIMMONS.
Zalmon Gilbert Sinimons was born in Montgomery county, New York, September 10, 1828. His early years were passed upon a farm. In his fifteenth year he came with his father to Wisconsin, landing at Southport. now Kenosha, on the 12th of June, 1843. He attended school in Kenosha for three years, and then became a teacher, which occupation he followed until he was 21. Then he entered the store of Seth Doan as a clerk, with the agreement · that he was to receive $200 for his first year's service. Within six months' time Mr. Simmons had acquired the confidence of his employer to such an extent that he was placed in charge of the business, and at the end of sixteen months he had bought out the stock, mostly on credit, and become the proprietor of what he developed into a large and prosperous business, in which he con- tinued for twelve years, meantime having an eye for other enter- prises which soon absorbed all his time. In 1856 he acquired a half interest in the Wisconsin State Telegraph Company, of which he became president and manager. The company. at that time had little promise of the magnitude into which it has since devel- oped, and it is said that the sum paid by Mr. Simmons for his interest. $500, was all it was worth. Under his vigorous manage-
.
.
315
A POLITICAL HISTORY OF WISCONSIN.
ment, however, the lines were extended and the facilities for busi- ness enlarged as fast as money for that purpose could be obtained. In short, the work was pushed with a sagacity and vigor that never faltered until. in 1881, the lines were leased for ninety-nine years to the Western Union Telegraph Company. At the time of the lease the business had paid the cost of construction, the interest on the capital invested. and $1,000,000 beside. Mr. Simmons became a director in the Western Union Company and retained the position for several years. His enterprise in connection with the Kenosha, Rockford & Rock Island railroad is also worthy of note. The company which had been constructing this road had become hope- lessly involved, before it was completed, and appealed to him for aid. He was made president: and by endorsing the paper of the company he succeeded in having the road completed. But there was no money to equip it, and the stockholders, refusing to sub- mit to an assessment for that purpose, turned the road over to Mr. Simmons to conduct as he pleased. He shouldered the burden, and managed to run the first train to Harvard, Illinois, on the day of the battle of Bull Run. In time all the difficulties of the enter- prise were surmounted. The road is now a branch of the Chicago & Northwestern. In 1865 Mr. Simmons purchased a half interest in the First National Bank of Kenosha. and became its president. which position he has held up to the present time. During all these years the bank has promptly met all its obligations, and has proved a source of great convenience to the many manu- facturing establishments of the city. His enterprises, however. have not been confined to Kenosha or to the State. He con- ceived the idea of constructing a railroad from Manitou Springs to the summit of Pike's Peak in Colorado, and it was completed in June, 1891, the terminus of the road being 14,143 feet above the sea level, the highest point ever reached by rail. The road is a marvel of engineering skill. Mr. Simmons cast his first vote for John P. Hale, and has been a Republican since the organization of the party. He represented his county in the Legislature in 1865. and was Mayor of Kenosha for three terms. During his incum- beney of the latter office he succeeded in refunding the enormous debt of the city, $1.750.000, in twenty-year bonds for $200,000,
•
316
A POLITIC.IL. HISTORY OF WISCONSIN.
thus relieving Kenosha of an incubus under which its industrial interests had been well nigh ruined. Under his administration the streets were paved, and a start was made in the work of improv- ing the harbor. On the 20th of April, 1850, Mr. Simmons was married to Miss Emma E., daughter of Captain Morris Robinson, a prominent pioneer of Lake county, Ilinois. They have had six children, three of whom are living-Mrs. Arthur F. Town of Chi- cago, Mrs. A. H. Lance of Kenosha, and Zalmon G. Simmons, Jr., of Kenosha. In religion, Mr. Simmons is a Unitarian. IIe has been liberal with his vast wealth, contributing freely to chari- ties and public objects. He has always taken a great interest in the old soldiers, and he has recently completed a $25.000 monu- ment to the memory of the heroes of the Civil War. . At the present time he is constructing a magnificent library build- ing which will be filled with books and presented to the city. This last beneficence will require the expenditure of over $200,000.
JUDGE BYRON PAINE.
The circumstances under which Byron Paine, at the carly age of 31, was, in 1859, elected Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of Wisconsin for the full term of six years, to succeed Judge A. D. Smith, are related in the historical part of this book. His bright carcer, too early closed, forms one of the most picturesque pages in the history of the Wisconsin bar. Judge Paine was born at Painesville, Lake county, Ohio, October 10, 1827. He received a thorough academic education. Later he became a fine German scholar, reading, writing and speaking the language with almost the fluency of a native. In the autumn of 1847 he removed to Milwaukee with his father. General James H. Paine, who was a lawyer of distinction, and under whose guidance he studied for the bar, to which he was admitted in 1849. In the years while he was waiting for practice, he so thoroughly improved his time . that he obtained a profound knowledge of legal principles and the decisions in which they are exemplified. In 1856 he was chiei clerk of the Senate, and in 1857 he was elected County Judge of Milwaukee, an office which he held until he took his seat on the
-
-
A POLITICAL HISTORY OF WISCONSIN. 317
bench of the Supreme Court in 1859. On the 10th of August, 1864. he resigned his seat on the beach to accept the appointment of Lieutenant-Colonel of the Forty-third regiment of Wisconsin : . Volunteer Infantry. He was engaged in military service till May, 1865, when he resumed the practice of law at Milwaukee. in September, 1867, Associate Justice Jason Downer, who had suc- ceeded Judge Paine, resigned his office, and on the rith of that month Judge Paine, appointed by Gov. Fairchild to fill the vacancy, resumed the performance of judicial duties. In 1868 he was elected for the remainder of Judge Downer's term, which expired June 1, 1871. But his life of brilliant promise was cut short while he was at the height of his powers. After meeting his associates in the consultation room on the 23d of November. 1870. he was confined to his home by an attack of erysipelas, from which he died on the 13th of January, 1871. Judge Paine was a man nearly six feet in height, of vigorous constitution, and, up to the time of his seizure, the picture of physical health. His death was a shock to the community.
.
JOHN B. CASSODAY.
. John B. Cassoday, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Wis- consin, was born in Herkimer county, New York, July 7th. 1830. Three years later his father died, and his mother, taking her child. removed with her parents to Tioga county, Pennsylvania. There the boy began attending the district school, working for his board. as his mother was without means. Before. he had attained his seventeenth year he had. in addition to his attendance upon the district school, been one term at the Tioga academy and one at the academy in Wellsborough. During the next four years he was engaged in teaching and in manual labor, and in this way secured the means for the payment of his expenses during a course of study of two terms at the academy in Knoxville, Pa .. . and two at the Alfred (N. Y.) Academy, from which he graduated. He then spent a year in the University of Michigan, taking a select course. This was followed by a short time at the Albany law school, after which he studied law in an office in Wellsborough,
.
318
A POLITICAL HISTORY OF WISCONSIN.
Pa. In 1857 he came to Janesville, Wis., where he entered the law office of II. S. Conger, afterwards judge of that cirenit, and studied law for a year or more, when he became a member of the law firm of Bennett, Cassoday & Gibbs. This partnership con- tinued seven years, during which Mr. Cassoday rapidly rose in his profession, until he came to be recognized as one of the ablest members of the Rock county bar. For two years from 1866 he was in practice alone, then in company with Willard Merrill. now of the Northwestern Life Insurance Company, for five years, and after that with Edward F. Carpenter, a half-brother of the late Senator Carpenter, until he was appointed to the supreme bench in November, ISSO. Since the organization of the Republican party, it has had no more consistent, earnest and zealous adherent than Mr. Cassoday. He was a delegate to the Baltimore conven- tion in 1864 that nominated Lincoln for reelection, and was a member of the Committee on Credentials. The same year he was elected to the Legislative Assembly, serving on the judiciary and railroad committees. The thirteenth . amendment to the . national constitution was presented for ratification at that session, and he took an active part in the debate on its passage. In 1876 he was again elected to the Assembly, was chosen its Speaker, and his ability and tact in that position resulted in one of the shortest and most effective sessions in the history of the State. He was a delegate-at-large to the Republican national convention in Chicago in 1880, and was chairman of the delegation. He presented to the convention the name of E. B. Washburn as a candidate for the nomination for President, in a dignified, eloquent and powerful speech; but it was seen on the second day that none of the leading candidates would be nominated. and the Wisconsin delegation, which contained some of the ablest Republicans in the State, decided that at the proper moment the vote of the State should be cast for James A. Garfield, and it was left for Mr. Cas- soday to determine when that time had come. On the thirty- fourth ballot he declared to his fellow-delegates that the time had come for breaking the deadlock, and announced the vote of Wis- cousin for Garfield. amid intense excitement. The second ballot thereafter Garfield received the nomination. From the time of his
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.