USA > Wisconsin > An illustrated history of the state of Wisconsin : being a complete civil, political, and military history of the state, from its first exploration down to 1875 > Part 62
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In 1856 Gov. Bashford appointed Mr. Randall judge of the Second Judi- cial Circuit, composed of the counties of Milwaukee and Wankesha. Many of his opponents thought the appoint- ment was not a fortunate one; but,
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after one term of court had been held | by Judge Randall, he displayed so much ability, and adapted himself so well to his new duties, that he was considered an excellent judge. His judicial career, however, was brief. In 1857 he was nominated as the Republi- ean candidate for governor, and was elected. He entered upon his duties on the first of January, 1858, and dis- charged them with such ability, and satisfaction to the people, that he was re-elected in 1859. This second term carried him through the year 1861, the first year of the late war. He was one of the very best war governors in the country. The ability, energy, and boldness with which he labored in the organization of troops for the service was greatly admired by all royal people in this State, and gave Gov. Randall a national reputation as an able and patriotic man.
In 1861 Gov. Randall was a candi- date for United States senator. The contest was a sharp one. The candi- dates were Gov. Randall, C. C. Wash- burn, and Hon. T. O. Howe. After several ballots were taken in the nonil- nating cancus, Gov. Randall withdrew from the contest; and most of his friends gave their votes for Mr. Howe, who was nominated and elected.
At the close of his term as governor, Pres. Lincoln appointed Gov. Randall minister to Rome; which position he filled for a short time in a manner satisfactory to the government. In 1865 he was appointed assistant post- master-general of the United Sates, under the Hon. William Dennison of Ohio, who was at the head of the post-office department. When Pres. Johnson separated from the Republican party, Gov. Randall united his political fortunes with the President; and, on the resignation of Mr. Dennison, he became postmaster-general; which po- sition he held until the end of Mr. Johnson's term. In following the for- tunes of Mr. Johnson, Gov. Randall naturally drifted into the Democratic party, with which organization he acted until his death, though he held no official position after March 4, 1869. He died at his residence in Elmira, N. Y., July 26, 1872.
not long, before we find him filling posl- tions of marked political distinction. He was a member of the Territorial legislature in 1847 and 1848. In the latter year, when the State was ad- mitted into the Union, he, in company with Gen. Dodge, was sent to the United States senate, - he for the short term, which expired the next year; but at this time he was re-elected, and served till the year 1855, when he was succeeded by the Hon. Charles Durkee.
He died quite suddenly, of a stroke of apoplexy, on the evening of March 29, 1872, in the city of Milwaukee. He bore the reputation of having been a brilliant and impressive publie speaker, and a man of superior presence, and most attractive personal endowments.
HON. MILTON H. PETTITT. - He was born in the town of Fabius, Onon- daga County, N.Y., Oct. 22, 1825. He received a common-school and aca- demieal education ; and in 1846, at the age of twenty-one years, he arrived In Wisconsin, and located in the town of Somers, in the extreme south-eastern part of the State, a few miles distant from the present lake-port of Kenosha.
He had come West prompted by a mere spirit of adventure, with but lit- tle money, no friends, and no valuable experience in life. He had, when he started for the West, a fund of sixty dollars, which was reduced to twenty dollars when he reached the spot where he made his settlement. He there pur- chased a farm on credit, and was mar- ried. He worked on his farm seven years, spending nearly all his thne in grubbing the roots out of the soil, and in subduing the wild fields. At the end of that time, he concluded that this was a long road and a slow gait to fortnne, and that, for one, he would see if there was not an casier method of procuring a livelihood, and a "eut across lots" to wealth.
With these views, in 1854 he re- moved to the city of Kenosha, and began the business of buying and sell- ing grain, which he followed till his death, in 1873.
He was elected mayor of the city of Kenosha in 1861, 1865, 1867, and 1870; was elected a member of the State senate in 1869, in which body he served two years; and in 1871 he was nominated and elected by the Repub- lican party to the office of lieutenant- governor.
HON. J. P. WALKER. - Ex-senator J. P. Walker was a native of Virginia, and was born in the year 1813. The early part of his life was passed in Illi- nois. In 1841 he emigrated to Wis- A few years before his death, while on the flowing tide of a prosperous consin, and began the active practice of his chosen profession, the law. It was business, the death of a man largely
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indebted to him, whose estate proved bankrupt, and the death of a relative for whom he had indorsed largely, were the two principal events in a series of disasters which swept away Gov. Pet- titt's entire fortune. Thirty or forty thousand dollars of paper upon which he had placed his name were, from these causes, thrown into the banks, which would be due in sixty days; and he was, as a matter of fact, without resources to meet the notes.
But he never faitered an hour. Ilis face never lost the serene and cheerful look of the prosperous buyer and seller, whose profits were rapidly accumu- lating, and whose fortune was seeure. He did not let his banker, nor his most intimate friend, nor a single member of his family, know the desperate condi- tion in which he was placed. He maintained an undisturbed demeanor. He borrowed money; he expanded his business; he paid some notes as they fell due; he procured extensions upon others, as if no unusual event had occurred. Each day, week, and month, for three years, he was conseious of standing upon the brink of a precipice, that at any moment might hurl him to ruin.
During the latter part of this time, he was a member of the legislature, before which many public measures of great importance were pending; and he was nominated as a candidate for the second office in the State.
The crash did not come. His un- equalled pluck, the wisdom which in- spired him to keep his own counsels, and the daring with which he entered upon his large business-ventures, met their reward. At the end of four years his business prosperity was re-estab- lished on a substantial basis; and he had fully entered on a new career of successful enterprise.
The profits of his business-house in 1870 were forty-seven thousand dollars.
He was an admirable presiding offi- cer, having ready and intelligent ideas of the rules and customs which govern deliberative bodies. As a legislator, he had broad and enlightened opinions, is conservative in regard to the good things in the laws, and the friend everywhere of virtue and intelligence. In polities, of course, he was a radical Republican, and stood high in the eon- fidence and respeet of his party.
He died on the 15th of March, 1873, at his residence in Kenosha.
County, N.Y., Mav 5, 1828. His parents belong to the New England stock; his father's family having emi- grated from Massachusetts, and his mother's from Rhode Island. Ai- though they enjoyed very limited advantages for obtaining even a com- mon-school education, they took a deep interest in the mental and religious training of their children. Young Whitford worked on a farm in sum- mer, and attended either a distriet or select school in winter, until he was seventeen years of age, when he entered Brookfield Academy. He then became a student in De Ruyter Institute, New York. He entered the senior class at Union College, New York, in 1850, and graduated from the same in 1853. He, in connection with his wife, had charge of Union Academy at Shiloh, N.J., for nearly two years. Resolving to enter the ministry, he pursued there- after a full course of study at Union Theological Seminary, New York City. Immediately after graduating here, he settled, in 1856, as pastor of the Sev- enth-day Baptist Church of Milton, Wis .; which position he held for three years. In the last year of his ministry here, he took the charge of the academy in the place, and remained ever since at the head of the institution. Prin- cipally through his efforts, the school was converted into a college in 1867. He has prepared several valuable pa- pers for the State Teachers' Associa- tion; and among them a careful his- tory of the early educational move- ments in the State, which has been published by the State Historical So- ciety. He has acted as a prominent member of the local organizations for improving the schools in the section where he resides, and was chosen pres- ident of the State Teachers' Associa- tion for 1865. He represented his assembly distriet in the legislature of the State in 1868, and was chairman of the committee on education. In 1867 he was appointed by the governor one of the regents of the State normal schools,-a position which he heid until February, 1875. While a normal re- gent, he always assisted in the exami- nation of the graduates at the close of the year in the normal schools of the State.
HIe is above the medium height, strongly and compaetly built, and en- joys usually most excellent health. He possesses a round, fuil voice; is an earnest speaker, and commands elose
WILLIAM C. WHITFORD, A.M. - He was born in West Edineston, Otsego attention in his addresses. He is a
Digtizolace
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constant worker, energetic and push- tinued by Mr. Paul in connection with ing in his efforts; and is most highly esteemed by the community in which he has lived now nineteen years.
HON. GEORGE H. PAUL. - He was born at Danville, Caledonia County, Vt., March 14, 1826. At eleven years of age, he entered the office of "The North Star," one of the oldest weekly newspapers of New England, where he remained until the expiration of his term of apprenticeship, in 1840. Dur- ing the ensuing three years, he com- pleted his preparation for college at Phillips Academy, and joined the freshman class of Vermont University, at Burlington, in January, 1844; from which institution he received his grad- uation degree in 1847, and subsequently the degree of Master of Arts, in course. After the completion of his university studies at Burlington, he became a member of the law-class of 1847, at Harvard University, where he remained until January, 1848, when he became editor and proprietor of the Burling- ton (Vt.) "Sentinel." A few months later, he started the first regularly pub- lished daily paper of that State, and soon after was appointed postmaster at Burlington by Pres. Polk. Early in the year 1851, he sold the "Sentinel" newspaper, and removed to Kenosha, Wis., where he commenced the publi- cation of " The Kenosha Demoerat." In January, 1853, he was appointed assistant secretary of the Wisconsin senate. In May of the same year, he was appointed postmaster at Kenosha by Pres. Pierce. In April of the next year, he was appointed a member of Gov. Barstow's staff. In 1857 he was re-appointed postmaster of Kenosha by Pres. Buchanan, holding till the expiration of his commission in 1861. During his residence at Kenosha, he represented his ward In the board of aldermen, was twice chosen mayor of that city, and served as a member of the county board of supervisors, and superintendent of the county poor. In the spring of 1861, he accepted an invitation to become one of the editors of " The New York Daily News," and remained connected with that journal until its diseontinuance, in the autumn of the same year, when he returned to Wisconsin, and became connected with "The Milwaukee News;" which paper was purchased by himself and the late Joseph M. Lyon, the ensuing year, Mr. Paul assuming charge of the edi- torial department. On the death of Mr. Lyon, in 1868, the paper was con-
Mr. S. Cadwallader, the present as- sistant secretary of State, until Jan- uary, 1871, when the establishment passed into the hands of a joint-stock company, of which Mr. Paul was chosen president; and in which position he continued until about the first of May, 1874, at which time he parted with his interest in the paper, and resigned the presidency of the company. In 1855 Mr. Paul was the Democratie nominee for the State senate in the Kenosha county district ; his opponent receiving a majority of 286. In 1856 he was nominated by the Wisconsin Demo- eratic State Convention as a candidate for presidential eleetor for the State at large, but declined. In 1866 he was the Democratic nominee for the assem- bly from the fifth assembly distriet of Milwaukee County, and received 552 votes to 578 for his opponent. In 1867 he was elected a member of the Mil- waukee Charter Convention held in that year. In 1870 he was elected a member of the Milwaukee board of school commissioners for two years, but resigned to accept the place of superintendent of schools for Milwau- kee City, vacated by the death of Supt. Pomeroy; in which position he re- malned until May, 1871. He was sue- cessively appointed by the Board of Trade of Milwaukee to attend the River and Harbor Convention at Chicago, the Convention of Western Boards of Trade at Boston, and the Mutual Im- provement Convention at Louisville; in all of which he took part. In 1856 and 1860 he was an alternate delegate to the National Conventions held those years at Cincinnati, Baltimore, and Charleston. He was also a delegate from the State at large to the National Convention which nominated Gen. McClellan for the presidency at Chi- cago in 1864, and a delegate from the Milwaukee district to the National Con- vention which nominated Mr. Greeley for the presidency at Baltimore, in 1872. He was also a member of the National Democratic Committee for Wisconsin from 1864 to 1868, and was re-appointed to the same position in 1872. In the spring of the latter year, he was appointed chairman of the Democratic State Central Committee of Wisconsin; was re-appointed to the same position in 1873; and at the State Convention of the latter year was clair- man of the committee appointed to report the platform of principles upon which the present Reform party of Wis-
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consin is organized. In February, 1874, [ court held there. He subsequently at- he was appointed a member of the tended the first term of court held in Crawford County. He may, therefore, be claimed to have been the oldest attorney, professionally, in Wisconsin, and the father of the Wisconsin bar. Board of Regents of Wisconsin Univer- sity, and a member of the executive committee of that board, and, on the expiration of the term of office of the then president of the board (Gen. Aug. 12, 1824, he returned to Macki- nac, where he was married to Eliza- beth L. Fisher, a former pupil of his, and a girl of fifteen years. They re- turned in September of that year, and located where the Green Bay settle- ment then existed, -about two and a half miles distant from the present city. In those early days, he was poor but industrious, with active habits of mind and body, and, as he expressed it, "full of hope to seek my own for- tune, and pave my way in the path of life." In 1835 he removed from up the river to Navarino, now the third ward of Green Bay, and in 1836 built the house where he has ever since re- sided. C. S. Hamilton), was chosen to the vacancy. In May, 1874, after he had determined to sever his connec- tion with the press, - a connection which he had maintained almost unin- terruptedly for nearly twenty-seven years, he was appointed by the gov- ernor, with the subsequent approval of the senate, a member of the board of railroad commissioners for the State of Wisconsin, for the term of two years; and this position he continues to occupy at the present time. During the entire period that Mr. Paul was connected with the press, and for some years previous, he was a con- stant contributor to the newspaper and miscellaneous literature of the time. Though intimately associated with cur- rent political affairs as a necessity of his profession, he has never been un- derstood to concede any allegiance to party, except in so far as the progress of enlightened principles of government could thus be most efficiently promoted.
HON. HENRY S. BAIRD. - He was born in Dublin, Ireland, May 16, 1800. His father was a bank-clerk. The elder Baird was a compeer of the Emmets, and, in consequence of the troublons period succeeding the revo- lution of 1793, became a political ref- ugee, and, with Thomas Emmet and other exiles, came to America in 1804. He first settled in Pennsylvania, and subsequently removed to Ohio, where, engaging in speculation after the war of 1812, he became a bankrupt. Mr. Baird's early education was obtained in the common schools, before the age of fifteen. He was an attentive student.
At the age of eigliteen, he entered a law-office in Pittsburg, Penn., and was afterwards a law-student at Cleveland, in the office of the late Gov. Wood of Ohio. While here, he had an attack of ague and fever, to recover from which he went to the Island of Mackinac, expecting to return with renewed health. On his arrival, he engaged to teach a school which numbered about thirty scholars, and pursued his law- studies in the mean time.
Mr. Baird occupied a leading position in the bar of this then extensive Terri- tory. His ability and Integrity were recognized in a marked degree; and we find him called, at various times, to execute the most important trusts. He was president of the first legislative council of the Territory of Wisconsin, which was held at Belmont, Iowa County, 1836. Upon the organization of the Territory, he was appointed at- torney-general by Gov. Dodge. In 1847 he was a member of the first con- vention to form a State constitution, which met at Madison. Among ser- vices of a public nature he was called upon to render, was frequent and prom- inent participation in treaties between the United States Government and the Indian tribes, of whom he was the steadfast friend. Ile enjoyed the full- est confidence in official and personal relations with the late Gov. Cass, gov- ernor of the Territory of Michigan. His legal practice required that he should perform long journeys, often going on horseback to Prairie du Chien and other places. One trip that he has placed on record occupied eight days.
It may be truly said of Mr. Baird, that he never sought preferment or honor, but was content with engaging in good works, without any expecta- tion of popular recognition of their value.
In his own home in Green Bay, he has several times been called upon to preside over its councils, having been president of the village board in 1853.
Mr. Baird was admitted to the prac- tice of law by Judge Doty in June, 1823. In July, 1824, he came to Green Bay, and attended the first term of and mayor of the city in 1861 and 1802.
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Hc was one of the three commission- ers, - A. J. Irwin and Ebenczer Childs being the others, - to open the road on the east side of Fox River, from Green Bay to Kaukauna. He was sec- retary for Gov. Dodge at the great treaty at Cedar Rapids in 1836, wherein the Menomonees ceded some four mil- lion acres of this country to the gov- ernment.
He continued in the active practice of his profession until about the year 1860, when, having secured a compe- tence, and finding other business on his hands, he practically retired, al- though retaining his connection with the bar, serving, in former and later years, as its honored president. At the time of his death, which occurred at his residence in the seventy-fifth year of his age, on April 28, 1875, he was president of the Old Settlers' Club, a position which he had held since its organization, in February, 1871. In addition to the supervision of the Astor property in Green Bay, his services as agent, dating from about 1862, and including charge of the sales of that property within late years, he was Intrusted with the management of large estates for non-residents and minors. He was scrupulous and exact in business-relations, and maintained an unhnpeachable reputation for probi- ty and faithful stewardship.
Mr. Baird was among the most loyal in the late civil war. His patriotic devotion could brook nothing short of absolute and unequivocal devotion to the cause of the North; and, while far past the age for active service, he did much, by official and private action, and with his pen and voice, to uphold and advance the cause he decmed a righteous one. In politics, he became, after the dissolution of the Whig party, a Republican, of which organization he remained an ardent and active sup- porter. It was characteristic of him, that, to whatever enlisted his sympathy and attention, he gave his best endeav- ors and heartiest aid. For many years he had been connected with the Ma- sonic fraternity, and, for a period cm- bracing a number of years, one of the most instrumental in contributing to its prosperity.
Perhaps it will not be irrelevant to the present purpose to go back to the year 1824, when Fort Howard was gar- risoned by four companies of the third United States infantry. The officers and their families were educated and accomplished people, with few sources | in 1824, the first frame-building, e. ected
of recreation, and no social attachments outside of their immediate cirele. Naturally, they readily formed ac- quaintance with the few families who sought a home at this then isolated place. The result was a mutual cul- tivation of social qualities; and to this military post may be indirectly traced much of the politeness and affability of manner visible in the remnant of early settlers in our midst. Among these officers and their families, Mr. Baird and his young wife became great favorites, and so remained till the post was broken up, about 1852. The gen- crous hospitality, rare politeness, and refinement of their home, has been as familiar as a household word. Senator Howe sald at their golden wedding an- niversary, not quite a year ago, that, in coming to Green Bay, they " brought the best style of Christian civilization with them, and have cherished it ever since."
There are two daughters who sur- vive Mr. Baird, - Mrs. Eliza Baker of Green Bay, and Mrs. Loulsa Favill of Madison. It is in his immediate family, where his real value was best known, that he was appreciated the most. In his relations as husband, father, and friend, he proved faithful and attached. He has given abundance to the needy, spoken words of sympathy to the afflicted, and lent a helping hand to more than one young man struggling to get a foothold in professional or business life. The bar and the Ma- sonic order attested their appreciation of his merits by giving him positions of trust. The State Historical Society has made him vice-president of it since its organization ; and his portrait hangs to-day among the others of public men on the walls of the society's rooms. The memory of this just and good man will be preserved fresh and fra- grant.
HON. SOLOMON JUNEAU. - Solomon Juneau, the first settler at Milwaukee, died at the Menomonee Pay Ground, on Wolf River in Shawano County, Wis- consin, Nov. 14, 1856, aged about sixty- six years. Mr. Juneau came to Mil- waukee in June, 1818, as an employe of the American Fur Company, accompa- nled by his father-in-law, Mr. Jacques Vieau; having selected this location, then an Indian village, for a conve- nient trading-post, with no white set- tler in Wisconsin nearer than Green Bay and Prairie du Chien. He built here, in 1822, the first log-house, and,
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in Milwaukee. Here he continued to | Lands. Among the important meas reside, rearing up a family of fourteen children, thirteen of whom were born in the city. He was at one time the proprietor of a large portion of its terri- tory. When, in 1835, a post-office was established, Mr. Juneau was, by com- mon consent, appointed postmaster, which office he filled for nine years. In 1846, when Milwaukee became a city, he was chosen the first mayor. Shortly after, he removed to Dodge County.
Mr. Juneau was a man of excellent sense, of generous impulses, of a kindly and affectionate disposition, and of a lofty and honorable nature. He suc- cessfully maintained his reputation as an honest, upright, straightforward man. The Indians regarded him as a true friend and trusty counsellor. He died without enemies, and left thou- sands of friends to mourn the loss of a good citizen and a true man. His re- mains were carried to Milwaukee for interment.
HON. JAMES SUTHERLAND. - James Sutherland was born on a farm in Jefferson County, in the State of Ohio, March 20, 1820. When thirteen years of age, he removed with his parents to Richland County, in the saine State. His father here settled on a farm near the village of Ashland. At this village he received an academical education, obtaining the means therefor by teach- ing a common school, but subsequently became a teacher in the Ashland Acad- emy. In consequence mainly of too close application to study, his health became so much impaired as to com- pel him to give up his cherished object of taking a regular collegiate course.
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