USA > Wisconsin > Milwaukee County > Memoirs of Milwaukee County : from the earliest historical times down to the present, including a genealogical and biographical record of representative families in Milwaukee County, Volume I > Part 13
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While the adoption of the second constitution was pending, and while the successful opponents of the rejected instrument were still aglow with the enthusiasm of victory, a Congressional cam- paign was fought. The candidate of the Democrats was Moses M. Strong, of Mineral Point, while the Whigs nominated John H. Tweedy, of Milwaukee, and the Abolitionists presented Charles Durkec, of Kenosha. Mr. Strong had been a vigorous defender of the rejected constitution and Mr. Tweedy had been conspicuous among its opponents. Tweedy beat Strong in Milwaukee county by two votes, and was elected, receiving 10,670 votes in the terri- tory at large, against 9,648 for Strong, and 973 for Durkee. Mr. Tweedy served a short term as the last representative of the terri- tory of Wisconsin in Congress, and he was the only citizen of Mil- waukee county to go as a delegate to the national legislature dur- ing territorial days.
Wisconsin became a state at a time when public sentiment was rapidly crystallizing and the lines were being sharply drawn upon the great issue of slavery extension, and at a time coincident with the opening of the remarkable Presidential contest between Cass and Taylor, in which the Free Soil party, led by Van Buren, made it possible to defeat Cass. On May 8, 1848, the election of state officers for the new commonwealth took place. John H. Tweedy was the Whig candidate for governor, but was defeated by the Democratic nomince, Nelson Dewey. Of the two senators elected at the first meeting of the state legislature, one was a Milwaukeean,
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Isaac P. Walker. Dr. Huebschmann, of Milwaukee, was an elector- at-large that year on the Democratic Presidential ticket, which was successful in the state, though defeated in the nation. The Demo- crats elected their candidate for Congress in the Milwaukee dis- trict, William Pitt Lynde.
About 1834, all that were opposed to the Democratic party throughout the United States had formed a coalition under the party name of Whig, and under this banner fought their battles until 1854, when a fusion between the Free-Soilers and Know Noth- ings was made and both elements combined under the name of Re- publican. But the Democratic party remained constantly in the ascendency in Milwaukee county until long after the Civil war period, and what local successes the Republican party met with were due to the generosity of its individual opponents and the un- popularity of opposing candidates. In 1880, at the November elec- tion, James A. Garfield carried the county and the Republican local ticket was successful, and this was probably the first instance in the political history of Milwaukee county when the regular nomi- nees of the Democratic party had been entirely overthrown in a strictly party contest. In 1852 Pierce carried the county by a large majority over Scott, the Whig candidate, and after that campaign the very name and machinery of the Whig party passed out of existence, and practically all elements became united in opposition to the Democracy, and in the organization of the Republican party. In 1856 Milwaukee county increased its vote for the Republican ticket, John C. Fremont being the Presidential candidate, but the majority given to the opposition ticket was greatly increased, show- ing that the Democratic party had received the major part of the gain by an increase in population during the preceding four years. The contest of 1860 terminated in the "irrepressible conflict" be- tween the free and slave states, which Mr. Lincoln and Mr. Seward had declared several years previously was destined to come; and so far as law could make it so, placed the former master and slave upon terms of civil equality. Milwaukee county very largely in- creased her Republican vote at this election, but Stephen A. Doug- las carried the county by a very substantial majority.
After the Civil war period, as well as before, and until the year 1880, as before stated, the county was reliably Democratic, and the only question was in regard to the size of the majority. And since 1880 the same question has been equally pertinent in regard to the Republican ascendancy. Speaking relatively, the low-water mark for the Republicans in the past forty years was reached in 1872,
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when Mr. Greeley received a vote of 8,512, and Mr. Grant received 5.341, a Democratic majority of 3,171. At the election of 1896 the highest vote ever recorded for Presidential candidates in Milwaukee county was given. In that campaign Mr. Bryan's wonderful per- sonality, magnetic force and matchless oratory, contending for a platform of principles that was unequivocal in meaning and clear in expression, succeeded in arousing an interest in political affairs to an extent seldom if ever witnessed before. In Milwaukee county every public hall and district schoolhouse became a political forum, and interest in everything else waned while the "battle of the standards" was in progress. The financial panic of 1893 and the industrial depression from which the country was then suffering was a serious handicap for the Democrats in that campaign. Rec- ognizing the effectiveness of such a contention, the Republicans charged "the party in power" with being responsible for the "hard times," and such a charge, easily made, became a conviction that was hard to remove from the mind of the average voter. The large vote given to Mr. Bryan, under the circumstances, was considered a great achievement by his followers. In 1904, however, high-water mark was reached so far as Republican majorities in presidential years are concerned, and Roosevelt received 32,587 votes, while Parker received 18,560. Those figures represent the largest vote and largest majority ever given to a political party in Milwaukee county. But, though there can be no doubt that the Republicans have a fair majority in the county, the Presidential election of 1904 is not a fair criterion by which to judge its size. It is but stating a truth in history to say that Mr. Parker was not a popular candidate with the "rank and file" of the Democratic party, and especially was this true after he expressed his views on the coinage question. With such an independent character as Mr. Roosevelt in the field, many Democrats considered it an opportune time to consign Mr. Parker, "irrevocably," to the shades of political ob- livion. In 1906 the vote for governor was as follows: Davidson (Rep.). 24,521 : Aylward (Dem.): 12,856; a Republican majority of 11,665 votes. In 1908, for President, Taft received 28,625 votes, and Bryan. 26,000 votes.
In local affairs, however, an independent spirit has been mani- fested more or less throughout the political history of the county. The voters have been generally given to "scratching" their tickets. and it has been difficult to estimate results, particularly as regards candidates for county officers ; and members of the minority party have frequently been the incumbents of official positions.
In the chapters immediately preceding this one mention has
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been made of the early elections and the men who filled official posi- tions in the county during territorial days. While securing this data an attempt was also made to perfect an official list of Mil- waukee county from its organization to 1908, and it has also been deemed worth while to devote a few paragraphs of a biographical nature to some of the men who have been signally conspicuous in the political life of the county. In many instances the favored ones have passed away, leaving neither "kith nor kin" to preserve their record; but notwithstanding difficulties, considerable information is here presented concerning residents of Milwaukee county who have borne official honors. For court judges and officers, see the department devoted to the 'Bench and Bar," and the biographical volume of this work also contains additional information.
POSTMASTER-GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES .- From 1901 to 1904, Henry C. Payne.
The above named gentleman acquired national prominence by reason of his influence and activity in politics and through his iden- tification with vast corporate interests, and he was a typical rep- resentative of the able and accomplished class of business men which shouldered the burdens laid down by the pioneers of Mil- waukee county. A native of Franklin county, Mass., Mr. Payne was born in Ashfield, Nov. 23, 1843. Brought up in a village, in a modest country homestead, his chief inheritance was a vigorous intellect and a capacity for hard work. In his early boyhood he attended the common schools and was graduated at Shelbourne Falls academy in 1859. At the beginning of the Civil war he en- listed in Company H, of the Tenth regiment Massachusetts infan- try, but his youthfulness and somewhat diminutive stature com- bined to thwart his ambition to become a soldier, and he turned his attention to commercial pursuits. In 1863 he arrived in Mil- waukee with fifty dollars in his pocket, and found employment soon after his arrival as clerk in a dry-goods store. To this business he gave his attention for the next four years, becoming recognized by his employers as a most capable and efficient salesman, and by that portion of the general public with which he came in contact as a young man of more than ordinary ability and enterprise. An early member, if not one of the organizers of the Young Men's Library Association of Milwaukee, he soon became its president, and con tributed largely toward making it one of the leading social and in tellectual organizations of the state. Having a natural liking for politics, and being an earnest and enthusiastic Republican, he took an active interest in the Presidential campaign of 1872, devoting
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his energies to the organization of the Young Men's Republican Club of Milwaukee, which at a later date became the Republican Central Committee of Milwaukee county. He served at different times both as secretary and chairman of the city and county organ- izations, his zeal and ability commanding the enthusiastic admira- tion and endorsement of his political associates, not only of Mil- waukee county, but of the entire state. The result was that he was elected to the chairmanship of the Republican State Central Com- mittee and entered the broader field of state politics. Designated by the Republicans of Wisconsin to act as their representative on the national committee, he was called into that inner circle of cam- paign managers known as the National Executive Committee, and had much to do with formulating the policies and directing the course of the party. In 1880 he sat as a delegate in the National Republican Convention at Chicago and was one of the men through whose efforts the nomination of Gen. James A. Garfield was brought about. In 1888 he was a delegate-at-large to the conven- tion which nominated Benjamin Harrison and also headed the Wis- consin delegates to the national convention of 1892 at Minneapolis. In 1876 he was appointed postmaster at Milwaukee by President Grant and was reappointed to successive terms by Presidents Hayes and Arthur, serving in all ten years in this important official capacity. Retiring from this office in 1886, Mr. Payne held no other public political positions, other than those connected with the cam- paign work and conventions of the party, until 1901, when he was appointed Postmaster-General of the United States.
In the conduct of the various business enterprises with which Mr. Payne was identified he showed executive ability of such high order as to bring him constantly increasing responsibilities. The Wisconsin Telephone Company recognized his ability as an organ- izer and director of affairs by making his president of that corpora- tion in 1885, and he was also for some years a director of the First National Bank of Milwaukee, and president of the Milwaukee & Northern Railroad Company. Becoming interested in the street railway system of Milwaukee, he was elected vice-president of the Milwaukee City and Cream City Street Railroad companies, and when these lines were transferred to the syndicate which obtained control of all the street railway property of the city he was made vice-president and general manager of the new corporation. At the meeting of the American Street Railway Association held in Mil- waukee in 1893, he was elected president of that organization, and his ability as a railway manager was recognized in various ways.
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In August of 1893, when the affairs of the Northern Pacific Rail- road Company became involved to such an extent as to necessitate placing it in the hands of receivers, Mr. Payne was appointed by the United States courts one of the conservators of this vast inter- est, aomunting in the aggregate to hundreds of millions of dollars. In addition to his interests in the corporations already alluded to, he was associated with other gentlemen in founding the town of Tomahawk, Wis., which in three years developed into a city of 7,000 inhabitants. He was also interested to a considerable extent in building up the towns of Minocqua and Babcock, both flourish- ing towns in the timber belt of the state. Mr. Payne died in the city of Washington on Oct. 4, 1904.
UNITED STATES SENATORS .- From 1848 to 1855, Isaac P. Walker ; 1869 to 1875, and 1879 to 1881, Matthew H. Carpenter; 1893 to 1899. John L. Mitchell ; 1899 to 1905, Joseph V. Quarles.
Isaac P. Walker, a native of Virginia, was born in 1813. Com- ing West when quite young, he first settled in Illinois, but in 1841 removed to Wisconsin. Mr. Walker held several prominent politi- cal positions, and in 1848 was sent to the United States Senate with Henry Dodge. After the expiration of the short term which had fallen to him by lot, he was re-elected for the full term. He retired in 1855, and settled on his farm near Eagle, Waukesha county, where he remained a few years, and then returned to Milwaukee to resume the practice of law. He died on March 29, 1872.
Matthew H. Carpenter was born on Dec. 22, 1824. at More- town, Washington county, Vermont, the son of an eminent lawyer and citizen of prominence ; and the parents, as if the spirit of proph- ecy were upon them-says a biographer who has written of him in "The Bench and Bar of Wisconsin"-named the child after the great English jurist, Matthew Hale Carpenter. When he reached the age of eleven years his mother died, and Paul Dillingham, aft- erward governor of the state, having charged himself with the boy's education, Matthew became a member of his family at Waterbury. In 1843 John Mattocks, being then the representative in Congress from that district, procured for young Carpenter an appointment as cadet in the military academy at West Point, and he there was a classmate of Gen. Fitz John Porter and others who attained prom- inence in the Civil war. The weakness of his eyes made it neces- sary for him to resign his cadetship at the expiration of his second year, and returning to Waterbury in the summer of 1845. he en- tered upon the study of the law in the office of Mr. Dillingham. Two years later he was admitted to the bar at Montpelier, and soon
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afterward removed to Boston and finished his studies in the office of Rufus Choate. In the spring of 1848 he was admitted to practice by the supreme court of Massachusetts, and the same year removed to Beloit, Wis., where he opened an office. In 1852 he was a candi- date for district attorney of Rock county. The election was con- tested, and the case was taken to the supreme court, where it was decided in his favor. He removed to Milwaukee in 1856, and was for a number of years engaged in the intricate and embarrassing litigation arising out of the construction and consolidation of cer- tain railroads in Wisconsin, and maintained the rights of his clients with great ability and persistency. When a case arose that in- volved the determination by the Supreme Court of the United States of the constitutionality of the Reconstruction Acts, Secre- tary Stanton retained him as one of the counsel for the government. In 1876, when W. W. Belknap, secretary of war, was impeached before the Senate of the United States for high crimes and misde- meanors in office, the respondent retained for his defense Jeremiah S. Black, ex-Attorney-General ; Montgomery M. Blair, ex-Postmas- ter-General, and Mr. Carpenter. The latter was also retained by Mr. Tilden to submit an argument in favor of counting the votes of the Democratic candidates for electors in Louisiana, in the trial of the title to the presidency in 1876, and he performed the duty with the ability that he never failed to bring to bear upon questions of this important and delicate character. He had been a Democrat from the time that he attained his majority, and in the election of 1860 supported Douglas for the presidency. Upon the attempt of the South to dissolve the Union, without formally dissociating him- self from that party, he gave his support to the war policy of the administration, and delivered a series of addresses in that behalf that were characterized by great eloquence and patriotic fervor. Subsequently he publicly affiliated with the Republican party, and in 1869 was chosen to succeed James R. Doolittle in the Senate of the United States. At the expiration of his term he was nominated by the caucus of Republican members of the legislature for re-elec- tion, but was defeated by a combination of certain Republican members with the Democrats. In 1879 he was chosen to succeed Timothy O. Howe in the United States Senate, and took his seat again in that body, after an interval of four years. In June, 1880, Senator Carpenter attended the Republican national convention at Chicago, though not as a delegate, and addressed an open-air mass meeting that was called to promote the nomination of Gen. Grant. This was his last public appearance, and after a lingering illness
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his death occurred at Washington, D. C., on Feb. 24, 1881. Among the distinguished members of the committee of the Senate who es- corted the body to Wisconsin was Roscoe Conkling, and upon that occasion the New York senator made use of the following beautiful sentiment, addressing Gov. William E. Smith: "Deputed by the Senate of the United States, we bring back the ashes of Wiscon- sin's illustrious son, and tenderly return them to the great com- monwealth he served so faithfully and loved so well. To Wis- consin this pale and sacred clay belongs, but the memory, the serv- ices, and the fame of Matthew Hale Carpenter are the nation's treasures, and long will the sister states mourn the bereavement which bows, all hearts to-day."
John Landrum Mitchell was born in the city of Milwaukee, Oct. 19, 1842, the son of Hon. Alexander and Martha (Reed) Mitch- ell. He received careful educational training in early youth and was then sent abroad, spending six years in England, Germany and Switzerland. Returning at the end of that time to his home, he was preparing to enter upon a full collegiate course when the Civil war began and materially changed his plans. He assisted in re- cruiting a company, of which he became second lieutenant when it was mustered into the service. He was soon promoted to a first lieutenancy and was then assigned to duty on the staff of General Sill, later being made chief of the ordnance department. After serv- ing some time in this capacity the failure of his eyesight necessi- tated his retirement from the service and he resigned his commis- sion. When he returned to Wisconsin health considerations and a natural fondness for the country caused him to become a farmer by occupation, and, purchasing a tract of 400 acres of land in the town of Greenfield, he turned his time and attention to its cultivation and improvement and speedily developed a tract of wild land into one of the finest farms in the state. He became prominently con- nected with different stock-breeders' associations, served as presi- dent of the Northwestern Horse Trotting and Breeders' Association, president of the Wisconsin Horse Breeders' Association and mem- ber of the Board of Appeals of the National Trotting Association. He was also appointed chairman of the Live Stock Committee of the World's Columbian Exposition at Chicago, but on account of a pressure of other business was compelled to decline the appoint- ment. Senator Mitchell's public life began when he was abont thirty years of age, when he was elected a member of the state sen- ate. He was again elected four years later without opposition, and was tendered a third nomination, which he declined. Fully endors-
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ing the principles of the Democratic party, he was at all times ac- tive in promoting its interests in state and national campaigns, and soon became one of the leaders of the party in Wisconsin. Nomi- nated for Congress in what had previously been a Republican dis- trict, he carried it by a large majority, thus evidencing his personal popularity and his ability as a campaigner. In 1888 he was a mem- ber of the National Democratic Campaign Committee, and became a conspicuous figure in national politics. As a member of Congress he strengthened his hold upon the public in Wisconsin, and when the Democratic party obtained full and complete control of the state, everyone at all conversant with political affairs recognized the fact that this result was largely due to his efforts, and many of the leaders in the party favored his promotion to the Senate. A somewhat spirited contest was waged when the legislature met at Madison, but it was settled in favor of Mr. Mitchell and he became a member of the upper branch of the national legislature in March of 1893, serving until 1899. Mr. Mitchell died on June 29, 1904.
GOVERNORS .- From March 21, 1856, to March 25, 1856, Arthur McArthur ; April 19. 1862, to 1864, Edward Salomon ; 1876 to 1878, Harrison Ludington : 1878 to 1882, William E. Smith ; 1891 to 1895, George W. Peck.
Arthur McArthur was born in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1815. His father died when the son was an infant, and he was brought to America when a mere child. He was educated in Amherst, Mass., and at the Wesleyan university, at Middletown, Conn. He studied law in New York, being admitted to the bar in 1840, and he prac- ticed in that city and in Springfield, Mass., for some years with marked success. While residing in Springfield he occupied the po- sition of judge advocate of the Western military district of Massa- chusetts. In 1819 he removed to Milwaukee, where he at once be- came prominent, and two years afterward he was elected city attor- ney. In 1855 he was elected lieutenant-governor of Wisconsin on the ticket with Governor Barstow. The title of Barstow was dis- puted on the ground that he was not elected, but McArthur ran ahead of his ticket and his election was not questioned. Bashford, Barstow's contestant, had a quo warranto issued against Barstow, and the latter resigned when the matter was decided. At this stage a very important point arose. The constitution of Wisconsin pro- vides that in case of the death, resignation or inability to serve on the part of the governor, then the duties of the office shall devolve on the lieutenant-governor. McArthur took the ground that he was entitled to the vacant office, holding that the question was a
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political one-not a judicial one ; that the board of electors had de- clared Barstow elected governor and that was a finality, the courts having no jurisdiction. Thus Barstow having been declared by competent authority elected, his resignation left the office vacant to be filled according to the provisions of the constitution, McArthur being undeniably the lieutenant-governor. During the hiatus Mc- Arthur held his position as governor and administered the duties of the office until after the courts had decided in favor of Bashford, when he gave up the office and resumed his duties as lieutenant- governor and president of the senate. Before his term was out, however, he was elected judge of the Second judicial circuit-the most important in the state at that time-and in that position he became one of the most popular men in Wisconsin. His course was so upright, his decisions so just and courageous, and his bearing so blameless, that he was re-elected at the expiration of his first term of six years with great unanimity. In 1870 he was appointed by President Grant an associate justice of the supreme court of the District of Columbia, which position he filled until 1888, when he resigned under the act of Congress which permits federal judges to retire upon full pay after having reached the age of seventy years, and after having served at least ten years. While on the bench Judge McArthur undertook the task of reporting the decisions of the court in banc, beginning in 1873, and he published four vol- umes of these decisions. In 1886 he published a book entitled "Education and Its Relation to Manual Industry," which received a decidedly widespread and favorable recognition among eminent educators and others, and was noticed extensively by the press in terms of high appreciation. He was also the author of a book of great learning and research called "The Biography of the English Language, with Notices of Authors, Ancient and Modern." He also published a volume of "Essays and Papers on Miscellaneous Topics ;" also a volume on the subject of "Law as Applied in a Business Education." In history he was particularly intelligent, and frequently lectured on historical subjects. He was for a time the chancellor of the National university, an institution of great promise in Washington City, and he always took a leading part in movements for social advancement. Judge McArthur died in 1896.
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