15th Wisconsin Legislature

The Fifteenth Wisconsin Legislature convened from January 8, 1862, to April 7, 1862, in regular session, and re-convened from June 3, 1862, through June 17, 1862. The legislature further convened in a special session from September 10, 1862, through September 26, 1862.

15th Wisconsin Legislature
← 14th 16th →
Overview
Legislative body	Wisconsin Legislature
Meeting place	Wisconsin State Capitol
Term	January 1, 1862 – January 1, 1863
Election	November 5, 1861
Senate
Members	33
Senate President	Edward Salomon (R) ^Until April 19, 1862
President pro tempore	Frederick O. Thorpe (D) ^Until September 10, 1862 Gerry Whiting Hazelton (R) ^From September 10, 1862
Party control	Republican
Assembly
Members	100
Assembly Speaker	James W. Beardsley (UD)
Party control	Republican
Sessions
1st (A) January 8, 1862 – April 7, 1862 1st (B) June 3, 1862 – June 17, 1862 Special September 10, 1862 – September 26, 1862

This was the first legislative session after the expansion and redistricting of the Senate and Assembly according to an act of the previous session. The Senate grew from 30 to 33 seats; the Assembly grew from 97 to 99 seats.

Senators representing even-numbered districts were newly elected for this session and were serving the first year of a two-year term. Assembly members were elected to a one-year term. Assembly members and odd-numbered senators were elected in the general election of November 8, 1861. Senators representing odd-numbered districts were serving the second year of their two-year term, having been elected in the general election held on November 6, 1860, or were elected in the 1861 election for a newly created district and were serving a one-year term.[1]

Major events

• January 6, 1862: Inauguration of Louis P. Harvey as the 7th Governor of Wisconsin.
• January 10, 1862: Assemblymember Alexander Campbell of Iowa County resigned his seat after it was demonstrated that he had actually lost his election to Robert Wilson.
• January 16, 1862: Joseph M. Morrow sworn in to replace the deceased Simon D. Powers as assemblymember for the Monroe County district
• April 6–7, 1862: Battle of Shiloh took place in Hardin County, Tennessee. Three regiments of Wisconsin Volunteers participated in the battle. Former Wisconsin state senator James S. Alban was killed, and former state senator Benjamin Allen was wounded.
• April 19, 1862: Wisconsin Governor Louis P. Harvey died in an accident near Savannah, Tennessee. Lieutenant Governor Edward Salomon became the 8th Governor of Wisconsin.
• May 1, 1862: Union forces occupied New Orleans after Confederate forces evacuated the city.
• May 8, 1862: State senator Charles Quentin died.
• September 1, 1862: Dr. Francis Huebschmann was sworn in to replace the deceased Charles Quentin as senator for the 5th district.
• September 17, 1862: Battle of Antietam took place near Sharpsburg, Maryland. Five regiments of Wisconsin Volunteers participated in the battle.
• September 22, 1862: U.S. President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation.
• October 8, 1862: Battle of Perryville took place near Perryville, Kentucky.

Major legislation

First session

• March 22, 1862: Act to change the name of Bad Ax County to that of Vernon, 1862 Act 137

Special session

• September 25, 1862: Act to empower towns, cities, incorporated villages and counties to raise money for the payment of bounties to volunteers, 1862 Special Session Act 13

Party summary

Senate

	Party (Shading indicates majority caucus)			Total
	Democratic	Union	Republican		Vacant
End of previous Legislature	8	0	20	30	0
1st Session	11	2	20	33	0
after May 8	10			32	1
after September 1, 1862	11			33	0
Final voting share	33%	6%	61%
Beginning of the next Legislature	14	1	18	33	0

Assembly

	Party (Shading indicates majority caucus)			Total
	Democratic	Union	Republican		Vacant
End of previous Legislature	26	0	71	97	0
Start of 1st Session	43	11	44	98	1
after January 10	45		43
after January 16	46			99	0
after August 11		10	42	98	1
Final voting share	47%	10%	43%
Beginning of the next Legislature	45	2	53	99	0

Sessions

• 1st Regular session: January 8, 1862 – April 7, 1862; June 3, 1862 – June 17, 1862
• Special session: September 10, 1862 – September 26, 1862

Leaders

Senate

• President of the Senate: Edward Salomon, Lieutenant Governor (until April 19, 1862)
• President pro tempore: Frederick O. Thorpe (until September 10, 1862)
  • Gerry Whiting Hazelton (from September 10, 1862)

Assembly

• Speaker of the Assembly: James W. Beardsley

Members

Senate

Members of the Wisconsin Senate for the Fifteenth Wisconsin Legislature:[2]

District	Counties	Senator	Party
1	Sheboygan	Luther H. Cary	Republican
2	Brown, Kewaunee	Edward Hicks	Democrat
3	Ozaukee	Hugh Cunning	Democrat
4	Washington	Frederick O. Thorpe	Democrat
5	Northern Milwaukee	Charles Quentin Until May 8	Democrat
		From September 1 Francis Huebschmann	Democrat
6	Southern Milwaukee	Edward Keogh	Democrat
7	Racine	William L. Utley	Republican
8	Kenosha	Herman S. Thorp	Republican
9	Adams, Juneau, Waushara	John T. Kingston	Republican
10	Waukesha	George C. Pratt	Democrat
11	Eastern Dane	Samuel C. Bean	Republican
12	Walworth	Wyman Spooner	Republican
13	Lafayette	Samuel Cole	Democrat
14	Sauk	Smith S. Wilkinson	Republican
15	Iowa	Lemuel W. Joiner	Republican
16	Grant	Milas K. Young	Republican
17	Rock	Ezra A. Foot	Republican
18	Western Dodge	Joe Rich	Democrat
19	Manitowoc, Calumet	George A. Jenkins	Republican
20	Fond du Lac	George W. Mitchell	Democrat
21	Winnebago	Samuel M. Hay	Republican
22	Door, Oconto, Outagamie, Shawanaw	Thomas R. Hudd	Democrat
23	Jefferson	Edwin Montgomery	Republican
24	Green	Edmund A. West	Republican
25	Columbia	Gerry Whiting Hazelton	Republican
26	Western Dane	Benjamin F. Hopkins	Republican
27	Marathon, Portage, Waupaca, Wood	Edward L. Browne	Republican
28	Ashland, Burnett, Dallas, Douglas, La Pointe, Pierce, Polk, St. Croix	Herman L. Humphrey	Union
29	Marquette, Green Lake	Charles S. Kelsey	Republican
30	Bad Ax, Crawford, Richland	Norman S. Cate	Union
31	La Crosse, Monroe	Edwin Flint	Republican
32	Buffalo, Chippewa, Clark, Dunn, Eau Claire, Jackson, Pepin, Trempealeau	M. D. Bartlett	Republican
33	Eastern Dodge	Satterlee Clark, Jr.	Democrat

Assembly

Members of the Assembly for the Fifteenth Wisconsin Legislature:[3]

Counties		Representative	Party
Adams		George H. Hall	Republican
Ashland, Burnett, Dallas, Douglas, La Pointe, Polk		George R. Stuntz	Republican
Bad Ax	1	Ole C. Johnson	Republican
	2	Jeremiah McLain Rusk	Republican
Brown		Frederick S. Ellis	Democrat
Buffalo, Pepin, Trempealeau		Orlando Brown	Republican
Calumet		William F. Watrous	Democrat
Chippewa, Dunn, Eau Claire		Horace W. Barnes	Union Republican
Clark, Jackson		Carl C. Pope	Republican
Columbia	1	Jonathan Bowman	Republican
	2	William Dutcher	Union Democrat
	3	Robert B. Sanderson	Republican
Crawford		Ormsby B. Thomas	Union Democrat
Dane	1	Benjamin F. Adams	Republican
	2	Willard H. Chandler	Republican
	3	Alden Sprague Sanborn	Democrat
	4	Nicholas M. Matts	Republican
	5	Edmund Jüssen	Republican
Dodge	1	Quartus H. Barron	Republican
	2	John F. McCollum	Democrat
	3	Harvey C. Griffin	Democrat
	4	Jacob G. Mayer	Democrat
	5	David D. Hoppcock	Democrat
Door, Oconto, Shawano		Ezra B. Stevens	Republican
Fond du Lac	1	Charles F. Hammond	Republican
	2	William W. Hatcher	Democrat
	3	Campbell McLean	Republican
	4	John Boyd	Democrat
	5	Henry C. Hamilton	Democrat
Grant	1	William Brandon	Republican
	2	Allen Taylor	Republican
	3	Joseph Trotter Mills	Republican
	4	William W. Field	Republican
	5	Samuel Newick	Republican
Green	1	Calvin D. W. Leonard	Republican
	2	Harvey T. Moore	Union Democrat
Green Lake		Archibald Nichols	Republican
Iowa	1	Alexander Campbell Until January 10	Republican
		From January 10 Robert Wilson	Democrat
	2	John H. Vivian	Republican
Jefferson	1	Peter Rogan	Democrat
	2	Walter S. Greene	Union Democrat
	3	William W. Reed	Republican
	4	John B. Crosby	Republican
Juneau		D. R. W. Williams	Republican
Kenosha		Reuben L. Bassett	Union Democrat
Kewaunee		George W. Elliott	Democrat
La Crosse		Thomas Benton Stoddard	Union Republican
Lafayette	1	Charles B. Jennings	Democrat
	2	James Wadsworth	Democrat
Manitowoc	1	Samuel Rounseville	Ind. Republican
	2	James Cahill	Democrat
	3	Elijah K. Rand	Democrat
Marathon, Wood		Charles Hoeflinger	Democrat
Marquette		Horatio S. Thomas	Democrat
Milwaukee	1	Henry L. Palmer	Democrat
	2	George Abert	Democrat
	3	George K. Gregory	Democrat
	4	Jacob V. V. Platto	Democrat
	5	John M. Stowell	Democrat
	6	Adam Finger	Democrat
	7	Henry Kirchhoff	Democrat
	8	Perley J. Shumway	Democrat
	9	L. Semmann	Democrat
Monroe		Vacant until January 16
		From January 16 Joseph M. Morrow	Ind. Democrat
Outagamie		Milo Coles	Democrat
Ozaukee		John A. Schletz	Democrat
Pierce, St. Croix		James W. Beardsley	Union Democrat
Portage		Alexander S. McDill	Republican
Racine	1	Calvin H. Upham	Republican
	2	Thomas Butler	Democrat
	3	James Catton	Democrat
Richland		Leroy D. Gage	Democrat
Rock	1	Nathan B. Howard	Republican
	2	Ephraim Palmer	Republican
	3	Samuel Miller	Republican
	4	John Bannister	Union Republican
	5	Allen C. Bates	Republican
	6	Orrin Guernsey	Republican
Sauk	1	J. Stephens Tripp	Democrat
	2	Argalus W. Starks	Union Democrat
Sheboygan	1	Godfrey Stamm	Democrat
	2	John E. Thomas	Democrat
	3	Samuel D. Hubbard Until August 11	Union Independent
		From August 11 Vacant
	4	Benjamin Dockstader	Republican
Walworth	1	Fayette P. Arnold	Republican
	2	Sylvester Hanson	Republican
	3	Hilton W. Boyce	Ind. Republican
	4	Hollis Latham	Democrat
Washington	1	Thomas Barry	Democrat
	2	Michael Maloy	Democrat
	3	Robert Salter	Democrat
Waukesha	1	George W. Brown	Democrat
	2	Samuel Thompson	Republican
	3	Peter D. Gifford	Democrat
	4	William A. Vanderpool	Democrat
Waupaca		Chester D. Combs	Republican
Waushara		William C. Webb	Ind. Republican
Winnebago	1	William E. Hanson	Republican
	2	Michael Hogan	Democrat
	3	David R. Bean	Republican

Employees

Senate

• Chief Clerk: John H. Warren[2]
  • Assistant Clerk: Erasmus D. Campbell
  • Engrossing Clerk: T. Wilson Caster
  • Enrolling Clerk: J. M. Randall
  • Transcribing Clerk: F. W. Stewart
• Sergeant-at-Arms: Bloom U. Caswell
  • Assistant Sergeant-at-Arms: James L. Wilder
• Postmaster: H. W. Browne
  • Assistant Postmaster: D. H. Pulcifer
• Doorkeeper: William C. Lesure
  • Assistant Doorkeeper: Julius C. Chandler
• Firemen:
  • C. H. Beyler
  • John Crowley
• Messengers:
  • Fred Sholes
  • Albert F. Dexter
  • William L. Abbott

Assembly

• Chief Clerk: John S. Dean[3]
  • Assistant Clerk: Ephraim W. Young
    • Bookkeeper: Sylvester Foord, Jr.
  • Engrossing Clerk: Herbert A. Lewis
  • Enrolling Clerk: Daniel Brisbois
  • Transcribing Clerk: Henry F. Pelton
• Sergeant-at-Arms: A. A. Huntingdon
  • Assistant Sergeant-at-Arms: Jas. G. Alden
  • 2nd Assistant Sergeant-at-Arms: J. W. Overbaugh
• Postmaster: A. A. Bennett
  • Assistant Postmaster: N. F. Pierce
  • 2nd Assistant Postmaster: William P. Bowman
• Doorkeeper: J. I. Ellis
  • Assistant Doorkeeper: Frederik Huchting
  • Assistant Doorkeeper: E. T. Kearney
• Firemen:
  • Reese Evans
  • E. C. Cavenaugh
  • Barnet Wilson
• Messengers:
  • E. C. Mason
  • Jno. N. Ford
  • E. D. Strong
  • Albert W. Carpenter
  • Fred. VanBergen
  • William Booth
  • Samuel Myers
  • Hugh Spencer
  • Rufus H. Roys
  • George D. Potter
  • Linus S. Webb

Changes from the 14th Legislature

New districts for the 15th Legislature were defined in 1861 Wisconsin Act 216, passed into law in the 14th Wisconsin Legislature.

Summary of changes

• 17 senate districts were left unchanged.
• The Dane County district boundaries were slightly redrawn (11, 26).
• Dodge County went from having one senator to two (18, 33).
• Jefferson County went from two senators to one (23).
• Rock County went from two senators to one (17).
• Sauk County became its own senate district (14), after previously having been in a shared district with Adams and Juneau counties.
• Iowa County became its own senate district (15), after previously having been in a shared district with Richland county.
• Waushara County was moved from the 27th district to the 9th.
• The multi-county northeastern district was divided into two (2, 22).
• The multi-county western region of the state went from two senators to four (28, 30, 31, 32).

Senate districts

after redistricting

before redistricting

Dist.	14th Legislature	15th Legislature
1	Sheboygan County	Sheboygan County
2	Brown, Outagamie, Door, Kewaunee, Oconto, Shawano counties	Brown, Kewaunee counties
3	Ozaukee County	Ozaukee County
4	Washington County	Washington County
5	Northern Milwaukee County	Northern Milwaukee County
6	Southern Milwaukee County	Southern Milwaukee County
7	Racine County	Racine County
8	Kenosha County	Kenosha County
9	Adams, Juneau, Sauk counties	Adams, Juneau, Waushara counties
10	Waukesha County	Waukesha County
11	Eastern Dane County	Eastern Dane County
12	Walworth County	Walworth County
13	Lafayette County	Lafayette County
14	Northern Jefferson County	Sauk County
15	Iowa, Richland counties	Iowa County
16	Grant County	Grant County
17	Western Rock County	Rock County
18	Eastern Rock County	Western Dodge County
19	Manitowoc, Calumet counties	Manitowoc, Calumet counties
20	Fond du Lac County	Fond du Lac County
21	Winnebago County	Winnebago County
22	Dodge County	Door, Oconto, Outagamie, Shawanaw counties
23	Southern Jefferson County	Jefferson County
24	Green County	Green County
25	Columbia County	Columbia County
26	Western Dane County	Western Dane County
27	Marathon, Portage, Waupaca, Waushara, Wood counties	Marathon, Portage, Waupaca, Wood counties
28	Burnett, Chippewa, Clark, Douglas, Dunn, La Pointe, Pierce, Polk, St. Croix counties	Ashland, Burnett, Dallas, Douglas, La Pointe, Pierce, Polk, St. Croix counties
29	Marquette County	Marquette County
30	Bad Ax, Buffalo, Crawford, Jackson, La Crosse, Monroe, Tremealeau counties	Bad Ax, Crawford, Richland counties
31	Did not exist in 14th Legislature	La Crosse, Monroe counties
32		Buffalo, Chippewa, Clark, Dunn, Eau Claire, Jackson, Pepin, Trempealeau counties
33		Eastern Dodge County

Summary of changes

• Adams and Juneau counties became separate assembly districts, after previously having been in a shared district.
• Bad Ax County became 2 assembly districts, after previously having been in a shared district with Crawford County.
• Dane County went from having 6 districts to 5.
• Dodge County went from having 6 districts to 5.
• Jefferson County went from having 5 districts to 4.
• Kenosha County went from having 2 districts to 1.
• Kewaunee County became its own assembly district, after previously having been in a shared district with Door, Oconto, and Shawano counties.
• La Crosse and Monroe counties became separate assembly districts, after previously having been in a shared district.
• Lafayette County went from having 3 districts to 2.
• Manitowoc County went from having 2 districts to 3.
• Marquette County went from having 2 districts to 1.
• Ozaukee County went from having 2 districts to 1.
• Portage County became its own assembly district, after previously having been in a shared district with Marathon and Wood counties.
• Racine County went from having 4 districts to 3.
• Rock County went from having 5 districts to 6.
• Sheboygan County went from having 3 districts to 4.

Assembly districts

County	Districts in 14th Legislature	Districts in 15th Legislature
Adams	Shared with Juneau	1 District
Ashland	Shared with Burnett, Douglas, La Pointe, Polk, St. Croix	Shared with Burnett, Dallas, Douglas, La Pointe, Polk
Bad Ax	Shared with Crawford	2 Districts
Brown	1 District	1 District
Buffalo	Shared with Jackson, Trempealeau	Shared with Pepin, Trempealeau
Burnett	Shared with Ashland, Douglas, La Pointe, Polk, St. Croix	Shared with Ashland, Dallas, Douglas, La Pointe, Polk
Calumet	1 District	1 District
Chippewa	Shared with Clark, Dunn, Pierce	Shared with Dunn, Eau Claire
Clark	Shared with Chippewa, Dunn, Pierce	Shared with Jackson
Columbia	3 Districts	3 Districts
Crawford	Shared with Bad Ax	Shared with Bad Ax
Dallas	Did not exist	Shared with Ashland, Burnett, Douglas, La Pointe, Polk
Dane	6 Districts	5 Districts
Dodge	6 Districts	5 Districts
Door	Shared with Kewaunee, Oconto, Shawano	Shared with Oconto, Shawano
Douglas	Shared with Ashland, Burnett, La Pointe, Polk, St. Croix	Shared with Ashland, Burnett, Dallas, La Pointe, Polk
Dunn	Shared with Chippewa, Clark, Pierce	Shared with Chippewa, Eau Claire
Eau Claire	Did not exist	Shared with Chippewa, Dunn
Fond du Lac	5 Districts	5 Districts
Grant	5 Districts	5 Districts
Green	2 Districts	2 Districts
Green Lake	1 District	1 District
Iowa	2 Districts	2 Districts
Jackson	Shared with Buffalo, Trempealeau	Shared with Clark
Jefferson	5 Districts	4 Districts
Juneau	Shared with Adams	1 District
Kenosha	2 Districts	1 District
Kewaunee	Shared with Door, Oconto, Shawano	1 District
La Crosse	Shared with Monroe	1 District
La Pointe	Shared with Ashland, Burnett, Douglas, Polk, St. Croix	Shared with Ashland, Burnett, Dallas, Douglas, Polk
Lafayette	3 Districts	2 Districts
Manitowoc	2 Districts	3 Districts
Marathon	Shared with Portage, Wood	Shared with Wood
Marquette	2 Districts	1 District
Milwaukee	9 Districts	9 Districts
Monroe	Shared with La Crosse	1 District
Oconto	Shared with Door, Kewaunee, Shawano	Shared with Door, Shawano
Outagamie	1 District	1 District
Ozaukee	2 Districts	1 District
Pepin	Shared with Chippewa, Clark, Dunn	Shared with Buffalo, Trempealeau
Pierce	Shared with Chippewa, Clark, Dunn	Shared with St. Croix
Polk	Shared with Ashland, Burnett, Douglas, La Pointe, St. Croix	Shared with Ashland, Burnett, Dallas, Douglas, La Pointe
Portage	Shared with Marathon, Wood	1 District
Racine	4 Districts	3 Districts
Richland	1 District	1 District
Rock	5 Districts	6 Districts
Sauk	2 Districts	2 Districts
Shawano	Shared with Door, Kewaunee, Oconto	Shared with Door, Oconto
Sheboygan	3 Districts	4 Districts
St. Croix	Shared with Ashland, Burnett, Douglas, La Pointe, Polk	Shared with Pierce
Trempealeau	Shared with Buffalo, Jackson	Shared with Buffalo, Pepin
Walworth	4 Districts	4 Districts
Washington	3 Districts	3 Districts
Waukesha	4 Districts	4 Districts
Waupaca	1 District	1 District
Waushara	1 District	1 District
Winnebago	3 Districts	3 Districts
Wood	Shared with Marathon, Portage	Shared with Marathon

References

1. "Annals of the legislature". The Blue Book of the state of Wisconsin 1882 (Report). State of Wisconsin. pp. 201–202. Retrieved October 12, 2019.
2. "Statistical list of the Senate of 1862". The legislative manual of the state of Wisconsin (Report). State of Wisconsin. 1862. pp. 72–73. Retrieved October 13, 2019.
3. "Statistical list of the Assembly of 1862". The legislative manual of the state of Wisconsin (Report). State of Wisconsin. 1862. pp. 83–86. Retrieved October 13, 2019.

Notes

External links