Nelson Dewey
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| Nelson Dewey | |
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| In office June 7, 1848 – January 5, 1852 |
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| Lieutenant | John Holmes |
| Preceded by | Henry Dodge (territorial governor) |
| Succeeded by | Leonard J. Farwell |
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| Born | December 19, 1813 Lebanon, Connecticut |
| Died | July 21, 1889 Cassville, Wisconsin |
| Nationality | American |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | Catherine Dunn |
| Relations | Ebenezer Dewey (father) Lucy Dewey (mother) |
| Occupation | lawyer |
Nelson Dewey (December 19, 1813 – July 21, 1889) was an American politician and the first Governor of Wisconsin, serving from 1848 to 1852.[1] He was a member of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin.
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[edit] Early life
Nelson Dewey was born in Lebanon, Connecticut on December 19, 1813, to Ebenezer and Lucy (née Webster) Dewey. His father's family had lived in New England since 1633, when their ancestor Thomas Due arrived from Kent County, England.[2] His father was a lawyer, and wished his son to follow the same profession; when his family moved to New York,[citation needed] he studied at the Hamilton Academy in Hamilton, New York. After graduating, he taught for a year at Butternut, New York. In 1833, he joined his father's law practice and began to study for the bar.[2] He went on to study law at practices in Cooperstown and Louisville, New York.[citation needed]
[edit] Coming to Wisconsin
In 1836, Dewey moved to the new Wisconsin Territory as a clerk for the Daniels, Dennison & Co. firm, land speculators from New York, settling in the village of Cassville. The firm was promoting and developing the village, in hopes that it would become the capital of the territory.[2] When Madison became the territorial capital, the firm went bankrupt, and Dewey began to look for other ways to make his living.[2]
During the next year, the territory created Grant County on land that encompassed the village,[citation needed] giving Dewey a chance to enter politics. On March 4, 1837 he was elected as the county's Register of Deeds. This caused him to move to Lancaster, the county seat of Grant County.[2]
In the summer of that year he was appointed justice of the peace for Grant County by territorial Governor Henry Dodge. In 1838, he completed his law degree and passed the Grant County bar examination. Later he would serve as district attorney for the county.[2]
[edit] Political career
[edit] Territorial politics
Dewey was elected to the territorial assembly as an assemblyman from Grant County, in November 1838. He was re-elected in 1840 and became the speaker of the assembly, serving until 1842.[2] In 1840, Dewey began a law and real estate partnership with J. Allen Barber in Lancaster; together they speculated in land in Grant County and invested in the area's lead mines.[2]
In 1842, the voters of Grant County elected Dewey to the territorial council; he served until 1846. In the 1846 session, during which an upcoming constitutional convention was under discussion, Dewey was the council's president. By 1846, the Whig Party had gained dominance in Grant County, and Dewey was not re-elected.[2]
The partnership that Dewey had formed with Barber was dissolved in 1848; their investments had been a success, having become one of the best-known firms in the Wisconsin lead region, and by 1848 Dewey was known as one of the leading men in the newly-created State of Wisconsin.[2]
[edit] Governor of Wisconsin
[edit] Election of 1848
After Wisconsin became a state in 1848, the Democratic Party held a convention to nominate their candidate for Governor of Wisconsin. The two major contenders were Hiram Barber, who had the support of Democrats from Wisconsin's lead regions, and Morgan L. Martin. Unable to decide between their candidates, the two factions agreed to nominate Nelson Dewey as a compromise candidate, citing his political record, lack of association with either faction, and the possibility that he might attract Whig voters from Grant County.[2]
In the general election, held on May 8, 1848,[3] Dewey defeated his opponents, Whig John Hubbard Tweedy and the independent Charles Durkee, securing 55.7% of the vote, becoming the first Governor of Wisconsin. John Edwin Holmes, also a Democrat, was elected lieutenant governor in the same election.[1]
[edit] First term
Dewey's first term as governor began on June 7, 1848.[1] Dewey spent most of his term as governor organizing the transition from territorial to state government and enforcing the new state constitution. He encouraged improvement of the state's infrastructure, particularly roads, railways, canals, and harbors. The State Board of Public Works was organized during his administration.[2]
He was known for opposing the expansion of slavery into new states and territories, and for advocating the popular election of United States senators.[2]
Also, during his time as governor Dewey married Catherine Dunn, the daughter of former territorial chief justice Charles Dunn.[2]
[edit] Election of 1849
In 1849, Dewey was elected to a second two-year term as governor, defeating his opponents with 52.5% of the vote;[1] he was elected president of the Wisconsin Historical Society the same year.[2] Samuel Beall, a Democrat, was elected lieutenant governor.[1]
[edit] Second term
Factionalism in the Democratic Party that Dewey proved unable to overcome, as well as an association with the lead-producing regions that were losing power in Wisconsin politics, caused Dewey to lose much popular support during his terms as governor, and he chose not to run for a third term.[2]
[edit] State Senate
In the following year he was elected to the Wisconsin State Senate. From 1854 until 1865, Dewey served on the board of regents for the University of Wisconsin,[2] as well as serving as a state senator from Wisconsin's Sixteenth District from 1854 to 1855.[4] This was the last political office he held.[2]
[edit] Electoral history
| Wisconsin Gubernatorial Election, 1848[1] | |||||
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| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Democratic | Nelson Dewey | 19,785 | 55.7 | — | |
| Whig | John Hubbard Tweedy | 14,621 | 41.1 | — | |
| Independent | Charles Durkee | 1,134 | 3.2 | — | |
| Turnout | 35,540 | 100 | — | ||
| Wisconsin Gubernatorial Election, 1849[1] | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Democratic | Nelson Dewey | 16,649 | 52.5 | -3.2 | |
| Whig | Alexander L. Collins | 11,317 | 35.7 | -5.4 | |
| Independent | Warren Chase | 3,761 | 11.9 | +8.7 | |
| Turnout | 31,727 | 100 | 0 | ||
[edit] Later life
During his time as a state senator, Dewey and his wife Catherine began to plan continuing the development of Cassville, a project that had ended in 1837 with the bankruptcy of the Daniels, Dennison & Co. firm. He purchased the development in Cassville and began repairing buildings and promoting the land to settlers and developers in an attempt to transform the small town into a major city.[2] Dewey also began building up his own estate. He acquired 2,000 acres (8 km²) of farmland outside Cassville and built a three story Gothic-revival mansion on the property in 1868.[2] Dewey named his estate "Stonefield", and today it forms a state historic site.
Dewey's fortunes began to decline during the 1870s. In 1871 Dewey's wife, unhappy with the rural life at Stonefield, left Dewey to live in Madison, Wisconsin. Later she would take herself and the couple's children to Europe.[citation needed] Cassville failed to attract many settlers, and Dewey lost his investment in a planned railroad line to the area during the Panic of 1873.[2]
The same year, a fire destroyed his recently built mansion. Dewey was forced to sell the Stonefield estate to pay his creditors, and he returned to his law practice.[2] He stayed active in Democratic Party politics, but he was seen as mostly irrelevant;[citation needed] he ran unsuccessfully for lieutenant governor in 1863, and for the state senate in 1869 and 1871.[2]
Governor William R. Taylor appointed Dewey the board of directors of the state prison from 1874, a position he held until 1881.[2] In the spring of 1889, Dewey's legal career was ended after he suffered a stroke.[citation needed] He was paralyzed, and died in poverty in the Dennison House, a hotel he had helped rebuild, in Cassville early on July 21, 1889.[2]
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e f g Barish, Lawrence S. (ed.) [July 2007]. "Chapter 8: Statistical Information on Wisconsin", State of Wisconsin Blue Book 2007–2008 (PDF), Madison, Wisconsin: Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau, 717–721. ISBN 978-0-9752820-2-1. Retrieved on 2008-02-27.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y Toepel, M. G.; Hazel L. Kuehn (eds.) [1960]. "Wisconsin's former governors, 1848–1959", The Wisconsin Blue Book, 1960. The Wisconsin Legislative Reference Library, 71–74. Retrieved on 2008-02-28.
- ^ [1879] "Wisconsin as a State: First Administration", The History of Racine and Kenosha Counties, Wisconsin. Racine County, Wisconsin: Western Historical Company, 53. Retrieved on 2008-02-28.
- ^ Barish, Lawrence S. (ed.) [July 2007]. "Chapter 2: Feature Article", State of Wisconsin Blue Book 2007–2008 (PDF), Madison, Wisconsin: Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau, 104. ISBN 978-0-9752820-2-1. Retrieved on 2008-02-27.
[edit] External links
| Preceded by Henry Dodge (Territorial Governor) |
Governor of Wisconsin 1848-1852 |
Succeeded by Leonard J. Farwell |
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