John Edwin Holmes

John Edwin Holmes (1809–1863) was the first Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin. He was born in Glastonbury, Connecticut. He was ordained a Universalist minister in 1833 and preached for a short time in Michigan and Ohio. He soon began to study law in Illinois and joined the Democratic Party. In 1836, he became a member of Wisconsin Territory's Territorial Council, and in 1848, he was elected the lieutenant governor of Nelson Dewey, a position he held until 1850. After his term ended, he became a quartermaster and was taken prisoner in Tennessee during the Civil War. He was returned to the Union in 1863 as part of a prisoner exchange, but died soon after, in Annapolis, Maryland.

References

• "Wisconsin Constitutional Officers; Lieutenant Governors" (PDF). State of Wisconsin Blue Book 2005–2006. Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau. July 2005. pp. 31. http://www.legis.state.wi.us/lrb/bb/05bb/695-743.pdf. Retrieved October 6, 2007. 
• "John E. Holmes". Office of the Lieutenant Governor. http://ltgov.wisconsin.gov/subcategory.asp?linksubcatid=2065&linkcatid=2042&linkid=1070&locid=126. Retrieved October 6, 2007.