Benjamin Hunkins

The Hon.
Benjamin Hunkins
Wisconsin State Legislator
Member of the Wisconsin State Assembly
from the Waukesha district
Incumbent
Assumed office
1860
Personal details
Born 1810
Charleston, Vermont
Died Beaver Crossing, Nebraska
Nationality American
Political party Democratic
Parents Robert Hastings Hunkins
and Hannah Emerson
Profession Politician
Religion Methodist

Benjamin Hunkins (1810–1900) was an early Wisconsin politician who had a role in shaping the Wisconsin constitution.

Early life

Hunkins, born in Charleston, Vermont in 1810,[1] was the son of settler Robert Hastings Hunkins and Hannah Emerson.[lower-alpha 1]

Hunkins moved to Wisconsin at the age of 28 when his father and family relocated there. He purchased land in what became Waukesha County in the town of Mentor, renamed New Berlin in 1840. The heavily timbered land was cleared by Hunkins for farming, and he cultivated the land himself.[3] He subsequently got involved in local state politics and became one of the first representatives in the territorial legislature.

Politician and federal Indian agent

On April 5, 1842, Hunkins was elected Chairman of New Berlin's board of supervisors. After serving as Chairman, Hunkins served on the board of supervisors in one-year periods in years 1849, 1852, 1853 and 1858.[4]

Hunkins served in the Wisconsin Territorial House of Representatives in 1843 and 1844.[5] He was also a delegate to the first state constitutional convention, held in 1846.[6]

Hunkins was a federal Indian agent for the Green Bay Agency from 1855 to 1857.[7] He mainly worked with the Menominee tribe, trying to align the United States Government's goals with theirs. Hunkins believed he had made headway in "civilizing the tribe", and called for them to abstain from alcohol.[8] One of his compatriots in this task was Solomon Juneau, founder of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Juneau died in the arms of Hunkins while visiting the Menominee tribe. During Juneau's decline, Hunkins had acted as his "faithful friend and constant nurse".[9] He also worked with other Native American tribes, including the Stockbridge, Munsee and Oneida tribes. Hunkins was paid $1,000 per year for the position.[10]

In 1860 Hunkins was elected to the Wisconsin State Assembly for a one-year term.[11] He was on the Swamp Land Committee, whose responsibility was to reimburse the general fund from the Swamp Land Fund.[12] He was considered to be "a gentleman of decided force and marked ability - strong in mind, clear in judgment, logical in conclusion, and admirably fitted to have taken, under favorable surroundings, a prominent part in public affairs".[13]

In 1860 upon hearing that Sherman Booth had been recaptured by federal marshals, Hunkins, who admired Booth, introduced a resolution in the Assembly that the Governor of the State should "declare war against the United States", but the speaker ruled it unconstitutional and it went no further.[14]

Hunkins was unanimously nominated as State Senator and then was nominated as Secretary of State, but he declined the offers.[15]

Retirement and death

After leaving state politics, Hunkins relocated to Beaver Crossing in Nebraska. At the age of 88, Hunkins "retain[ed] his mental vigor and occupi[ed] a high place in the estimation of his large circle of friends in Seward County".[1] He died aged 90 on April 27, 1900.[16]

Family

On February 11, 1843, Hunkins married Sophrona Hollister.[17] They had children.[18]

Legacy

The town of Hunkins, Nebraska was named for Hunkins in recognition of his service. It was eventually renamed Cordova because of issues at the post office.[1]

References

  1. ↑ Hunks was grandson of the Revolutionary War Captain Robert Hunkins,[1] and first cousin to poet Ralph Waldo Emerson.[2]
  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Memorial and Biographical Record and Illustrated Compendium of Biography. Chicago: Geo. A. Ogle. 1899. p. 1101. Retrieved March 9, 2014.
  2. ↑ Whitcher, W.F. (1881). Descendants of Thomas Whittier in New Hampshire. The Granite Monthly. pp. 336–337.
  3. ↑ Quaife, Milo M., ed. (1919). The Convention of 1846. Publications of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin 27. Madison: State Historical Society of Wisconsin. p. 778. Retrieved March 9, 2014.
  4. ↑ The History of Waukesha County, Wisconsin: Containing an Account of Its Settlement, Growth, Development, and Resources. Chicago: Western Historical Company. 1880. p. 575. Retrieved March 9, 2014.
  5. ↑ "Territorial Legislatures". The Blue Book of the State of Wisconsin. Madison: Wisconsin Secretary of State. 1889. p. 121. Retrieved March 9, 2014.
  6. ↑ "Constitutional Conventions". The Blue Book of the State of Wisconsin. Madison: Wisconsin Secretary of State. 1889. p. 125. Retrieved March 9, 2014.
  7. ↑ "Term: Indian agents". Dictionary of Wisconsin History. Wisconsin Historical Society. Retrieved 8 February 2014.
  8. ↑ Beck, David (2005). The Struggle for Self-determination: History of the Menominee Indians Since 1854. U of Nebraska Press. p. 6. ISBN 9780803213470. Retrieved 30 August 2014.
  9. ↑ Wisconsin magazine of history: Volume 41, number 2, winter, 1957-1958. Wisconsin Historical Society. Retrieved 31 August 2014.
  10. ↑ Dorrance, James F. (1955). The Menominee Indians, 1848-1858: The Making of the Menominee Reservation. Retrieved 2 September 2014.
  11. ↑ Keane, Michael J. (2007). "Those Who Served: Wisconsin Legislators 1848-2007". State of Wisconsin 2007-2008 Blue Book (PDF). Madison: Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau. p. 148. Retrieved March 9, 2014.
  12. ↑ Journal of the Assembly of Wisconsin: Annual Session, A. D. 1860. Madison: James Ross. 1860. p. 1098. Retrieved March 9, 2014.
  13. ↑ Horace, Addison Tenney; Atwood, David (1880). Memorial Record of the Fathers of Wisconsin: Containing Sketches of the Lives and Careers of the Members of the Constitutional Conventions of 1846 and 1847-8. With a History of Early Settlement in Wisconsin. Madison: Atwood. p. 97. Retrieved March 9, 2014.
  14. ↑ Current, Richard N. (2013). The Civil War Era, 1848-1873: History of Wisconsin. Wisconsin Historical Society. p. 277. Retrieved 30 August 2014.
  15. ↑ "Political Movements: Wisconsin". The National Era. October 4, 1849. p. 159. Retrieved 8 February 2014.
  16. ↑ Waterman, John Henry (1916). General History of Seward County, Nebraska. p. 200.
  17. ↑ "Marriages, Births, Confirmations, Baptisms Milwaukee County Wisconsin Genealogy". Milwaukee County Online Genealogy and Family History Library. Retrieved 29 August 2014.
  18. ↑ Waterman 1916, p. 200.