2nd Minnesota Territorial Legislature

For the 1859–1861 state legislature, see 2nd Minnesota Legislature.

The second Minnesota Territorial Legislature first convened on January 1, 1851. The 9 members of the Minnesota Territorial Council were elected during the General Election of August 1, 1849, and the 18 members of the Minnesota House of Representatives were elected during the General Election of September 2, 1850.

Second Minnesota Territorial Legislature
← 1st Minnesota Territorial Legislature 3rd Minnesota Territorial Legislature →
Overview
Legislative body	Minnesota Territorial Legislature
Jurisdiction	Minnesota Territory, United States
Term	January 1, 1851 (1851-01-01) – January 7, 1852 (1852-01-07)
Minnesota Territorial Council
Members	9 Councillors
President	David B. Loomis
Party control	Democratic Party
Minnesota House of Representatives
Members	18 Representatives
Speaker	Michael E. Ames
Party control	Democratic Party

Sessions

The territorial legislature met in a regular session from January 1, 1851 to March 31, 1851. There were no special sessions of the second territorial legislature.^[1]

Party summary

Resignations and new members are discussed in the "Membership changes" section, below.

Council

	Party[nb 1] (Shading indicates majority caucus)		Total	Vacant
	Democratic	Whig
End of previous Legislature	6	3	9	0
Begin	6	3	9	0
Latest voting share	67%	33%
Beginning of the next Legislature	7	2	9	0

House of Representatives

	Party[nb 1] (Shading indicates majority caucus)			Total	Vacant
	Democratic	Whig	Unknown
End of previous Legislature	12	4	2	18	0
Begin	8	3	7	18	0
March 29, 1851	5	2	4	11	7
Latest voting share	45%	18%	36%
Beginning of the next Legislature	10	3	5	18	0

Leadership

President of the Council

David B. Loomis (W-Marine)^[2]

Speaker of the House

Michael E. Ames (D-Stillwater)^[3]

Members

Council

Name	District	City	Party
Boal, James McClellan	03	St. Paul	Whig
Burkleo, Samuel	02	Stillwater	Whig[nb 2]
Forbes, William Henry	03	Saint Paul	Democratic
Loomis, David B.	04	Marine	Whig
Martin McLeod	07	Bloomington	Democratic[nb 3]
Norris, James S.	01	Cottage Grove	Democratic
Olmsted, David	06	Long Prairie	Democratic
Rollins, John	05	Saint Anthony Falls	Democratic
Sturgis, William R.	06	Elk River	Democratic

House of Representatives

Name	District	City	Party
Ames, Michael E.	02	Stillwater	Democratic
Brunson, Benjamin Wetherill	03	Saint Paul	Whig
Faribault, Alexander	07	Mendota	Unknown
Ford, John A.	01	Woodbury	Democratic
Gilman, David	06	Watab	Democratic
Ludden, John Dwight	04	Marine	Whig[nb 4]
North, John Wesley	05	Saint Anthony Falls	Whig
Olmstead, Samuel Baldwin	06	Belle Prairie	Democratic
Patch, Edward M.	05	Saint Anthony Falls	Unknown
Ramsey, Justus Cornelius	03	Saint Paul	Whig
Randall, Benjamin H.	07	Fort Snelling	Democratic
Rice, Edmund	03	Saint Paul	Democratic
Sloan, David T.	06	Buckman	Whig[nb 5]
Taylor, Jesse	02	Stillwater	Whig[nb 6]
Tilden, Henry L.	03	Saint Paul	Whig[nb 7]
Trask, Sylvanus	02	Stillwater	Democratic
Warren, William Whipple	06	Crow Wing	Unknown
Wells, James	01	Lake City	Democratic

Membership changes

House of Representatives

District	Vacated by	Reason for change	Successor	Date successor seated
01	John A. Ford (D)	Resigned on March 29, 1851, along with six other members of the House of Representatives, in protest of the 1851 reapportionment bill, arguing that the census count was incorrect.[10]	Remained vacant
06	David Gilman (D)	Resigned on March 29, 1851, along with six other members of the House of Representatives, in protest of the 1851 reapportionment bill, arguing that the census count was incorrect.[11]	Remained vacant
05	John W. North (W)	Resigned on March 29, 1851, along with six other members of the House of Representatives, in protest of the 1851 reapportionment bill, arguing that the census count was incorrect.[12]	Remained vacant
05	Edward M. Patch (?)	Resigned on March 29, 1851, along with six other members of the House of Representatives, in protest of the 1851 reapportionment bill, arguing that the census count was incorrect.[13]	Remained vacant
03	Edmund Rice (D)	Resigned on March 29, 1851, along with six other members of the House of Representatives, in protest of the 1851 reapportionment bill, arguing that the census count was incorrect.[14]	Remained vacant
06	David T. Sloan (?)	Resigned on March 29, 1851, along with six other members of the House of Representatives, in protest of the 1851 reapportionment bill, arguing that the census count was incorrect.[15]	Remained vacant
06	William Whipple Warren (?)	Resigned on March 29, 1851, along with six other members of the House of Representatives, in protest of the 1851 reapportionment bill, arguing that the census count was incorrect.[16]	Remained vacant

Notes

1. Known party affiliations taken from the members' profiles in Minnesota Legislators Past & Present.
2. Minnesota Legislators Past & Present does not provide information on Samuel Burkleo's party affiliation; however, Samuel Burkleo signed on to an open letter from the Whig members of the legislature published in The Minnesota Pioneer newspaper^[4] which would imply that Burkleo was a Whig.
3. Minnesota Legislators Past & Present does not provide information on Martin McLeod's party affiliation; however, it has been documented that McLeod was a close political ally of Democratic future-Governor Henry Hastings Sibley,^[5] which fact would imply that McLeod was a Democrat.
4. Minnesota Legislators Past & Present does not provide information on John D. Ludden's party affiliation; however, Ludden signed on to an open letter from the Whig members of the legislature published in The Minnesota Pioneer newspaper^[6] which would imply that Ludden was a Whig.
5. Minnesota Legislators Past & Present does not provide information on David T. Sloan's party affiliation; however, Sloan signed on to an open letter from the Whig members of the legislature published in The Minnesota Pioneer newspaper^[7] which would imply that Sloan was a Whig.
6. Minnesota Legislators Past & Present does not provide information on Jesse Taylor's party affiliation; however, Taylor signed on to an open letter from the Whig members of the legislature published in The Minnesota Pioneer newspaper^[8] which would imply that Taylor was a Whig.
7. Minnesota Legislators Past & Present does not provide information on Henry L. Tilden's party affiliation; however, Tilden signed on to an open letter from the Whig members of the legislature published in The Minnesota Pioneer newspaper^[9] which would imply that Tilden was a Whig.