3rd Wisconsin Legislature

The Third Wisconsin Legislature convened from January 9, 1850, to February 11, 1850, in regular session. Senators representing even numbered districts were newly elected for this session and were serving the first year of a two-year term. Senators representing odd numbered districts were serving the second year of their two-year term.^[1]

3rd Wisconsin Legislature
← 2nd 4th →
Wisconsin State Capitol, 1855
Overview
Legislative body	Wisconsin Legislature
Meeting place	Wisconsin State Capitol
Term	January 7, 1850 – January 6, 1851
Election	November 6, 1849
Senate
Members	19
Senate President	Samuel Beall
Party control	Democratic
Assembly
Members	66
Assembly Speaker	Moses M. Strong
Party control	Democratic
Sessions
1st January 9, 1850 – February 11, 1850

The governor of Wisconsin during this entire term was Democrat Nelson Dewey, of Grant County, serving the first year of his second two-year term, having won re-election in the 1849 Wisconsin gubernatorial election.

Major events

• January 7, 1850: Second Inauguration of Nelson Dewey as Governor of Wisconsin
• January 7, 1850: Inauguration of Samuel Beall as Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin
• July 9, 1850: U.S. President Zachary Taylor died in office; Vice President Millard Fillmore became the 13th President of the United States.

Major legislation

• January 30, 1850: An act for the division of the county of Racine and the erection of the county of Kenosha, 1850 Act 39

Party summary

Senate summary

Senate partisan composition

  Democratic: 13 seats

  Free Soil: 2 seat

  Whig: 4 seats

	Party (Shading indicates majority caucus)			Total
	Dem.	F.S.	Whig		Vacant
End of previous Legislature	14	1	4	19	0
1st Session	13	2	4	19	0
Final voting share	68%	11%	21%
Beginning of the next Legislature	14	2	3	19	0

Assembly summary

Assembly partisan composition

  Democratic: 43 seats

  Free Soil: 8 seats

  Whig: 15 seats

	Party (Shading indicates majority caucus)			Total
	Dem.	F.S.	Whig		Vacant
End of previous Legislature	35	14	17	66	0
1st Session	43	8	15	66	0
Final voting share	65%	12%	23%
Beginning of the next Legislature	49	7	10	66	0

Sessions

• 1st Regular session: January 9, 1850 – February 11, 1850

Leaders

Senate leadership

• President of the Senate: Samuel Beall, Lieutenant Governor

Assembly leadership

• Speaker of the Assembly: Moses M. Strong

Members

Members of the Senate

Members of the Wisconsin Senate for the Third Wisconsin Legislature (19):

Senate partisan representation

  Democratic: 13 seats

  Free Soil: 2 seats

  Whig: 4 seats

District	Counties	Senator	Party	Residence
01	Brown, Calumet, Manitowoc, Sheboygan	Lemuel Goodell	Dem.	Stockbridge
02	Columbia, Marquette, Portage, Sauk	George DeGraw Moore	Whig	Prairie du Sac
03	Crawford, Chippewa, St. Croix, La Pointe	James Fisher	Dem.	Prairie du Chien
04	Fond du Lac, Winnebago	John A. Eastman	Dem.	Fond du Lac
05	Iowa, Richland	Montgomery M. Cothren	Dem.	Mineral Point
06	Grant	John H. Rountree	Whig	Platteville
07	Lafayette	Dennis Murphy	Dem.	Shullsburg
08	Green	William Rittenhouse	Dem.	Monroe
09	Dane	Alexander Botkin	Whig	Madison
10	Dodge	James Giddings	Dem.	Chester
11	Washington	Frederick W. Horn	Dem.	Cedarburg
12	Jefferson	Peter H. Turner	Dem.	Palmyra
13	Waukesha	Frederick Sprague	Dem.	Palmyra
14	Walworth	George Gale	Free Soil	Elkhorn
15	Rock	Otis W. Norton	Whig	Milton
16	Racine (Southern Half)	Elijah Steele	Dem.	Pike
17	Racine (Northern Half)	Victor Willard	Free Soil	Waterford
18	Milwaukee (Southern Half)	Duncan Reed	Dem.	Milwaukee
19	Milwaukee (Northern Half)	John B. Smith	Dem.	Milwaukee

Members of the Assembly

Members of the Assembly for the Third Wisconsin Legislature (66):

Assembly partisan representation

  Democratic: 43 seats

  Free Soil: 8 seats

  Whig: 15 seats

Senate District	County	District	Representative	Party	Residence
01	Brown		Charles D. Robinson	Dem.	Green Bay
	Calumet		David E. Wood	Whig	Manchester
02	Columbia		Hugh McFarlane	Dem.	Portage
03	Crawford & Chippewa		William T. Sterling	Dem.	Mount Sterling
09	Dane[2]	1	John Hasey	Dem.	York
		2	Chauncey Abbott	Whig	Madison
		3	Oliver Bryant	Dem.	Rutland
10	Dodge[2]	1	Oscar Hurlbut	Dem.	Lomira
		2	James Murdock	Dem.	Neosho
		3	William T. Ward	Dem.	Hustisford
		4	John Lowth	Dem.	Lowell
		5	Malcolm Sellers	Whig	Beaver Dam
04	Fond du Lac[2]	1	Morgan Noble	Dem.	Fond du Lac
		2	Bertine Pinckney	Whig	Ripon
06	Grant[2]	1	Henry D. York	Dem.	Hazel Green
		2	William McGonigal	Whig	Wingville
		3	Jeremiah Dodge	Dem.	Lancaster
		4	John B. Turley	Dem.	Cassville
08	Green		William Comstock Green	Dem.	York
05	Iowa & Richland[2]	1	Moses M. Strong	Dem.	Mineral Point
		2	Thomas M. Fullerton	Dem.	Dodgeville
12	Jefferson[2]	1	Abram Vanderpool	Dem.	Waterloo
		2	Austin Kellogg	Dem.	Concord
		3	Alva Stewart	Whig	Fort Atkinson
03	La Pointe & St. Croix		John S. Watrous	Dem.	La Pointe
07	Lafayette[2]	1	Cornelius DeLong	Dem.	Belmont
		2	John K. Williams	Dem.	Shullsburg
01	Manitowoc		Charles Kuehn	Dem.	Manitowoc
02	Marquette & Waushara		Benjamin Spaulding	Free Soil	Arcade
19	Milwaukee[2]	1	James B. Cross	Dem.	Milwaukee
		2	Charles E. Jenkins	Dem.	Milwaukee
18		3	Edward McGarry	Dem.	Milwaukee
		4	John E. Cameron	Dem.	Milwaukee
		5	Garrett M. Fitzgerald	Dem.	Franklin
		6	Enoch Chase	Whig	Lake
19		7	Samuel Brown	Free Soil	Milwaukee
02	Portage		Walter D. McIndoe	Whig	Wausau
17	Racine[2]	1	Horace Chapman	Free Soil	Racine
		2	Stephen O. Bennett	Free Soil	Raymond
		3	Caleb P. Barns	Dem.	Burlington
16		4	Samuel Hale Jr.	Dem.	Racine
		5	George M. Robinson	Free Soil	Salem
15	Rock[2]	1	William F. Tompkins	Whig	Janesville
		2	John R. Briggs Jr.	Whig	Beloit
		3	Leander Hoskins	Whig	Union
		4	John A. Segar	Whig	Johnstown
		5	Ezekiel C. Smith	Free Soil	Spring Valley
02	Sauk		Caleb Crosswell	Dem.	Baraboo
01	Sheboygan[2]	1	Horatio N. Smith	Dem.	Sheboygan
		2	Francis G. Manney	Dem.	Lyndon
14	Walworth[2]	1	Alexander O. Babcock	Whig	East Troy
		2	Rufus Cheney Jr.	Whig	Whitewater
		3	Alexander S. Palmer	Dem.	Geneva
		4	George Sykes	Free Soil	Sharon
		5	Wyman Spooner	Free Soil	Elkhorn
11	Washington[2]	1	Solon Johnson	Dem.	Port Washington
		2	Eugene S. Turner	Dem.	Grafton
		3	Cornelius S. Griffin	Dem.	Saukville
		4	Edward Divin	Dem.	Richfield
		5	Henry Weil	Dem.	West Bend
13	Waukesha[2]	1	Patrick Higgins	Dem.	Menomonee
		2	Henry Shears	Whig	Oconomowoc
		3	Pitts Ellis	Dem.	Genesee
		4	John E. Gallagher	Dem.	Waukesha
		5	Anson H. Taylor	Dem.	Muskego
04	Winnebago		Leonard P. Crary	Dem.	Oshkosh

Employees

Senate employees

• Chief Clerk: William Rudolph Smith
• Sergeant-at-Arms: James Hanrahan

Assembly employees

• Chief Clerk: Alexander T. Gray
• Sergeant-at-Arms: E. R. Hugunin