7th Wisconsin Legislature

The Seventh Wisconsin Legislature convened from January 11, 1854, to April 3, 1854, in regular session.

7th Wisconsin Legislature
← 6th 8th →
Wisconsin State Capitol, 1855
Overview
Legislative body	Wisconsin Legislature
Meeting place	Wisconsin State Capitol
Term	January 2, 1854 – January 1, 1855
Election	November 8, 1853
Senate
Members	25
Senate President	James T. Lewis (W)
President pro tempore	Benjamin Allen (D)
Party control	Democratic
Assembly
Members	82
Assembly Speaker	Frederick W. Horn (D)
Party control	Democratic
Sessions
1st January 11, 1854 – April 3, 1854

Senators representing even-numbered districts were newly elected for this session and were serving the first year of a two-year term. Assemblymembers were elected to a one-year term. Assemblymembers and odd-numbered senators were elected in the general election of November 8, 1853. Senators representing odd-numbered districts were serving the second year of their two-year term, having been elected in the general election held on November 2, 1852.^[1]

The governor of Wisconsin during this entire term was Democrat William A. Barstow, of Waukesha County, serving the first year of a two-year term, having won election in the 1853 Wisconsin gubernatorial election.

Major events

• January 2, 1854: Inauguration of William A. Barstow as the 3rd Governor of Wisconsin.
• March 11, 1854: A mob of several hundred people led by abolitionist Sherman Booth broke into the Milwaukee County jail and liberated Joshua Glover, who had been ambushed and imprisoned the previous day by a cohort of slave catchers acting on the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850.
• March 20, 1854: A local meeting was held at Ripon, Wisconsin, to oppose the proposed Kansas–Nebraska Act—later cited as the birth of the Republican Party.
• May 30, 1854: U.S. President Franklin Pierce signed the Kansas–Nebraska Act.
• July 13, 1854: The Republican Party of Wisconsin was established at a convention in Madison, Wisconsin.
• November 7, 1854: Wisconsin voters rejected three amendments to the Constitution of Wisconsin which would have doubled legislative terms and instituted biennial legislative sessions.

Major legislation

• January 30, 1854: Act to organize the County of Trempe a l'eau, 1854 Act 2
• February 9, 1854: Act to organize the County of Dunn, 1854 Act 7
• February 11, 1854: Act to divide La Pointe county and create the county of Douglass, 1854 Act 10
• March 6, 1854: Act to divide the sixth Judicial Circuit and organize an eighth Judicial Circuit, and to fix the time for holding the Circuit Courts in the Counties of the respective circuits, 1854 Act 13
• March 24, 1854: Act to divide the county of La Crosse and organize the county of Monroe, 1854 Act 35
• March 30, 1854: Act concerning the terms of office of Judges of the several courts of this State, 1854 Act 41. Standardized state judicial terms as starting the first Monday of the year following the election of that judge.
• March 31, 1854: Act to provide for the appointment of an Assistant Secretary of State and Assistant State Treasurer, and to prescribe their duties, 1854 Act 65
• April 24, 1854: Act to divide the second and third Judicial Circuits and organize the ninth Judicial Circuit, and to fix the time of holding the Circuit Courts in the Counties of said respective Circuits, 1854 Act 75
• April 25, 1854: Act to amend Article Four of the Constitution, 1854 Act 89. Created a referendum to modify the lengths of State Senate terms from two years to four years, and for the Assembly from one year to two years, and to change the Legislative sessions from one year to two years. The referendum was rejected by voters in November.

Party summary

Senate summary

Senate Partisan composition

  Democratic: 22 seats

  Whig: 3 seats

	Party (Shading indicates majority caucus)					Total
	Dem.	F.S.	Whig	Ind.	Rep.		Vacant
End of previous Legislature	18	0	7	0	0	25	0
Start of 1st Session	22	0	3	0	0	25	0
Final voting share	88.00%	0.0%	12.00%	0.0%	0.0%
Beginning of the next Legislature	13	0	0	1	11	25	0

Assembly summary

Assembly Partisan composition

  Democratic: 51 seats

  Free Soil: 4 seats

  Whig: 27 seats

	Party (Shading indicates majority caucus)					Total
	Dem.	F.S.	Whig	Ind.	Rep.		Vacant
End of previous Legislature	55	7	20	0	0	82	0
1st Session	51	4	27	0	0	82	0
Final voting share	62.20%	4.88%	32.92%	0.0%	0.0%
Beginning of the next Legislature	34	0	0	4	44	82	0

Sessions

• 1st Regular session: January 11, 1854 – April 3, 1854

Leaders

Senate leadership

• President of the Senate: James T. Lewis, Lieutenant Governor
• President pro tempore: Benjamin Allen

Assembly leadership

• Speaker of the Assembly: Frederick W. Horn

Members

Members of the Senate

Members of the Wisconsin Senate for the Seventh Wisconsin Legislature:

Senate partisan representation

  Democratic: 22 seats

  Whig: 3 seats

District	Counties	Senator	Party	Residence
01	Calumet, Manitowoc, Sheboygan	Horatio N. Smith	Dem.	Plymouth
02	Brown, Door, Kewaunee, Marathon, Oconto, Outagamie, Portage, Waupaca	Joseph F. Loy	Dem.	De Pere
03	Ozaukee	Andrew M. Blair	Dem.	Ozaukee
04	Washington	Baltus Mantz	Dem.	Meeker
05	Milwaukee (Northern Half)	Edward M. Hunter	Dem.	Milwaukee
06	Milwaukee (Southern Half)	Edward McGarry	Dem.	Milwaukee
07	Racine	John W. Cary	Dem.	Racine
08	Kenosha	Levi Grant	Dem.	Kenosha
09	Waukesha (Northern Half)	George R. McLane	Dem.	Hartland
10	Waukesha (Southern Half)	James D. Reymert	Dem.	Denoon
11	Dane	Thomas T. Whittlesey	Dem.	Pheasant Branch
12	Walworth	Eleazer Wakeley	Dem.	Whitewater
13	Lafayette	Charles Dunn	Dem.	Cottage Inn
14	Jefferson	Daniel Howell	Dem.	Jefferson
15	Iowa, Richland	Levi Sterling	Whig	Mineral Point
16	Grant	Nelson Dewey	Dem.	Lancaster
17	Rock (Western Half)	Ezra Miller	Dem.	Spring Valley
18	Rock (Eastern Half)	Louis P. Harvey	Whig	Shopiere
19	Bad Ax, Buffalo, Chippewa, Clark, Crawford, Jackson, La Crosse, La Pointe, Pierce, Polk, St. Croix	Benjamin Allen	Dem.	Hudson
20	Fond du Lac	Charles A. Eldredge	Dem.	Fond du Lac
21	Winnebago	Coles Bashford	Whig	Oshkosh
22	Dodge	Ezra A. Bowen	Dem.	Mayville
23	Adams, Marquette, Sauk, Waushara	David S. Vittum	Dem.	Baraboo
24	Green	Francis H. West	Dem.	Monroe
25	Columbia	John Q. Adams	Dem.	Fall River

Members of the Assembly

Members of the Assembly for the Seventh Wisconsin Legislature (82):^[2]

Assembly partisan representation

  Democratic: 51 seats

  Free Soil: 4 seats

  Whig: 27 seats

Senate District	County	District	Representative	Party	Residence
23	Adams & Sauk		Cyrus C. Remington	Dem.	Baraboo
19	Bad Ax & Crawford		William F. Terhune	Dem.	Viroqua
02	Brown, Door, & Kewaunee		Francis X. Desnoyers	Dem.	Green Bay
19	Buffalo, Chippewa, Clark, Jackson, & La Crosse		William J. Gibson	Dem.	Black River Falls
01	Calumet		Alexander H. Hart	Dem.	Lima
25	Columbia	1	Asa C. Ketchum	Dem.	Portage
		2	Alfred Topliff	Whig	East Hampden
11	Dane	1	Charles R. Head	Whig	Albion
		2	Samuel H. Baker	Dem.	Bristol
		3	Peter W. Matts	Whig	Montrose
		4	Harry Barnes	Dem.	Middleton
		5	Harlow S. Orton	Whig	Madison
22	Dodge	1	Benjamin F. Barney	Dem.	Mayville
		2	George Fox	Dem.	Herman
		3	Francis McCormick	Dem.	Ashippun
		4	Ruel Parker	Dem.	Portland
		5	John W. Davis	Dem.	Fox Lake
		6	Allen Hiram Atwater	Whig	Oak Grove
20	Fond du Lac	1	Edward Boener	Dem.	Waupun
		2	Major J. Thomas	Dem.	Ashford
		3	Isaac S. Tallmadge	Dem.	Fond du Lac
		4	Nicholas M. Donaldson	Whig	Fond du Lac
16	Grant	1	Lewis Rood	Whig	Hazel Green
		2	William Hull	Dem.	Potosi
		3	Edward Estabrook	Whig	Platteville
		4	William Jeffrey	Dem.	Ellenboro
		5	Milas K. Young	Whig	Cassville
24	Green		Abner Mitchell	Whig	Spring Grove
15	Iowa	1	Lemuel W. Joiner	Whig	Wyoming
		2	John Toay	Whig	Mineral Point
14	Jefferson	1	Theodore Bernhardt	Dem.	Watertown
		2	William Eustis	Whig	Oakland
		3	David L. Morrison	Dem.	Fort Atkinson
		4	Charles J. Bell	Whig	Johnson Creek
		5	Darius Reed	Whig	Sullivan
08	Kenosha	1	Samuel Hale Jr.	Free Soil	Kenosha
		2	Jesse Hooker	Whig	Salem
13	Lafayette	1	James H. Earnest	Dem.	New Diggings
		2	James H. Knowlton	Dem.	Shullsburg
		3	Peter Parkinson	Dem.	Fayette
19	La Pointe, Pierce, Polk, St. Croix		William M. Torbert	Dem.	Hudson
01	Manitowoc		James L. Kyle	Whig	Manitowoc
02	Marathon & Portage		Walter D. McIndoe	Whig	Wausau
23	Marquette & Waushara	1	Archibald Nichols	Whig	Markesan
		2	Samuel McCracken	Dem.	Marquette
05	Milwaukee[3]	1	Jackson Hadley	Dem.	Milwaukee
		2	William Reinhardt	Dem.	Milwaukee
06		3	Edward O'Neill	Dem.	Milwaukee
		4	Henry Beecroft	Dem.	Milwaukee
		5	William E. Webster	Dem.	Milwaukee
		6	Timothy Hagerty	Dem.	Franklin
		7	Peter Lavies	Dem.	Greenfield
05		8	John Crawford	Dem.	Milwaukee
		9	John Tobin	Dem.	Granville
02	Oconto, Outagamie, Waupaca		John B. Jacobs until Jan. 14	Dem.	Menomonee
			David Scott from Jan. 14	Dem.	Waupaca
03	Ozaukee	1	Miles M. Whedon	Whig	Ozaukee
		2	Frederick W. Horn	Dem.	Ozaukee
07	Racine	1	Charles S. Wright	Dem.	Racine
		2	John Smith	Dem.	Caledonia
		3	Thomas West	Dem.	Raymond
		4	Nelson R. Norton	Dem.	Burlington
15	Richland		Nathaniel Wheeler	Dem.	Richland Center
18	Rock	1	Samuel G. Colley	Free Soil	Beloit
		2	Joseph Spaulding	Free Soil	Harmony
17		3	David Noggle	Dem.	Janesville
		4	John L. V. Thomas	Dem.	Beloit
01	Sheboygan	1	Adolph Rosenthal	Dem.	Sheboygan
		2	John Mathes	Dem.	Rhein
12	Walworth	1	Anderson Whiting	Whig	Richmond
		2	Perry G. Harrington	Dem.	Sugar Creek
		3	Oscar F. Bartlett	Free Soil	East Troy
		4	Simeon W. Spafard	Dem.	Geneva
		5	William P. Allen	Whig	Sharon
		6	Phipps W. Lake	Whig	Walworth
04	Washington	1	Phillip Zimmerman	Dem.	Germantown
		2	Adam Schantz	Dem.	Addison
09	Waukesha	1	Denison Worthington	Whig	Summit
		2	Chauncey H. Purple	Whig	Brookfield
10		3	Edward Lees	Dem.	Ottawa
		4	Jesse Smith	Whig	Vernon
21	Winnebago	1	George Gary	Whig	Oshkosh
		2	Corydon L. Rich	Dem.	Vinland

Employees

Senate employees

• Chief Clerk: Samuel G. Bugh
• Sergeant-at-Arms: J. M. Sherwood

Assembly employees

• Chief Clerk: Thomas McHugh
• Sergeant-at-Arms: William H. Gleason