4th Wisconsin Legislature

4th Wisconsin Legislature
4th Wisconsin Legislature
	Wisconsin State Capitol, 1855
Overview
Legislative body	Wisconsin Legislature
Meeting place	Wisconsin State Capitol
Term	January 6, 1851 – January 5, 1852
Election	November 5, 1850
Senate
Members	19
Senate President	Samuel Beall
President pro tempore	Duncan Reed
Party control	Democratic
Assembly
Members	66
Assembly Speaker	Frederick W. Horn
Party control	Democratic
Sessions
1st
1st	January 8, 1851 – March 17, 1851

Last updated March 02, 2025

The Fourth Wisconsin Legislature convened in regular session from January 8, 1851, to March 17, 1851. Senators representing odd-numbered districts were newly elected for this session and served the first year of a two-year term. Assembly members were elected to a one-year term. Assembly members and odd-numbered senators were elected in the general election on November 5, 1850. Senators representing even-numbered districts were serving the second year of their two-year term, having been elected in the general election held on November 6, 1849.^[1]

Major events

January 20, 1851: Henry Dodge re-elected United States Senator by the Wisconsin Legislature in joint session.^[2]
November 4, 1851: Leonard J. Farwell elected Governor of Wisconsin.

Major legislation

January 22, 1851: Joint resolution in relation to the Honorable Isaac P. Walker, 1851 Joint Resolution 1
February 1, 1851: Act to incorporate the Fire Department of the City of Milwaukee, 1851 Act 26
February 4, 1851: Act providing for the election of a Chief Justice, 1851 Act 39
February 6, 1851: Act to set apart and incorporate the County of Oconto, 1851 Act 44
February 11, 1851: Act to set apart and incorporate Door County, 1851 Act 66
February 15, 1851: Act to set apart and incorporate the County of Waushara, 1851 Act 77
February 17, 1851: Act to incorporate the County of Waupaca, 1851 Act 78
February 17, 1851: Act to divide the county of Brown and create the county of Outagamie, 1851 Act 83
March 10, 1851: Act to prevent the killing of deer in certain months of the year, 1851 Act 171
March 11, 1851: Act to change the name of the town of "Pike" in Kenosha county to "Somers," 1851 Act 211

Party summary

Senate summary

	Party (Shading indicates majority caucus)			Total

	Democratic	Free Soil	Whig		Vacant
End of previous Legislature	13	2	4	19	0

1st Session	14	2	3	19	0

Final voting share	73.68%	10.53%	15.79%

Beginning of the next Legislature	12	1	6	19	0

Assembly summary

	Party (Shading indicates majority caucus)			Total

	Democratic	Free Soil	Whig		Vacant
End of previous Legislature	43	8	15	66	0

1st Session	49	7	10	66	0

Final voting share	74.24%	10.61%	15.15%

Beginning of the next Legislature	29	6	31	66	0

Sessions

1st Regular session: January 8, 1851–March 17, 1851

Leaders

Senate leadership

President of the Senate: Samuel Beall, Lieutenant Governor
President pro tempore: Duncan Reed

Assembly leadership

Speaker of the Assembly: Frederick W. Horn

Members

Members of the Senate

Members of the Wisconsin Senate for the Fourth Wisconsin Legislature:

District	Counties	Senator	Party	Residence
01	Brown, Calumet, Manitowoc, Sheboygan	Theodore Conkey	Dem.	Appleton
02	Columbia, Marathon, Marquette, Portage, Sauk, Waushara	G. DeGraw Moore	Whig	Prairie du Sac
03	Crawford, Chippewa, St. Croix, La Pointe	Hiram A. Wright	Dem.	Prairie du Chien
04	Fond du Lac, Winnebago	John A. Eastman	Dem.	Fond du Lac
05	Iowa, Richland	Levi Sterling	Whig	Mineral Point
06	Grant	John H. Rountree	Whig	Platteville
07	Lafayette	Samuel G. Bugh	Dem.	Shullsburg
08	Green	William Rittenhouse	Dem.	Monroe
09	Dane	Eliab B. Dean Jr.	Dem.	Madison
10	Dodge	James Giddings	Dem.	Chester
11	Washington	Harvey G. Turner	Dem.	Ozaukee
12	Jefferson	Peter H. Turner	Dem.	Palmyra
13	Waukesha	George Hyer	Dem.	Waukesha
14	Walworth	George Gale	Free Soil	Elkhorn
15	Rock	Andrew Palmer	Dem.	Janesville
16	Kenosha	Orson S. Head	Dem.	Kenosha
17	Racine	Stephen O. Bennett	Free Soil	Racine
18	Milwaukee (Southern Half)	Duncan Reed	Dem.	Milwaukee
19	Milwaukee (Northern Half)	Francis Huebschmann	Dem.	Milwaukee

Members of the Assembly

Members of the Assembly for the Fourth Wisconsin Legislature:

Senate District	County	District	Representative	Party	Residence
01	Brown		John F. Lessey	Dem.	Green Bay
01	Calumet		William H. Dick	Dem.	Brothertown
02	Columbia		William T. Bradley	Dem.	Leeds
03	Crawford & Chippewa		William T. Price	Dem.	Black River Falls
09	Dane	1	Abram A. Boyce	Dem.	Lodi
		2	Augustus A. Bird	Dem.	Madison
		3	Gabriel Bjornson	Dem.	Perry
10	Dodge ^[3]	1	John Muzzy	Dem.	Mayville
		2	Asa W. French	Dem.	Herman
		3	Charles B. Whitton	Dem.	Ashippun
		4	John Lowth	Dem.	Lowell
		5	William E. Smith	Whig	Fox Lake
04	Fond du Lac	1	Charles L. Julius	Dem.	Calumet
04	Fond du Lac	2	Morris S. Barnett	Dem.	Eldorado
06	Grant ^[4]	1	James B. Johnson	Dem.	Fairplay
		2	John N. Jones	Dem.	Platteville
		3	William R. Biddlecome	Dem.	Potosi
		4	Robert M. Briggs	Dem.	Beetown
08	Green		Julius Hulburt	Whig	Albany
05	Iowa & Richland	1	Charles Rodolf	Dem.	Highland
05	Iowa & Richland	2	Richard J. Tregaskis	Dem.	Mineral Point
12	Jefferson ^[5]	1	Patrick Rogan	Dem.	Watertown
		2	Samuel T. Clothier	Dem.	Cold Spring
		3	Alonzo Wing	Dem.	Jefferson
16	Kenosha ^[6]	1	Henry Johnson	Whig	Somers
16	Kenosha ^[6]	2	Obed Hale	Free Soil	Kenosha
03	La Pointe & St Croix		John O. Henning	Dem.	Hudson
07	Lafayette	1	Nathan Olmsted	Whig	Cottage Inn
07	Lafayette	2	Samuel Cole	Dem.	Gratiot
01	Manitowoc		G. C. Oscar Malmros	Dem.	Manitowoc
02	Marathon & Portage		Thomas J. Morman	Dem.	Stevens Point
02	Marquette & Waushara		Charles Waldo	Whig	Kingston
19	Milwaukee ^[6]	1	William K. Wilson	Dem.	Milwaukee
19		2	Charles E. Jenkins	Dem.	Milwaukee
18		3	John L. Doran	Dem.	Milwaukee
		4	George H. Walker	Dem.	Milwaukee
		5	Patrick Carney	Dem.	Milwaukee
		6	Enoch Chase	Whig	Milwaukee
19		7	Tobias G. Osborne	Dem.	Milwaukee
17	Racine	1	William L. Utley	Free Soil	Racine
		2	Peter Van Vliet	Free Soil	Caledonia
		3	James Tinker	Free Soil	Dover
15	Rock	1	William F. Tompkins	Whig	Janesville
		2	John Bannister	Dem.	Beloit
		3	John D. Seaver	Whig	Cooksville
		4	Edward Vincent	Whig	Milton
		5	Joseph Kinney Jr.	Dem.	Lima
02	Sauk		Nathaniel Perkins	Dem.	Sauk City
01	Sheboygan	1	Albert D. La Due	Dem.	Sheboygan
01	Sheboygan	2	John D. Murphy	Dem.	Sheboygan Falls
14	Walworth ^[7]	1	Adam E. Ray	Free Soil	Troy
		2	Henry C. Hemingway	Whig	Richmond
		3	Experience Estabrook	Dem.	Whitewater
		4	Elijah Easton	Free Soil	Walworth
		5	Wyman Spooner	Free Soil	Elkhorn
11	Washington ^[8]	1	Harvey Moore	Dem.	Ozaukee
		2	Frederick W. Horn	Dem.	Cedarburg
		3	Frederick Stock	Dem.	Mequon
		4	John C. Toll	Dem.	Cedar Creek
		5	Francis Everley Jr.	Dem.	West Bend
13	Waukesha ^[9]	1	Aaron V. Groot	Dem.	Brookfield
		2	Peter D. Gifford	Dem.	North Prairie
		3	Hosea Fuller Jr.	Dem.	Pewaukee
		4	William A. Cone	Dem.	New Berlin
		5	John C. Snover	Dem.	Eagle
04	Winnebago		Edward Eastman	Free Soil	Oshkosh

Employees

Senate employees

Chief Clerk: William Hull
Sergeant-at-Arms: Enias D. Masters

Assembly employees

Chief Clerk: Alexander T. Gray
Sergeant-at-Arms: Charles S. Kingsbury

References

↑ "Annals of the legislature". The Blue Book of the state of Wisconsin 1881 (Report). State of Wisconsin. pp. 182–183.
↑ "Monday, Jan. 20, 1851". Journal of the Senate of Wisconsin (Report). Wisconsin Legislature. 1851. pp. 58–60. Retrieved March 1, 2025– via HathiTrust.
↑ "Dodge County". The Weekly Wisconsin. November 20, 1850. p. 2. Retrieved August 24, 2021– via Newspapers.com.
↑ "In this county ..." Grant County Herald. November 14, 1850. p. 1. Retrieved August 24, 2021– via Newspapers.com.
↑ "Vote of Jefferson County". Democratic State Register. November 18, 1850. p. 2. Retrieved August 24, 2021– via Newspapers.com.
1 2 "Election Returns". The Weekly Wisconsin. November 13, 1850. p. 2. Retrieved August 24, 2021– via Newspapers.com.
↑ "Walworth Co". Milwaukee Daily Sentinel . November 13, 1850. p. 2. Retrieved August 24, 2021– via Newspapers.com.
↑ "Washington County Election". The Weekly Wisconsin. November 20, 1850. p. 3. Retrieved August 24, 2021– via Newspapers.com.
↑ "Democratic Nominations". Waukesha Democrat. October 29, 1850. p. 2. Retrieved August 8, 2021.

External links

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[1] "Annals of the legislature". The Blue Book of the state of Wisconsin 1881 (Report). State of Wisconsin. pp. 182–183.

[2] "Monday, Jan. 20, 1851". Journal of the Senate of Wisconsin (Report). Wisconsin Legislature. 1851. pp. 58–60. Retrieved March 1, 2025– via HathiTrust.

[3] "Dodge County". The Weekly Wisconsin. November 20, 1850. p. 2. Retrieved August 24, 2021– via Newspapers.com.

[4] "In this county ..." Grant County Herald. November 14, 1850. p. 1. Retrieved August 24, 2021– via Newspapers.com.

[5] "Vote of Jefferson County". Democratic State Register. November 18, 1850. p. 2. Retrieved August 24, 2021– via Newspapers.com.

[milw-6] 1 2 "Election Returns". The Weekly Wisconsin. November 13, 1850. p. 2. Retrieved August 24, 2021– via Newspapers.com.

[7] "Walworth Co". Milwaukee Daily Sentinel . November 13, 1850. p. 2. Retrieved August 24, 2021– via Newspapers.com.

[8] "Washington County Election". The Weekly Wisconsin. November 20, 1850. p. 3. Retrieved August 24, 2021– via Newspapers.com.

[wauk-9] "Democratic Nominations". Waukesha Democrat. October 29, 1850. p. 2. Retrieved August 8, 2021.

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