5th Wisconsin Legislature

5th Wisconsin Legislature
5th Wisconsin Legislature
	Wisconsin State Capitol, 1855
Overview
Legislative body	Wisconsin Legislature
Meeting place	Wisconsin State Capitol
Term	January 5, 1852 – January 3, 1853
Election	November 4, 1851
Senate
Members	19
Senate President	Timothy Burns
President pro tempore	Eliab B. Dean Jr.
Party control	Democratic
Assembly
Members	66
Assembly Speaker	James McMillan Shafter
Party control	Whig
Sessions
1st
1st	January 14, 1852 – April 19, 1852

Last updated April 21, 2025

The Fifth Wisconsin Legislature convened from January 14, 1852, to April 19, 1852, 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. Assemblymembers were elected to a one-year term. Assemblymembers and even-numbered senators were elected in the general election of November 4, 1851. 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 5, 1850.^[1]

Major events

January 5, 1852: Inauguration of Leonard J. Farwell as the 2nd Governor of Wisconsin.
January 5, 1852: Inauguration of Timothy Burns as the 3rd Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin.
January 30, 1852: Assemblymember Matthew Murphy of Lafayette County resigned his seat after it was demonstrated that he had actually lost his election to George W. Hammett.^[2]
November 2, 1852: Franklin Pierce elected President of the United States

Major legislation

March 3, 1852: Act to incorporate Racine College, 1852 Act 65
March 4, 1852: Act to incorporate the Milwaukee University, 1852 Act 79
April 16, 1852: Act to set apart and incorporate the County of Kewaunee, 1852 Act 363
April 17, 1852: Act to provide for the organization of a separate Supreme Court and for the election of Justices thereof, 1852 Act 395
April 19, 1852: Act to authorize the business of Banking, 1852 Act 479
April 19, 1852: Act to provide for the registration of Marriages, Births, and Deaths, 1852 Act 492
April 19, 1852: Act to apportion and district anew the members of the Senate and Assembly of the State of Wisconsin, 1852 Act 499, increased the size of the Senate to 25 members, and the Assembly to 82.
April 19, 1852: Act relating to Printing, 1852 Act 504

Party summary

Senate summary

	Party (Shading indicates majority caucus)			Total

	Dem.	F.S.	Whig		Vacant
End of previous Legislature	14	2	3	19	0

1st Session	12	1	6	19	0

Final voting share	63.16%	5.26%	31.58%

Beginning of the next Legislature	17	0	8	25	0

Assembly summary

	Party (Shading indicates majority caucus)			Total

	Dem.	F.S.	Whig		Vacant
End of previous Legislature	49	7	10	66	0

Start of 1st Session	29	6	31	66	0
After January 30	28	6	32	66	0

Final voting share	42.42%	9.09%	48.48%

Beginning of the next Legislature	55	7	20	82	0

Sessions

1st Regular session: January 14, 1852 – April 19, 1852

Leaders

Senate leadership

President of the Senate: Samuel Beall, Lieutenant Governor
President pro tempore: Eliab B. Dean Jr.

Assembly leadership

Speaker of the Assembly: James McMillan Shafter

Members

Members of the Senate

Members of the Wisconsin Senate for the Fifth Wisconsin Legislature:

District	Counties	Senator	Party	Residence
01	Brown, Calumet, Door, Manitowoc, Oconto, Outagamie, Sheboygan	Theodore Conkey	Dem.	Appleton
02	Columbia, Marathon, Marquette, Portage, Sauk, Waushara	James S. Alban	Whig	Plover
03	Bad Ax, Chippewa, Crawford, La Crosse, St. Croix, La Pointe	Hiram A. Wright	Dem.	Prairie du Chien
04	Fond du Lac, Waupaca, Winnebago	Bertine Pinckney	Whig	Rosendale
05	Iowa, Richland	Levi Sterling	Whig	Mineral Point
06	Grant	Joel C. Squires	Dem.	Lancaster
07	Lafayette	Samuel G. Bugh	Dem.	Shullsburg
08	Green	Thomas S. Bowen	Dem.	Waupun
09	Dane	Eliab B. Dean Jr.	Dem.	Madison
10	Dodge	Judson Prentice	Whig	Watertown
11	Washington	Harvey G. Turner	Dem.	Ozaukee
12	Jefferson	Alva Stewart	Whig	Fort Atkinson
13	Waukesha	E. B. West	Whig	Waukesha
14	Walworth	Eleazer Wakeley	Dem.	Whitewater
15	Rock	Andrew Palmer	Dem.	Janesville
16	Kenosha	John Sharpstein	Dem.	Milwaukee
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 Fifth Wisconsin Legislature:

Senate District	County	District	Representative	Party	Residence
03	Bad Ax, Chippewa, Crawford, La Crosse		Andrew Briggs	Dem.	Bad Ax
01	Brown, Door, Oconto, Outagamie		Uriel H. Peak	Dem.	Green Bay
01	Calumet		James Cramond	Dem.	Manchester
02	Columbia		James T. Lewis	Dem.	Columbus
09	Dane ^[3]	1	William A. Pierce	Dem.	Sun Prairie
		2	Alexander Botkin	Whig	Madison
		3	Hiram Giles	Whig	Stoughton
10	Dodge ^[4]	1	Darius L. Bancroft	Whig	Waupun
		2	Timothy B. Sterling	Whig	Iron Ridge
		3	Maximilian Averbeck	Dem.	Emmet
		4	William H. Green	Dem.	Lowell
		5	Horace D. Patch	Dem.	Beaver Dam
04	Fond du Lac	1	Benjamin F. Moore	Whig	Fond du Lac
04	Fond du Lac	2	Nicholas M. Donaldson	Whig	Waupun
06	Grant ^[5]	1	William Richardson	Whig	Fairplay
		2	Noah Clemmons	Dem.	Platteville
		3	David McKee	Dem.	Potosi
		4	J. Allen Barber	Whig	Lancaster
08	Green		Truman J. Safford	Whig	Exeter
05	Iowa & Richland	1	John Toay	Whig	Mineral Point
05	Iowa & Richland	2	Luman M. Strong	Dem.	Highland
12	Jefferson ^[6]	1	Thomas R. Mott	Whig	Watertown
		2	Jacob Skinner	Whig	Palmyra
		3	A. H. Van Norstrand	Dem.	Jefferson
16	Kenosha	1	C. Latham Sholes	Free Soil	Kenosha
16	Kenosha	2	Lathrop Burgess	Free Soil	Salem
03	La Pointe & St. Croix		Otis W. Hoyt	Dem.	Hudson
07	Lafayette ^[7]	1	Matthew Murphy, resigned Jan. 30	Dem.	New Diggings
		1	George W. Hammett, from Jan. 30	Whig
		2	James H. Earnest	Whig	Shullsburg
01	Manitowoc		Ezekiel Ricker	Dem.	Manitowoc
02	Marathon & Portage		George W. Cate	Dem.	Amherst
02	Marquette & Waushara		Eleazer Root	Whig	Dartford
19	Milwaukee ^[8]	1	Charles Cain	Whig	Milwaukee
19		2	Joseph A. Phelps	Whig	Milwaukee
18		3	Wallace W. Graham	Dem.	Milwaukee
		4	Jonathan L. Burnham	Whig	Milwaukee
		5	Valentin Knœll	Dem.	Milwaukee
		6	Edward Hasse	Dem.	Milwaukee
19		7	William Beck	Dem.	Milwaukee
17	Racine	1	William L. Utley	Free Soil	Racine
		2	Abram Gordon	Whig	Racine
		3	James Catton	Whig	Burlington
15	Rock ^[9]	1	William A. Lawrence	Whig	Janesville
		2	John Hackett	Dem.	Spring Valley
		3	George R. Ramsey	Whig	Janesville
		4	Asal Kinney	Whig	Beloit
		5	Simeon W. Abbott	Whig	Lima
02	Sauk		Jonathan W. Fyffe	Whig	Prairie du Sac
01	Sheboygan	1	James McMillan Shafter	Whig	Sheboygan
01	Sheboygan	2	David B. Conger	Whig	Greenbush
14	Walworth ^[10]	1	Joel H. Cooper	Free Soil	Elkhorn
		2	Zerah Mead	Whig	Spring Prairie
		3	Timothy H. Fellows	Free Soil	Genoa
		4	Lewis N. Wood	Whig	Whitewater
		5	Stephen Steele Barlow	Free Soil	Walworth
11	Washington	1	Simon D. Powers	Dem.	Port Washington
		2	Phineas M. Johnson	Dem.	Grafton
		3	Adam Staats	Dem.	Staatsville
		4	Densmore W. Maxon	Dem.	Cedar Creek
		5	Baruch S. Weil	Dem.	West Bend
13	Waukesha	1	John U. Hilliard	Dem.	Merton
		2	Denison Worthington	Whig	Summit
		3	Thomas Sugden	Whig	North Prairie
		4	Publius V. Monroe	Dem.	New Berlin
		5	Findley McNaughton	Dem.	Vernon
04	Waupaca & Winnebago		Dudley C. Blodget	Whig	Oshkosh

Employees

Senate employees

Chief Clerk: John K. Williams
Sergeant-at-Arms: Patrick Cosgrove

Assembly employees

Chief Clerk: Alexander T. Gray
Sergeant-at-Arms: Elisha Starr

References

↑ "Annals of the legislature". The Blue Book of the state of Wisconsin 1881 (Report). State of Wisconsin. pp. 183–184.
↑ Journal of the Fifth Legislative Assembly of the State of Wisconsin (Report). State of Wisconsin. 1852. pp. 137–138. Retrieved May 14, 2019.
↑ "Whig Nominations". Wisconsin Express. October 16, 1851. p. 2. Retrieved August 24, 2021– via Newspapers.com.
↑ "Official Returns of Dodge County". Daily Free Democrat. November 15, 1851. p. 3. Retrieved August 24, 2021– via Newspapers.com.
↑ "Grant County Cannvass". The Weekly Wisconsin. November 19, 1851. p. 2. Retrieved August 24, 2021– via Newspapers.com.
↑ "Jefferson County Right Side Up". Watertown Chronicle. November 12, 1851. p. 2. Retrieved August 24, 2021– via Newspapers.com.
↑ "Lafayette County Majority Complete". Wisconsin Tribune. November 13, 1851. p. 2. Retrieved August 24, 2021– via Newspapers.com.
↑ "Official Returns from Milwaukee Co". Daily Free Democrat. November 14, 1851. p. 2. Retrieved August 18, 2021– via Newspapers.com.
↑ "Official". Janesville Daily Gazette . November 13, 1851. p. 2. Retrieved August 24, 2021– via Newspapers.com.
↑ "Walworth County–Official Canvass". The Weekly Wisconsin. November 26, 1851. p. 2. Retrieved August 24, 2021– via Newspapers.com.

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. 183–184.

[2] Journal of the Fifth Legislative Assembly of the State of Wisconsin (Report). State of Wisconsin. 1852. pp. 137–138. Retrieved May 14, 2019.

[3] "Whig Nominations". Wisconsin Express. October 16, 1851. p. 2. Retrieved August 24, 2021– via Newspapers.com.

[4] "Official Returns of Dodge County". Daily Free Democrat. November 15, 1851. p. 3. Retrieved August 24, 2021– via Newspapers.com.

[5] "Grant County Cannvass". The Weekly Wisconsin. November 19, 1851. p. 2. Retrieved August 24, 2021– via Newspapers.com.

[6] "Jefferson County Right Side Up". Watertown Chronicle. November 12, 1851. p. 2. Retrieved August 24, 2021– via Newspapers.com.

[7] "Lafayette County Majority Complete". Wisconsin Tribune. November 13, 1851. p. 2. Retrieved August 24, 2021– via Newspapers.com.

[dfd1851-8] "Official Returns from Milwaukee Co". Daily Free Democrat. November 14, 1851. p. 2. Retrieved August 18, 2021– via Newspapers.com.

[9] "Official". Janesville Daily Gazette . November 13, 1851. p. 2. Retrieved August 24, 2021– via Newspapers.com.

[10] "Walworth County–Official Canvass". The Weekly Wisconsin. November 26, 1851. p. 2. Retrieved August 24, 2021– via Newspapers.com.

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