Daniel Harris Johnson (July 27, 1825June 15, 1900) was an American lawyer and judge. He was a

Wisconsin Circuit Court The Wisconsin circuit courts are the general trial courts in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. There are currently 69 circuits in the state, divided into 9 judicial administrative districts. Circuit court judges hear and decide both civil and crimina ...

judge for the last twelve years of his life. Earlier he served three terms in the

Wisconsin State Assembly The Wisconsin State Assembly is the lower house of the Wisconsin Legislature. Together with the smaller Wisconsin Senate, the two constitute the legislative branch of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The Assembly is controlled by the Republican ...

Biography

Johnson was born in

Kingston, Ontario Kingston is a city in Ontario, Canada, on the northeastern end of Lake Ontario. It is at the beginning of the St. Lawrence River and at the mouth of the Cataraqui River, the south end of the Rideau Canal. Kingston is near the Thousand Islands, ...

, which was then part of

Upper Canada The Province of Upper Canada () was a Province, part of The Canadas, British Canada established in 1791 by the Kingdom of Great Britain, to govern the central third of the lands in British North America, formerly part of the Province of Queb ...

. His father died just two years after his birth. He had been a

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

sergeant under

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

in the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...

, who remained in Canada after the war. His mother was daughter of an

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

volunteer. After attending Rock River Seminary, Johnson moved to

Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin Prairie du Chien ( ) is a city in Crawford County, Wisconsin, United States, and its county seat. The population was 5,506 at the 2020 census. Often called Wisconsin's second-oldest city, Prairie du Chien was established as a European settlemen ...

, in 1848. Here, he began the study of law, and, in 1849, was admitted to the

State Bar of Wisconsin The State Bar of Wisconsin (SBW) is the integrated (mandatory) bar association of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Created by the Wisconsin Supreme Court for all attorneys who hold a Wisconsin law license, the State Bar of Wisconsin aids the courts i ...

. He practiced law in Prairie du Chien for several years, but, in 1854, he purchased a stake in the Prairie du Chien ''Courier'', and soon became its sole proprietor and editor. He returned to the practice of law in 1856, forming a partnership with W. R. Bullock, a nephew of

John C. Breckinridge John Cabell Breckinridge (January 16, 1821 – May 17, 1875) was an American politician who served as the 14th vice president of the United States, with President James Buchanan, from 1857 to 1861. Assuming office at the age of 36, Breckinrid ...

. The partnership was broken by the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

, when Bullock joined with the Confederacy. In November 1860, Johnson was elected on the Republican Party ticket to represent Crawford and Bad Ax (Vernon) counties in the

during the

14th Wisconsin Legislature The Fourteenth Wisconsin Legislature convened from January 9, 1861, to April 17, 1861, in regular session. The legislature re-convened in special session from May 15, 1861, to May 27, 1861, at the request of Governor of Wisconsin, Wisconsin G ...

. After the legislative session ended, in the fall of 1861, he worked as an assistant to Wisconsin Attorney General James Henry Howe. In November 1862, he moved to

Milwaukee Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

and, for the next 16 years, practiced law with a number of different legal firms in the city. In 1868, Milwaukee voters elected him to return to the Wisconsin Assembly. He was re-elected in 1869. In the 1869 session of the legislature, he was chairman of the committee on education, and in 1870, he was chairman of the committee on the judiciary. After serving in the Assembly as a Republican, he became associated with the Liberal Republican faction in the so-called "Greeley movement", named for

Horace Greeley Horace Greeley (February 3, 1811 – November 29, 1872) was an American newspaper editor and publisher who was the founder and newspaper editor, editor of the ''New-York Tribune''. Long active in politics, he served briefly as a congres ...

. He was a delegate for Wisconsin to the

1872 Liberal Republican convention An influential group of dissident Republicans split from the party to form the Liberal Republican Party in 1870. At the party's only national convention, held in Cincinnati in 1872, ''New York Tribune'' editor Horace Greeley was nominated for p ...

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

which nominated Greeley for president. Greeley was subsequently also nominated by the Democratic Party, and, from that point on, Johnson became affiliated with the Democratic Party. He served in various local offices over the next decade, as city attorney and member of the Milwaukee School Board. In 1887, he was elected to the

for the Milwaukee-based 2nd Circuit. He was re-elected without opposition in 1893, and, in 1899, when the circuit was split into two branches, he was one of the two judges elected. He died, however, just six months after the start of his third term. He died on June 15, 1900, in

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

Electoral history

, colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, April 5, 1887 , colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, April 1893 , colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, April 4, 1899 (top two)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Daniel Emigrants from pre-Confederation Ontario to the United States People from Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin Politicians from Milwaukee Wisconsin circuit court judges Members of the Wisconsin State Assembly Wisconsin lawyers School board members in Wisconsin Wisconsin Republicans Wisconsin Democrats Mount Morris College alumni 1825 births 1900 deaths 19th-century Wisconsin state court judges 19th-century American lawyers 19th-century members of the Wisconsin Legislature