HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Nelson Webster Dewey (December 19, 1813July 21, 1889) was an American lawyer, land speculator, politician, and
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 ...
pioneer. He was the first
governor of Wisconsin The governor of Wisconsin is the head of government of Wisconsin and the commander-in-chief of the state's Wisconsin Army National Guard, army and Wisconsin Air National Guard, air forces. The governor has a duty to enforce state laws, and the ...
, and also served in the
Wisconsin Senate The Wisconsin Senate is the upper house of the Wisconsin State Legislature. Together with the Wisconsin State Assembly they constitute the legislative branch of the state of Wisconsin. The powers of the Wisconsin Senate are modeled after those ...
and served several years in the Wisconsin Territory government before Wisconsin achieved statehood. He was also particularly important in the development of Cassville, Wisconsin, which he had at one time hoped to make the state capitol.


Early life

Dewey was born in Lebanon, Connecticut, on December 19, 1813, to Ebenezer and Lucy (née Webster) Dewey. His father's family had lived in
New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...
since 1633, when their ancestor Thomas Due (Dewey) came to America from Kent County, England. Dewey's family moved to Butternuts, New York (now called Morris) the year following his birth and he attended school there and in Louisville, New York. At the age of 16, he began attending the Hamilton Academy in
Hamilton, New York Hamilton is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in Madison County, New York, Madison County, New York (state), New York, United States. The population was 6,379 at the 2020 census. The town is named after American Founding Father ...
. He attended the academy for three years, and then returned to Butternut to teach. Ebenezer Dewey, Dewey's father, was a lawyer, and wished his son to join the same profession. Dewey began studying law in 1833, first with his father, then with the law firm Hanen & Davies, then with Samuel S. Bowne in Cooperstown, New York. He left Bowne in May 1836, and in June of that year arrived in the lead-mining region of
Galena, Illinois Galena is the largest city in Jo Daviess County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. It had a population of 3,308 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. A section of the city is listed on the National Register of Historic Plac ...
, working as a clerk for Daniels, Dennison & Co., a firm of land speculators from New York. About a week after he arrived, he moved to Cassville, Wisconsin. He became a citizen of the territory in 1836. Daniels, Dennison & Co. had purchased the land on which Cassville was built, and their plan was to develop and promote the village in the hopes that it grow and eventually be chosen as the capital of the Wisconsin Territory or of a future state.


Territorial politics

On March 4, 1837, Dewey was elected Register of Deeds for the newly formed
Grant County Grant County may refer to: Places ;Australia * County of Grant, Victoria ;United States * Grant County, Arkansas * Grant County, Indiana * Grant County, Kansas *Grant County, Kentucky Grant County is a county located in the northern pa ...
; he was appointed the county's Justice of the Peace by Territorial Governor
Henry Dodge Moses Henry Dodge (October 12, 1782 – June 19, 1867) was an American politician and military officer who was Democratic member to the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate, Territorial Governor of Wisconsin and a veteran of the Bla ...
the same year. He was, and continued to be for the rest of his political career, a member of the Democratic Party. When Daniels, Dennison & Co.'s business plans collapsed in 1838, after Madison was chosen to be the capital, Dewey moved to
Lancaster, Wisconsin Lancaster is a city in and the county seat of Grant County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 3,907 at the 2020 census. History Lancaster originated as a planned community to serve as the county seat for Grant County. Anticipating t ...
, where he was admitted to the bar in an examination held by Charles Dunn, the chief justice of the Supreme Court of the Wisconsin Territory; he was appointed
district attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, county prosecutor, state attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or solicitor is the chief prosecutor or chief law enforcement officer represen ...
of Grant County that same year. As a lawyer, he entered into a partnership with J. Allen Barber, which lasted from 1840 until May 1848. Together, they became well known in Wisconsin's lead-mining region, acquiring mines and investing in mining companies. In November 1838, Dewey was elected to the territorial assembly as representative from Grant County; he was reelected in 1840 and became that body's speaker for one session. He served as an assemblyman until 1842, when the voters of Grant County elected him to the territorial council; during the 1846 session, during which an upcoming convention which would produce a draft constitution for the State of Wisconsin was discussed, he served as the council's president. He failed to be re-elected in 1846, due to a new Whig majority in Grant County.


Governor of Wisconsin


1848 election

With the pending ratification of the new Constitution of Wisconsin, and the upcoming election for the new state's officers, the Democratic Party held a convention to nominate its candidate for
Governor of Wisconsin The governor of Wisconsin is the head of government of Wisconsin and the commander-in-chief of the state's Wisconsin Army National Guard, army and Wisconsin Air National Guard, air forces. The governor has a duty to enforce state laws, and the ...
. During the writing and attempts at ratification of the state's constitution in 1847 and 1848, the state party had become divided into two major factions, one centered in the lead-mining regions, and another centered in the eastern portion of the state. Each faction favored its own candidate for governor: Hiram Barber from the lead-region faction and Morgan L. Martin from the eastern faction; after neither candidate could gather enough votes to secure the nomination, the two factions began searching for a compromise candidate. They decided on Nelson Dewey, who was not associated with either faction. The party also hoped that Dewey might attract voters from the then-Whig majority Grant County. The election was held on May 8, 1848; Dewey defeated Whig candidate John Hubbard Tweedy and the
independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...
Charles Durkee, and thus became the first governor of the State of Wisconsin. John E. Holmes, also a Democrat, was elected
lieutenant governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...
in the same election. Also in May, Dewey's law and business partnership with Barber came to an end; by the time of its dissolution, Dewey was known to be one of the leading men in Wisconsin.


First term

Dewey's first term as governor began on June 7, 1848, and lasted until January 7, 1850. During his time as governor, Dewey oversaw the transition from the territorial to the new state government. He encouraged the development of the state's infrastructure, particularly the construction of new roads, railroads, canals, and harbors, as well as the improvement of the Fox and
Wisconsin River The Wisconsin River is the longest river in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, at approximately 430 miles (692 km) long. As a tributary of the Mississippi River, it is part of the Mississippi River System. The river's name was first recorded in 1673 b ...
s. During his administration, the State Board of Public Works was organized. Dewey was known for opposing the spread of
slavery Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...
into new states and territories and for advocating the popular election of U.S. Senators. Near the end of his term, he married Catherine Dunn, (or Katherine) the daughter of Charles Dunn, the former chief justice of Wisconsin Territory.


1849 election

During Dewey's first term as governor, the
Wisconsin Legislature The Wisconsin Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The legislature is a bicameral body composed of the upper house, Wisconsin State Senate, and the lower Wisconsin State Assembly, both of which have had Republ ...
passed an act decreeing that the biennial elections for governor would begin in 1849; that year, in an election held in November, Dewey again defeated the Whig candidate, Alexander Collins, and the Free Soiler Warren Chase. Samuel W. Beall, also a Democrat, was elected lieutenant governor in the same election. Dewey was elected the first president of the Wisconsin Historical Society the same year.


Second term

Dewey's second term began on January 7, 1850 and lasted until January 5, 1852. Dewey lost much popular support during his terms as governor, due both to his inability to overcome the factionalism within his own party and to his association with Wisconsin's lead-mining regions, which were losing power in Wisconsin politics. He chose not to run for a third term.


Later life

After his time as governor, Dewey returned to Lancaster, where he speculated in real estate. He remained active in politics, however: in 1853, Dewey ran against Chief Justice Orasmus Cole for a seat in the
Wisconsin State Senate The Wisconsin Senate is the upper house of the Wisconsin State Legislature. Together with the Wisconsin State Assembly they constitute the legislative branch of the state of Wisconsin. The powers of the Wisconsin Senate are modeled after those o ...
for Wisconsin's Sixteenth District; he was elected by a majority of three votes, serving a two-year term. Throughout the remainder of his life, he was a delegate to most of the state conventions of the Democratic Party. From 1854 until 1865, he was regent of the
University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...
. During his time in Lancaster, Dewey served at various times as the chairman of the town board of supervisor and a member of the school board. In 1854, Dewey and his wife Catherine began to plan to begin anew the development of Cassville, once the goal of Daniels, Dennison & Co. In 1855, he was able to purchase the village under
foreclosure Foreclosure is a legal process in which a lender attempts to recover the balance of a loan from a borrower who has Default (finance), stopped making payments to the lender by forcing the sale of the asset used as the Collateral (finance), coll ...
; he remodelled the village plot and repaired the Denniston House, a hotel which had been built by the now-defunct firm, at a cost of $15,000; his ultimate hope was that Cassville would be developed into a large city. He also acquired about of land northwest of Cassville, on which he built a three-story Gothic-revival mansion, which he named " Stonefield", at a cost of about $70,000; he expended another $30,000 on of stone fence. It was said that to have been the most modern house in Wisconsin at that time. At this time, Dewey employed around forty to fifty men as a means of returning money to Cassville; it is said that this was the origin of the prosperity of several of Cassville's residents. Dewey lived in Cassville for the rest of his life, except the time from 1858 until 1863, when he lived at Platteville, Wisconsin. In 1863, Dewey unsuccessfully ran for
Lieutenant Governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...
; he also lost his 1869 and 1871 attempts at re-election to
State Senate In the United States, the state legislature is the legislative branch in each of the 50 U.S. states. A legislature generally performs state duties for a state in the same way that the United States Congress performs national duties at ...
. Dewey's Cassville project was attracting few people, so he began investing in a railroad line to the village. On January 2, 1873, Dewey's mansion was destroyed in a fire, and he was forced to give up the property to pay his creditors. His property passed into the ownership of Walter C. Newberry of Chicago. Also this year, Dewey lost his entire investment in the railroad line during the
Panic of 1873 The Panic of 1873 was a financial crisis that triggered an economic depression in Europe and North America that lasted from 1873 to 1877 or 1879 in France and in Britain. In Britain, the Panic started two decades of stagnation known as the "L ...
. At some time during this period, Dewey was involved in another financial setback involving the estate of the deceased Ben Eastman, a former Congressman, of which he was the executor. Dewey returned to his law practice. In 1874, Governor William R. Taylor appointed Dewey to the board of directors of the State Prison at Waupun; he served on the board until 1881. On February 22, 1889, Dewey suffered a stroke while at court in Lancaster. He was paralyzed and was brought home to Cassville the next day. He was not well prior to this, and was apparently aware of the possibility of becoming paralyzed. From the time of his paralysis, he was almost entirely confined to bed. He died in poverty at the Denniston House, which he had helped rebuild, a few minutes past midnight on the morning of July 21, 1889, after being unconscious for the previous forty-eight hours. He was seventy-five years old. Dewey was at one time considered a wealthy man, but by the time of his death, he had little money. Dewey was buried on July 23, 1889, in the Episcopal cemetery in Lancaster, next to the graves of his brother Orin and his son Charlie.


Personal life

Dewey married Catherine Dunn in 1849 during his first term as governor. The couple had three children: a daughter Katie, whose married name was later Cole, a son, Nelson Jr., who at the time of Dewey's death lived in the West, and another son, Charlie, who died in 1869, while still a child. In 1886, Dewey filed for a divorce from his wife, but the matter never came to trial. Catherine eventually moved to
St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Miss ...
, where her daughter and son-in-law lived. Dewey had a brother named William Dewey, who survived him, and another brother, Orin, who died in 1840. He also a third brother, John J. Dewey, who was a physician who lived in
Saint Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (often abbreviated St. Paul) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County, Minnesota, Ramsey County. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, ...
and was a member of the Minnesota Territorial Legislature. Dewey was called a "friend of the poor" and known for his generosity.


Political views

Dewey was a member of the Democratic Party. He opposed the spread of
slavery Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...
into new states and territories and advocated electing
United States senator The United States Senate consists of 100 members, two from each of the 50 U.S. state, states. This list includes all senators serving in the 119th United States Congress. Party affiliation Independent Senators Angus King of Maine and Berni ...
s by popular vote. He was described as one of "the old guard that never surrendered".


Legacy

Nelson Dewey State Park was created in 1935 using land from Dewey's former Stonefield estate. An 11-mile portion of Wisconsin state highway 81 from Cassville to the intersection of state highway 35 in Grant County was designated Nelson Dewey Memorial Highway by the Wisconsin Legislature.2011 Wisconsin Code 84.102 Governor Nelson Dewey Memorial Highway The former Nelson Dewey Generating Station was named after the governor.


Footnotes


References


External links


Dewey, Nelson 1813-1889
at Wisconsin Historical Society
Governor Nelson Dewey
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dewey, Nelson 1813 births 1889 deaths People from Lebanon, Connecticut American people of English descent Democratic Party governors of Wisconsin Members of the Wisconsin Territorial Legislature Democratic Party Wisconsin state senators People from Cassville, Wisconsin People from Morris, New York 19th-century American Episcopalians Wisconsin pioneers