Thomas G. Stephens (April 6, 1818 –?) was an American

lead smelter Plants for the production of lead are generally referred to as lead smelters. Primary lead production begins with sintering. Concentrated lead ore is fed into a sintering machine with iron, silica, limestone fluxes, coke, soda ash, pyrite, zinc, ...

from Hazel Green,

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 ...

who served one term as a member of the

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from

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as part of the "Liberal Reform" or "People's Reform" Party in 1873.

Background

Stephens was born in Cornwall England on April 6, 1818. He received a public school education, and went into the

smelting Smelting is a process of applying heat and a chemical reducing agent to an ore to extract a desired base metal product. It is a form of extractive metallurgy that is used to obtain many metals such as iron-making, iron, copper extraction, copper ...

trade. He came to Wisconsin in 1841 and settled in Hazel Green.

Elective office

In 1866, and again from 1896 to 1872, he served as Town Chairman for the Town of Hazel Green. In 1873 he was elected to the first Grant County Assembly district (the

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Harrison Harrison may refer to: People * Harrison (name) * Harrison family of Virginia, United States Places Australia * Harrison, Australian Capital Territory, suburb in the Canberra district of Gungahlin Canada * Inukjuak, Quebec, or "Port H ...

, Hazel Green, Jamestown,

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, Platteville and Smelser) as part of the "Reform", "Liberal Reform" or "People's Reform" Party, a short-lived

coalition A coalition is formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political, military, or economic spaces. Formation According to ''A G ...

of Democrats,

reform Reform refers to the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc. The modern usage of the word emerged in the late 18th century and is believed to have originated from Christopher Wyvill's Association movement, which ...

and

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * Generally, a supporter of the political philosophy liberalism. Liberals may be politically left or right but tend to be centrist. * An adherent of a Liberal Party (See also Liberal parties by country ...

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, and

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which secured the election of Stephens and a number of others, as well as of

William Robert Taylor William Robert Taylor (July 10, 1820March 17, 1909) was an American politician and the 12th governor of Wisconsin from 1874 to 1876. Early life Taylor was born in Woodbury, Connecticut. He was orphaned at age 6 when his father's ship was lost a ...

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

in 1873. He won 951 votes, to 775 for Hanmer Robbins, the Republican nominee (Republican incumbent George Cabanis was not a candidate). He was assigned to the

standing committee A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly or other form of organization. A committee may not itself be considered to be a form of assembly or a decision-making body. Usually, an assembly o ...

on incorporations.Turner, A. J., ed. ''The legislative manual of the state of Wisconsin: comprising the constitution of the United States and of the state of Wisconsin, Jefferson's manual, forms and laws for the regulation of business; also, lists and tables for reference, etc.'' Twelfth Annual Edition. Madison: Atwood and Culver, Printers and Stereotypers, 1873; pp. 346, 444, 465
/ref> He was not a candidate for re-election the next year, and was succeeded by Democrat Thomas Jenkins.

References

1818 births American people of Cornish descent British emigrants to the United States Members of the Wisconsin State Assembly People from Hazel Green, Wisconsin Wisconsin Reformers (19th century) Smelters (occupation) Year of death missing 19th-century members of the Wisconsin Legislature {{Wisconsin-WIAssembly-stub