6th Wisconsin Legislature

6th Wisconsin Legislature
← 5th 7th →
Wisconsin State Capitol, 1855
Overview
Legislative body	Wisconsin Legislature
Meeting place	Wisconsin State Capitol
Term	January 3, 1853 – January 2, 1854
Election	November 2, 1852
Senate
Members	25
Senate President	Timothy Burns Until September 21, 1853
President pro tempore	Duncan Reed
Party control	Democratic
Assembly
Members	82
Assembly Speaker	Henry L. Palmer
Party control	Democratic
Sessions
1st January 12, 1853 – April 4, 1853 Special June 6, 1853 – July 13, 1853

The Sixth Wisconsin Legislature convened from January 12, 1853, to April 4, 1853, in regular session. They reconvened from June 6 to July 13 to sit as a court of impeachment for Wisconsin Circuit Court Judge Levi Hubbell.

This was the first legislative session after the expansion and redistricting of the Senate and Assembly. The Senate grew from 19 to 25 seats; he Assembly grew from 66 to 82 seats.

Senators representing odd-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 odd-numbered senators were elected in the general election of November 2, 1852. 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 4, 1851, or were elected in the 1852 election for a newly created district and were serving a one-year term.^[1]

Major events[]

• March 4, 1853: Inauguration of Franklin Pierce as the 14th President of the United States.
• March 5, 1853: Wisconsin State Assembly voted to impeach Wisconsin Circuit Court Judge Levi Hubbell.
• July 11, 1853: Judge Levi Hubbell was acquitted in a trial of impeachment in the Wisconsin State Senate.
• September 21, 1853: Lieutenant Governor Timothy Burns died in office.
• November 8, 1853: William A. Barstow elected Governor of Wisconsin.

Major legislation[]

• February 11, 1853: Act to divide the County of La Crosse and create the County of Jackson, 1853 Act 8
• February 16, 1853: Act to incorporate the County of Shawanaw, 1853 Act 9
• March 4, 1853: Act to incorporate the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 1853 Act 17
• March 7, 1853: Act for the division of the county of Washington, and the creation of the county of Ozaukee, 1853 Act 21
• March 14, 1853: Act to divide Saint Croix, and create the counties of Pierce and Polk, 1853 Act 31
• March 19, 1853: Act to organize a Seventh Judicial Circuit, and to provide for the election of a Judge thereof, 1853 Act 40
• March 19, 1853: Act to provide for contesting elections of members of the Senate and Assembly, 1853 Act 41
• March 25, 1853: Act providing for the Geological Survey of the State, 1853 Act 47
• April 2, 1853: Act providing for the organization of Joint Stock Companies, 1853 Act 68
• June 6, 1853: Act to amend article four of the Constitution, 1853 Act 95, to change state senate terms from two years to four years. This act was eventually put to a referendum in 1854, where it was defeated by a 2-to-1 margin.
• July 6, 1853: Act to divide the county of Jackson, and create the counties of Buffalo and Clarke, 1853 Act 100
• July 6, 1853: Act to submit to the people the question of a Prohibitory Liquor Law, 1853 Act 101
• July 12, 1853: Act to provide for the punishment of murder in the first degree, and to abolish the penalty of death, 1853 Act 103. With this act, Wisconsin became the first U.S. state to abolish the death penalty.

Party summary[]

Senate summary[]

	Party (Shading indicates majority caucus)			Total
	Dem.	F.S.	Whig		Vacant
End of previous Legislature	12	1	6	19	0
Start of 1st Session	18	0	7	25	0
from May 1	17	0	7	24	1
from June 8	18	0	7	25	0
Final voting share	68%	0%	32%
Beginning of the next Legislature	22	0	3	25	0

Assembly summary[]

	Party (Shading indicates majority caucus)			Total
	Dem.	F.S.	Whig		Vacant
End of previous Legislature	28	6	32	66	0
1st Session	55	7	20	82	0
Final voting share	67%	9%	24%
Beginning of the next Legislature	51	4	27	82	0

Sessions[]

• 1st Regular session: January 12, 1853 – April 4, 1853
• Special Impeachment session: June 6, 1853 – July 13, 1853

Leaders[]

Senate leadership[]

• President of the Senate: Timothy Burns, Lieutenant Governor (Until his death, September 21, 1853)
• President pro tempore: Duncan Reed

Assembly leadership[]

• Speaker of the Assembly: Henry L. Palmer

Members[]

Members of the Senate[]

Members of the Wisconsin Senate for the Sixth Wisconsin Legislature (25):

District	Counties	Senator	Party	Residence
01	Calumet, Manitowoc, Sheboygan	Horatio N. Smith	Dem.	Sheboygan
02	Brown, Door, Oconto, Outagamie, Marathon, Portage, Waupaca	James S. Alban	Whig	Plover
03	Washington (Eastern Part)	Andrew M. Blair	Dem.	Fond du Lac
04	Washington (Western Part)	Baruch S. Weil	Dem.	West Bend
05	Milwaukee (Northern Half)	Edward M. Hunter	Dem.	Milwaukee
06	Milwaukee (Southern Half)	Duncan C. Reed	Dem.	Milwaukee
07	Racine	John W. Cary	Dem.	Racine
08	Kenosha	John R. Sharpstein	Dem.	Milwaukee
09	Waukesha (Northern Half)	George R. McLane	Dem.	Summit
10	Waukesha (Southern Half)	Marvin H. Bovee	Dem.	Waukesha
11	Dane	Thomas T. Whittlesey	Dem.	Madison
12	Walworth	Eleazer Wakeley	Dem.	Whitewater
13	Lafayette	E. B. West	Whig	Belmont
14	Jefferson	Alva Stewart	Whig	Fort Atkinson
15	Iowa, Richland	Levi Sterling	Whig	Mount Sterling
16	Grant	Joel C. Squires (Until May 1)	Dem.	Lancaster
		James W. Seaton (From June 8)	Dem.	Potosi
17	Rock (Western Half)	Ezra Miller	Dem.	Beloit
18	Rock (Eastern Half)	John R. Briggs Jr.	Whig	Beloit
19	Bad Ax, Chippewa, Crawford, La Crosse, La Pointe, St. Croix	Benjamin Allen	Dem.	Pepin
20	Fond du Lac	Bertine Pinckney	Dem.	Rosendale
21	Winnebago	Coles Bashford	Whig	Oshkosh
22	Dodge	Judson Prentice	Whig	Watertown
23	Adams, Marquette, Sauk, Waushara	David S. Vittum	Dem.	Baraboo
24	Green	Thomas S. Bowen	Dem.	Waupun
25	Columbia	James T. Lewis	Dem.	Columbus

Members of the Assembly[]

Members of the Assembly for the Sixth Wisconsin Legislature (82):

Senate District	County	District	Representative	Party	Redidence
23	Adams, Sauk		Charles Armstrong	Whig	Baraboo
19	Bad Ax, Crawford		Hiram A. Wright	Dem.	Prairie du Chien
02	Brown, Door, Kewaunee		Randall Wilcox	Dem.	De Pere
01	Calumet		James Robinson	Dem.	Chilton
19	Chippewa, La Crosse		Albert D. La Due	Dem.	La Crosse
25	Columbia	1	Orrin D. Coleman	Dem.	Marcellon
		2	John Q. Adams	Whig	Fall River
11	Dane	1	Perez C. Burdick	Dem.	Albion
		2	Henry L. Foster	Dem.	Deerfield
		3	Storer W. Field	Whig	Fitchburg
		4	Harry Barnes	Dem.	Middleton
		5	Mathew Roche	Dem.	Westport
22	Dodge	1	Edward N. Foster	Whig	Mayville
		2	Whitman Sayles	Dem.	Rubicon
		3	William M. Dennis	Dem.	Watertown
		4	Patrick Kelly	Dem.	Elba
		5	John W. Davis	Dem.	Fox Lake
		6	Edwin Hillyer	Dem.	Waupun
20	Fond du Lac	1	Nicholas M. Donaldson	Whig	Waupun
		2	Charles D. Gage	Dem.	New Fane
		3	Isaac S. Tallmadge	Dem.	Fond du Lac
		4	Querin Loehr	Dem.	Calumet
16	Grant	1	Henry D. York	Whig	Hazel Green
		2	Hyman E. Block	Whig	Potosi
		3	Titus Hayes	Whig	Platteville
		4	J. Allen Barber	Whig	Lancaster
		5	Jeremiah E. Dodge	Dem.	Lancaster
24	Green		Thomas Fenton	Dem.	Attica
15	Iowa	1	Henry Madden	Dem.	Dodgeville
		2	Phillip W. Thomas	Whig	Mineral Point
14	Jefferson	1	Patrick Rogan	Dem.	Watertown
		2	James H. Ostrander	Whig	Aztalan
		3	John Edwin Holmes	Dem.	Jefferson
		4	William W. Woodman	Dem.	Farmington
		5	David J. Powers	Whig	Palmyra
08	Kenosha	1	C. Latham Sholes	Free Soil	Kenosha
		2	James C. McKisson	Dem.	Wheatland
13	Lafayette	1	Eli Robinson	Dem.	Benton
		2	Philemon Simpson	Dem.	Shullsburg
		3	Nathan Olmsted	Dem.	Cottage Inn
19	La Pointe & St. Croix		Orrin T. Maxson	Dem.	Prescott
01	Manitowoc		Ezekiel Ricker	Dem.	Manitowoc
02	Marathon & Portage		George W. Cate	Dem.	Amherst
23	Marquette & Waushara	1	Edwin B. Kelsey	Dem.	Montello
		2	Ezra Wheeler	Dem.	Berlin
05	Milwaukee[2]	1	John Hubbard Tweedy	Whig	Milwaukee
		2	Herman Haertel (until May)	Dem.	Milwaukee
			R. N. Messenger (from June 5)	Dem.	Milwaukee
06		3	Edward McGarry	Dem.	Milwaukee
		4	Henry L. Palmer	Dem.	Milwaukee
		5	William A. Hawkins	Whig	Milwaukee
		6	Joseph Meyer	Dem.	Milwaukee
		7	Enoch Chase	Whig	Milwaukee
05		8	Henry C. West	Dem.	Milwaukee
		9	Richard Carlisle	Dem.	Milwaukee
02	Oconto, Outagamie, Waupaca		Arthur Resley	Dem.	Appleton
07	Racine	1	Horace T. Sanders	Dem.	Racine
		2	William H. Roe	Dem.	Mount Pleasant
		3	Thomas West	Dem.	Raymond
		4	Philo Belden	Whig	Burlington
15	Richland		Henry Conner	Dem.	Port Andrew
18	Rock	1	William D. Murray	Whig	Beloit
		2	Harvey Holmes	Dem.	Janesville
17		3	Charles Stevens	Dem.	Janesville
		4	Harrison Stebbins	Whig	Union
01	Sheboygan	1	David Taylor	Whig	Sheboygan
		2	Charles B. Coleman	Dem.	Greenbush
12	Walworth	1	James Lauderdale	Whig	La Grange
		2	John Bell	Dem.	Lafayette
		3	Oscar F. Bartlett	Free Soil	East Troy
		4	Thomas W. Hill	Free Soil	Springfield
		5	Joseph W. Seaver	Free Soil	Darien
		6	Timothy H. Fellows	Free Soil	Genoa
03	Washington	1	James W. Porter	Dem.	Port Washington
		2	Charles E. Chamberlain	Dem.	Grafton
04		3	Charles Schutte	Dem.	Meeker
		4	William P. Barnes	Dem.	Barton
09	Waukesha[3]	1	Elisha Pearl	Free Soil	Lisbon
		2	Orson Reed	Dem.	Summit
10		3	Edward Lees	Dem.	Ottawa
		4	Winchel D. Bacon	Free Soil	Waukesha
21	Winnebago	1	Lucas M. Miller	Dem.	Oshkosh
		2	Curtis Reed	Dem.	Menasha

Employees[]

Senate employees[]

• Chief Clerk: John K. Williams
• Sergeant-at-Arms: Thomas Hood

Assembly employees[]

• Chief Clerk: Thomas McHugh
• Sergeant-at-Arms: Richard F. Wilson

Changes from the 5th Legislature[]

The most significant structural change to the Legislature between the 5th and 6th sessions was the reapportionment and redistricting of legislative seats. The new districts were defined in 1852 Wisconsin Act 499, passed into law in the 5th Wisconsin Legislature.

Senate redistricting[]

Summary of changes[]

• 12 districts were simply renumbered without border adjustments.
• Waukesha County went from having one senator to two (9, 10).
• Rock County went from having one senator to two (17, 18).
• Washington County went from having one senator to two (3, 4)—the territory comprising the 3rd district became a separate county, Ozaukee, during the 6th Legislature.
• Columbia County became its own senate district (25), after previously having been in a shared district with Adams, Marathon, Marquette, Portage, Sauk, and Waushara.
• Fond du Lac and Winnebago counties became separate senate districts (20, 21), after previously having been in a shared district with Waupaca.
• Adams, Marquette, Sauk, and Waushara counties became a senate district (23).
• Calumet, Manitowoc, and Sheboygan counties became a senate district (1), separating from the previous vast multi-county northeast district.
• Brown, Door, Marathon, Oconto, Outagamie, Portage, and Waupaca counties constituted the new multi-county northeast district (2).

Senate districts[]

Dist.	9th Legislature	10th Legislature
1	Brown, Calumet, Door, Oconto, Manitowoc, Sheboygan counties	Calumet, Manitowoc, Sheboygan counties
2	Adams, Columbia, Marathon, Marquette, Portage, Sauk, Waushara counties	Brown, Door, Marathon, Oconto, Outagamie, Portage, Waupaca counties
3	Bad Ax, Chippewa, Crawford, La Crosse, La Pointe, St. Croix	Eastern Washington County (Ozaukee County)
4	Fond du Lac, Waupaca, Winnebago counties	Western Washington County (Washington County)
5	Iowa, Richland counties	Northern Milwaukee County
6	Grant County	Southern Milwaukee County
7	Lafayette County	Racine County
8	Green County	Kenosha County
9	Dane County	Northern Waukesha County
10	Dodge County	Southern Waukesha County
11	Washington County	Dane County
12	Jefferson County	Walworth County
13	Waukesha County	Lafayette County
14	Walworth County	Jefferson County
15	Rock County	Iowa, Richland counties
16	Kenosha County	Grant County
17	Racine County	Western Rock County
18	Southern Milwaukee County	Eastern Rock County
19	Northern Milwaukee County	Bad Ax, Chippewa, Crawford, La Crosse, La Pointe, St. Croix counties
20	Did not exist in 5th Legislature	Fond du Lac County
21		Winnebago County
22		Dodge County
23		Adams, Marquette, Sauk, Waushara counties
24		Green County
25		Columbia County

Assembly redistricting[]

Summary of changes[]

• Columbia County went from having 1 district to 2.
• Dane County went from having 3 districts to 5.
• Dodge County went from having 5 districts to 6.
• Fond du Lac County went from having 2 districts to 4.
• Grant County went from having 4 districts to 5.
• Iowa County went from having 1 district and 1 shared district with Richland to having 2 districts.
• Jefferson County went from having 3 districts to 5.
• Lafayette County went from having 2 districts to 3.
• Marquette and Waushara counties went from sharing 1 district to sharing 2 districts.
• Milwaukee County went from having 7 districts to 9.
• Racine County went from having 3 districts to 4.
• Richland County became its own assembly district, after previously having been in a shared district with Iowa County.
• Rock County went from having 5 districts to 4.
• Walworth County went from having 5 districts to 6.
• Washington County went from having 5 districts to 4—the eastern 2 districts became Ozaukee County during the 6th Legislature.
• Waukesha County went from having 5 districts to 4.

Assembly districts[]

County	Districts in 5th Legislature	Districts in 6th Legislature	Change
Adams	Shared with Marathon, Portage	Shared with Sauk
Bad Ax	Shared with Chippewa, Crawford, La Crosse	Shared with Crawford
Brown	Shared with Door, Kewaunee, Oconto, Outagamie	Shared with Door, Kewaunee
Calumet	1 District	1 District
Chippewa	Shared with Bad Ax, Crawford, La Crosse	Shared with La Crosse
Columbia	1 District	2 Districts
Crawford	Shared with Bad Ax, Chippewa, La Crosse	Shared with Bad Ax
Dane	3 Districts	5 Districts
Dodge	5 Districts	6 Districts
Door	Shared with Brown, Kewaunee, Oconto, Outagamie	Shared with Brown, Kewaunee
Fond du Lac	2 Districts	4 Districts
Grant	4 Districts	5 Districts
Green	1 District	1 District
Iowa	2 shared with Richland	2 Districts
Jefferson	3 Districts	5 Districts
Kenosha	2 Districts	2 Districts
Kewaunee	Shared with Brown, Door, Oconto, Outagamie	Shared with Brown, Door
La Crosse	Shared with Bad Ax, Chippewa, Crawford	Shared with Chippewa
La Pointe	Shared with St. Croix	Shared with St. Croix
Lafayette	2 Districts	3 Districts
Manitowoc	1 District	1 District
Marathon	Shared with Adams, Portage	Shared with Portage
Marquette	Shared with Waushara	2 Shared with Waushara
Milwaukee	7 Districts	9 Districts
Oconto	Shared with Brown, Door, Kewaunee, Outagamie	Shared with Outagamie, Waupaca
Outagamie	Shared with Brown, Door, Kewaunee, Oconto	Shared with Oconto, Waupaca
Portage	Shared with Adams, Marathon	Shared with Marathon
Racine	3 Districts	4 Districts
Richland	1 shared with Iowa	1 District
Rock	5 Districts	4 Districts
Sauk	1 District	Shared with Adams
Sheboygan	2 Districts	2 Districts
St. Croix	Shared with La Pointe	Shared with La Pointe
Walworth	5 Districts	6 Districts
Washington	5 Districts	4 Districts
Waukesha	5 Districts	4 Districts
Waupaca	Shared with Fond du Lac, Winnebago	Shared with Oconto, Outagamie
Waushara	Shared with Marquette	2 Shared with Marquette
Winnebago	Shared with Fond du Lac, Waupaca	2 Districts

References[]

External links[]