Eliphalet S. Miner

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E. S. Miner
Member of the Wisconsin Senate
In office
January 1, 1872 – January 6, 1873
Preceded byWaldo Flint
Succeeded byThomas B. Scott
Constituency29th district
In office
January 2, 1871 – January 1, 1872
Preceded byWilliam J. Kershaw
Succeeded byFrancis Little
Constituency9th district
Member of the Wisconsin State Assembly
from the Juneau district
In office
January 2, 1865 – January 7, 1867
Preceded byLyman Clark
Succeeded byEzra C. Sage
County Judge of Adams County, Wisconsin
In office
April 1848 – January 5, 1863
Preceded byPosition established
Succeeded bySolon W. Pierce
Personal details
Born(1818-03-20)March 20, 1818
Madison, New York, U.S.
DiedFebruary 9, 1890(1890-02-09) (aged 71)
Necedah, Wisconsin, U.S.
Resting placeBayview Cemetery, Necedah, Wisconsin
Political party
Spouse(s)
Serena Elliott
​
(m. 1845⁠–⁠1890)​
ChildrenEdward, Ella, Frances, Julius, Mary, John

Eliphalet Steele Miner (March 20, 1818 – February 9, 1890) was an American merchant, Republican politician, and Wisconsin pioneer. He was the first American settler at Necedah, Wisconsin, and represented Juneau County for four years in the Wisconsin Legislature.[1] He was also the first county judge of Adams County, Wisconsin, despite not having a legal background. In historical documents, his name is frequently abbreviated as E. S. Miner.

Early life[]

Miner was born on March 20, 1818, in Madison, New York.[2] At age 10, he came west with his family to the Green Bay, which was then part of the Michigan Territory. His father was a Presbyterian missionary, preaching to the Stockbridge Indians.[3] Just a few months after their arrival, before their home had been finished, the family was stricken with Dysentery, which killed Miner's father and infant sister.[4] Eliphalet and his siblings were also sick at the time, and his mother brought the children back to New York, where they remained until 1834.[5]

Wisconsin pioneer[]

In 1834, he returned to the west, laboring on a farm in Illinois until 1841, when he returned to the Wisconsin Territory with his earnings.[5] That year, he was an early settler at what is now Grand Rapids, Wisconsin—he opened a general store there with merchandise from Illinois. His store quickly also became the local post office, and in 1843 he was the first appointed postmaster at Grand Rapids.[5] He was also elected to the Portage County board of supervisors—Portage County at that time stretched all the way from the major bend in the Wisconsin River all the way to the northern border of the Wisconsin Territory.

During these years, he also married and began a family.[5]

In 1847, Governor Henry Dodge appointed him public administrator for Portage County, and the Territorial Assembly authorized him and an associate to build dams along the Wisconsin River in the vicinity of Grand Rapids to improve the navigability, and to collect tolls from cargo rafts floating through their improvements.[6] In 1848, Miner went into business with John T. Kingston and others in the firm T. Weston & Co., to profit from lumber transportation on the Wisconsin River and its Yellow River tributary. The firm operated successfully and Miner remained a stockholder through at least 1881, when it became the Necedah Lumbering Company.[5]

In the Spring of 1848, during the last session of the Wisconsin Territory government before statehood, the Assembly created Adams County from the southwest corner of Portage County. At the first election of this new county, held in April 1848, Eliphalet Miner was elected county judge.[5] Despite having no legal education, he was re-elected several times and held the office through 1862.[7]

While serving as judge, he relocated to Necedah, Wisconsin, in May 1850.[5] Necedah became part of Juneau County when it was created in 1857, but the new county remained attached to Adams County for judicial purposes for several years after. Miner and his family were the first known settlers at Necedah.[8] In Necedah, he maintained a store and was appointed the first postmaster there when the mail route was extended to that place. Necedah was organized as a town in 1853, at which point Miner was chosen as town treasurer and justice of the peace.[5]

Political career[]

During the 1860s, Miner was associated with the National Union Party—the branding of the Republican Party during the American Civil War. On the Union ticket, he was elected to two terms (1865, 1866) in the Wisconsin State Assembly, representing Juneau County.[9] In 1870, he was elected on the Republican ticket to the Wisconsin State Senate to represent the 9th State Senate district. Redistricting occurred in the 1871 session, and became the representative of the 29th State Senate district for the 1872 session.[10] During the 1871 session, he was one of a number of legislators appointed to a special committee to investigate the state penal and charitable institutions.[8]

In 1871, three-term Republican Governor Lucius Fairchild did not intend to run for a fourth term. Miner was a candidate for the Republican nomination for Governor that year, but received only minor support at the Republican state convention, with most of the delegates split between the eventual winner, Civil War general Cadwallader C. Washburn, and William E. Smith, the former State Treasurer.[11]

Miner did not run for re-election to the Senate in 1872. He continued to serve as postmaster at Necedah until December 1885.[12]

Personal life and family[]

Miner was the eldest child of the Presbyterian missionary Reverend Jesse Miner and his wife Amanda (née Head). In November 1845, Eliphalet married Serena Elliott, an immigrant from Upper Canada. They had at least six children together.[5]

Miner died on February 9, 1890, after suffering heart failure.[8][13]

Electoral history[]

Wisconsin Senate (1870)[]

Wisconsin Senate, 9th District Election, 1870[2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
General Election, November 8, 1870
Republican Eliphalet S. Miner 3,440 64.38%
Democratic V. E. Smith 1,903 35.62%
Plurality 1,537 28.77%
Total votes 5,343 100.0%
Republican hold

References[]

  1. ^ "Members of the Wisconsin Legislature 1848 – 1999" (PDF). State of Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau. pp. 13, 84. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-04-04. Retrieved 2015-07-05.
  2. ^ a b "Official Directory" (PDF). The Legislative Manual of the State of Wisconsin (Report). State of Wisconsin. 1871. p. 365. Retrieved November 16, 2021.
  3. ^ "An Old Settler". Appleton Crescent. March 1, 1890. p. 5. Retrieved November 16, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ Thwaites, Reuben G., ed. (1900). "Report of Miner's Death". Collections of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin. Vol. XV. Wisconsin Historical Society. pp. 45–48. Retrieved November 16, 2021. |volume= has extra text (help)
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i History of Northern Wisconsin. Western Historical Company. 1881. pp. 60, 383–386. Retrieved November 16, 2021.
  6. ^ Laws of the Territory of Wisconsin passed at the annual session of the Legislature (Report). Madison, Wisconsin: Wisconsin Territory. 1847. Retrieved August 30, 2021.
  7. ^ Goc, Michael J. (1999). "County Government" (PDF). From Past to Present: the History of Adams County. New Past Press. p. 76. Retrieved November 16, 2021.
  8. ^ a b c "E. S. Miner Dead". Wisconsin State Journal. February 10, 1890. p. 1. Retrieved November 16, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ Barish, Lawrence S.; Lemanski, Lynn, eds. (2007). "Feature Article: Those Who Served: Wisconsin Legislators 1848–2007" (PDF). State of Wisconsin 2007-2008 Blue Book (Report). Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau. p. 109, 161. ISBN 978-0-9752820-2-1. Retrieved November 16, 2021.
  10. ^ Turner, A. J., ed. (1872). "Official Directory" (PDF). The Legislative Manual of the State of Wisconsin (Report). State of Wisconsin. p. 441. Retrieved November 16, 2021.
  11. ^ "State Republican Convention". Janesville Gazette. August 31, 1871. p. 1. Retrieved November 16, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ "Postmasters have been appointed". The Weekly Wisconsin. December 26, 1885. p. 8. Retrieved November 16, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ State Historical Society of Wisconsin, Reuben Gold Thwaites, Mary Elizabeth Haines (1890). PROCEEDINGS OF THE THIRTY-SEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING OF THE State Historical Society of Wisconsin. Madison, Wisconsin. p. 24. Retrieved 2015-07-05.CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link)

External links[]

Wisconsin State Assembly
Preceded by
Lyman Clark
 Member of the Wisconsin State Assembly from the Juneau district
January 2, 1865 – January 7, 1867 		Succeeded by
Ezra C. Sage
Wisconsin Senate
Preceded by Member of the Wisconsin Senate from the 9th district
January 2, 1871 – January 1, 1872 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Member of the Wisconsin Senate from the 29th district
January 1, 1872 – January 6, 1873 		Succeeded by
Legal offices
New county government County Judge of Adams County, Wisconsin
April 1848 – January 5, 1863 		Succeeded by
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