5th Wisconsin Territorial Assembly

Legislative term of the Wisconsin Territory

←

4th

Wisconsin Legislature
Minnesota Territory

→

Wisconsin State Capitol, 1855

Overview

Legislative body

Legislative Assembly of the Wisconsin Territory

Meeting place

Capitol Building, Madison

Term

January 4, 1847 – May 29, 1848

Election

September 28, 1846

Council

Members

President

Horatio Wells (D)

Party control

Democratic

House of Representatives

Members

Speaker

William Shew (D)
^{(1st session)}
Isaac P. Walker (D)
^{(special session)}
Timothy Burns (D)
^{(2nd session)}

Party control

Democratic

Sessions

1st	January 4, 1847 – February 11, 1847
2nd	February 7, 1848 – March 13, 1848

Special sessions

Special	October 18, 1847 – October 27, 1847

The Fifth Legislative Assembly of the Wisconsin Territory convened from January 4, 1847, to February 11, 1847, and from February 7, 1848, to March 13, 1848, in regular session. The Assembly also convened in special session from October 18, 1847, to October 27, 1847, to organize a second constitutional convention after the failure to adopt the first Wisconsin Constitution.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]

During this Assembly term, Wisconsin was attempting to achieve statehood. A constitution was drafted at a convention in the Fall of 1846 and was put to the voters at the spring election held April 6, 1847. The voters overwhelmingly rejected this document.^[5] New delegates were elected at a special election held November 29, 1847, and a new constitution was drafted that Winter. The new constitution was approved by the voters on March 13, 1848.^[6]

Major events

March 29, 1847: United States forces under General Winfield Scott took Veracruz after a siege.
April 6, 1847: Wisconsin Territory voters rejected the 1st Constitution of Wisconsin.
September 14, 1847: United States forces under General Winfield Scott entered Mexico City, marking the end of organized Mexican resistance.
December 15, 1847 – February 1, 1848: The second Wisconsin constitutional convention was held in Madison, Wisconsin Territory.^[1]
January 24, 1848: James W. Marshall found gold at Sutter's Mill, in Coloma, California, setting off the California Gold Rush.
January 31, 1848: Construction of the Washington Monument began in Washington, D.C.
February 2, 1848: The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ended the Mexican–American War.
February 22 – February 24, 1848: Riots in Paris forced the abdication of King Louis Philippe I and the resignation of Prime Minister François Guizot in the French Revolution of 1848.
March 13, 1848: Wisconsin Territory voters ratified the 2nd Constitution of Wisconsin.
March 15, 1848: Mass protests in Pest forced the Austrian Empire to accept Hungarian claims of self-determination in the Hungarian Revolution of 1848.
March 18, 1848: Hundreds were killed in a protest in Berlin associated with the German revolutions of 1848–1849.
May 29, 1848: Wisconsin was admitted to the United States as the 30th U.S. state.

Major legislation

January 14, 1847: An Act to incorporate the Lawrence Institute of Wisconsin.^[2]^: 5–8
February 4, 1847: An Act to incorporate the Nashotah House.^[2]^: 53–55
October 27, 1847: An Act in relation to the formation of a State Government in Wisconsin, and to change the time for holding the annual session of the Legislature.^[3]^: 3–11

Sessions

1st session: January 4, 1847 – February 11, 1847
Special session: October 18, 1847 – October 27, 1847
2nd session: February 7, 1848 – March 13, 1848

Leadership

Council President

Horatio Wells (D) – during all three sessions

Speaker of the House of Representatives

William Shew (D) – during 1st session
Isaac P. Walker (D) – during the special session
Timothy Burns (D) – during 2nd session

Members

Members of the Council

Members of the Council for the Fifth Wisconsin Territorial Assembly:

Counties	Councillor	Session(s)			Party
Counties	Councillor	1st	Spec.	2nd	Party
Brown, Calumet, Columbia, Fond du Lac, Manitowoc, Marquette, Portage, & Winnebago	Mason C. Darling	Y	Y	Y	Dem.
Crawford, Chippewa, La Pointe, & St. Croix	Benjamin F. Manahan	Y	Y	Y	Dem.
Dane, Green, & Sauk	Alexander L. Collins	Y	Y	Y	Whig
Dodge & Jefferson	John E. Holmes	Y	Y	Y	Dem.
Grant	Orris McCartney	Y	Y	Y
Iowa, Lafayette, & Richland	William Singer	Y
Iowa, Lafayette, & Richland	Ninian E. Whiteside		Y	Y	Dem.
Milwaukee	Horation N. Wells	Y	Y	Y	Dem.
Racine	Frederick S. Lovell	Y	Y	Y	Dem.
	Marshall Strong	Y			Dem.
	Philo White		Y	Y	Dem.
Rock	Andrew Palmer	Y	Y	Y	Dem.
Sheboygan & Washington	Chauncey M. Phelps	Y	Y	Y	Dem.
Walworth	Henry Clark	Y	Y	Y
Waukesha	Joseph Turner	Y	Y	Y	Dem.

Members of the House of Representatives

Members of the House of Representatives for the Fifth Wisconsin Territorial Assembly:

Counties	Representative	Session(s)			Party
Counties	Representative	1st	Spec.	2nd	Party
Brown, Calumet, Columbia, Fond du Lac, Manitowoc, Marquette, Portage, & Winnebago	Elisha Morrow	Y
	Hugh McFarlane	Y			Dem.
	Moses S. Gibson		Y	Y
	George W. Featherstonhaugh Jr.		Y	Y
Crawford, Chippewa, La Pointe, & St. Croix	Joseph W. Furber	Y			Whig
Crawford, Chippewa, La Pointe, & St. Croix	Henry Jackson		Y	Y
Dane, Green, & Sauk	Charles Lum	Y
	William A. Wheeler	Y			Dem.
	John W. Stewart	Y	Y	Y	Whig
	Elisha T. Gardner		Y	Y	Dem.
	Alexander Botkin		Y	Y	Whig
Dodge & Jefferson	George W. Green	Y
	John T. Haight	Y
	James Giddings	Y
	Levi P. Drake		Y	Y
	Horace D. Patch		Y	Y
	James Hanrahan		Y	Y
Grant	Armstead C. Brown	Y			Whig
	William Richardson	Y
	Noah H. Virgin		Y	Y	Whig
	Daniel R. Burt		Y	Y	Whig
Iowa, Lafayette, & Richland	Timothy Burns	Y	Y	Y	Dem.
	James D. Jenkins	Y			Dem.
	Thomas Chilton	Y
	Montgomery M. Cothren		Y	Y	Dem.
	Charles Pole		Y	Y
Milwaukee	William Shew	Y			Dem.
	Andrew Sullivan	Y
	William W. Brown	Y			Whig
	Isaac P. Walker		Y	Y	Dem.
	James Holliday		Y	Y	Whig
	Asa Kinney		Y	Y	Dem.
Racine	Uriah Wood	Y
	Elisha Raymond	Y
	G. F. Newell		Y	Y
	Dudley Cass		Y	Y
Rock	Jared G. Winslow	Y
	James M. Burgess	Y
	Daniel C. Babcock		Y	Y
	George H. Williston		Y	Y
Sheboygan & Washington	Harrison C. Hobart	Y			Dem.
Sheboygan & Washington	Benjamin H. Mooers		Y	Y^{[note 1]}	Dem.
Walworth	Charles A. Bronson	Y
	Palmer Gardiner	Y
	Eleazer Wakeley		Y	Y	Dem.
	George Walworth		Y	Y
Waukesha	Joseph Bond	Y			Dem.
	Chauncey G. Heath	Y			Dem.
	George B. Reed		Y	Y	Dem.
	Leonard Martin		Y	Y

Employees

Council employees

Secretary:^[1]
- Thomas McHugh, all sessions
Sergeant-at-Arms:
- John Bevins, 1st session
- Edward P. Lockhart, special & 2nd sessions

House employees

Chief Clerk:^[1]
- La Fayette Kellogg, all sessions
Sergeant-at-Arms:
- E. R. Hugunin, 1st & special sessions
- John Mullanphy, 2nd session

Notes

^ Resigned in protest February 25, 1848.

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Heg, J. E., ed. (1882). "Annals of the Legislature" (PDF). The Blue Book of the State of Wisconsin (Report). State of Wisconsin. pp. 172–174. Retrieved August 30, 2021.
^ ^a ^b ^c Laws of the Territory of Wisconsin passed at the annual session of the Legislature. Madison, Wisconsin: Wisconsin Territory. 1847. Retrieved August 30, 2021.
^ ^a ^b Laws of Wisconsin Territory passed at the Special Session of the Legislative Assembly. Madison, Wisconsin: Wisconsin Territory. 1847. Retrieved August 30, 2021.
^ Laws of Wisconsin Territory passed by the Legislative Assembly. Madison, Wisconsin: Wisconsin Territory. 1848. Retrieved August 30, 2021.
^ "Honor to Wisconsin!". Milwaukee Sentinel. April 13, 1847. p. 2. Retrieved August 30, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "The New Constitution". The Weekly Wisconsin. March 22, 1848. p. 1. Retrieved August 30, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.