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Wyman Spooner

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The Honorable
Wyman Spooner
9th Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin
In office
January 1864 – January 3, 1870
GovernorJames T. Lewis
Lucius Fairchild
Preceded byEdward Salomon
Succeeded byThaddeus C. Pound
President pro tempore of the Wisconsin Senate
In office
January 5, 1863 – January 4, 1864
Preceded byGerry Whiting Hazelton
Succeeded bySmith S. Wilkinson
10th Speaker of the Wisconsin State Assembly
In office
January 5, 1857 – January 4, 1858
Preceded byWilliam Hull
Succeeded byFrederick S. Lovell
Wisconsin Circuit Court Judge for the 1st Circuit
In office
June 14, 1853 – September 26, 1853
Appointed byLeonard J. Farwell
Preceded byEdward V. Whiton
Succeeded byJames R. Doolittle
Member of the Wisconsin Senate
from the 12th district
In office
January 6, 1862 – January 4, 1864
Preceded byOscar Bartlett
Succeeded byNewton Littlejohn
Member of the Wisconsin State Assembly
from the Walworth 4th district
In office
January 7, 1861 – January 6, 1862
Preceded byJames Child
Succeeded byHollis Latham
In office
January 5, 1857 – January 4, 1858
Preceded byAsa W. Farr
Succeeded byJames Baker
Member of the Wisconsin State Assembly
from the Walworth 5th district
In office
January 7, 1850 – January 5, 1852
Preceded byMilo Kelsey
Succeeded byStephen Steele Barlow
Personal details
Born
Wyman Spooner

(1795-07-02)July 2, 1795
Hardwick, Massachusetts, U.S.
DiedNovember 18, 1877(1877-11-18) (aged 82)
Lyons, Wisconsin, U.S.
Resting placeHazel Ridge Cemetery, Elkhorn, Wisconsin
Political partyRepublican (1854-1876)
Democratic (after 1876)
Free Soil (before 1854)
Spouse
Elizabeth Fish
(m. 1818; died 1877)
Children3
Professionlawyer, printer, politician
Signature

Wyman Spooner (July 2, 1795 – November 18, 1877)[1] was an American printer, lawyer, politician, and Wisconsin pioneer. He was the 9th Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin, the 10th Speaker of the Wisconsin State Assembly, and President pro tempore of the Wisconsin Senate for the 1863 session.

Background

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He was born in 1795 in Hardwick, Massachusetts, where he worked as a printer. He studied law in Vermont and was admitted to the Vermont bar. In 1835, he moved to Canton, Ohio, where he practiced law. In 1842, he moved to what is now Elkhorn, Wisconsin.

Public office

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From 1847 until 1849 he served as Walworth County's probate judge. He then became a Wisconsin Circuit Court judge. Spooner was an abolitionist and initially a Freesoiler. He was elected in 1849 and 1850 for two one-year terms as a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly from Walworth County's 5th Assembly district. He became a Republican in 1854 upon the organization of that party, and was elected to two additional terms (1857 and 1861) before advancing to the Wisconsin State Senate's 12th District from 1862 until 1863. He served three terms as the ninth Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin, from 1864 until 1870 under Governors James T. Lewis and Lucius Fairchild.

In 1872 he supported Liberal Republican Horace Greeley for the presidency of the United States. He renounced his membership in the Republican Party entirely in 1876, heading the slate of Democratic presidential electors for nominee Samuel J. Tilden.[2] He died in 1877 in Lyons, Wisconsin.

Sources

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  • "Wisconsin Constitutional Officers; Lieutenant Governors" (PDF). State of Wisconsin Blue Book 2005–2006. Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau. July 2005. p. 31. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 25, 2007. Retrieved October 6, 2007.

References

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  1. ^ .History of Royalton, Vermont: with family genealogies, 1769-1911,' vol 1, Mary Evelyn Lovejoy Wood, Free Press Printing Company, Royalton, Vermont: 1911, Biographical Sketch of Wyman Spooner, pg. 626-627
  2. ^ "Term: Spooner, Wyman 1795 - 1877" in Dictionary of Wisconsin History, Wisconsin Historical Society; accessed April 5, 2013
Party political offices
Preceded by Republican nominee for Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin
1863, 1865, 1867
Succeeded by
Wisconsin State Assembly
Preceded by Member of the Wisconsin State Assembly from the Walworth 5th district
January 7, 1850 – January 5, 1852
Succeeded by
Preceded by
Asa W. Farr
Member of the Wisconsin State Assembly from the Walworth 4th district
January 5, 1857 – January 4, 1858
Succeeded by
James Baker
Preceded by
James Child
Member of the Wisconsin State Assembly from the Walworth 4th district
January 7, 1861 – January 6, 1862
Succeeded by
Preceded by Speaker of the Wisconsin State Assembly
January 5, 1857 – January 4, 1858
Succeeded by
Wisconsin Senate
Preceded by Member of the Wisconsin Senate from the 12th district
January 6, 1862 – January 4, 1864
Succeeded by
Preceded by President pro tempore of the Wisconsin Senate
January 5, 1863 – January 4, 1864
Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin
January 1864 – January 3, 1870
Succeeded by
Legal offices
Preceded by Wisconsin Circuit Court Judge for the 1st Circuit
June 14, 1853 – September 26, 1853
Succeeded by