perimented with stock raising and exporting; in 1841 he built flatboats and sent the produce of his place via the Rock and Mississippi rivers to New Orleans. In 1842 he married and removed to Byron and a few months later to Rockford, where he established a furniture business. In 1844 he opened a general store at the town of White Oak Springs, Lafayette County, Wisconsin, where he also conducted some mining operations. Thence he was elected to the convention as a Whig, having been for some years a member of that party. In the convention he was a member of the committee on finance. In 1848 Mr. White removed to Chicago, but after two years in that city he returned to his Ogle County home and there spent the remainder of his life. He was a member of the Illinois legislature in 1857-58 and town supervisor for seventeen or eighteen years. His home was the seat of a wide hospitality and Mr. White was favorably known throughout all of northern Illinois. Despite his Virginia origin he became a Republican and strongly supported the government during the Civil War. He died July 16, 1890 at his estate in Ogle County. National Magazine, April, 1893; Manuscript record.
NINIAN EDWARDS WHITESIDE was the only member of the convention who was a native of Illinois. The Whiteside family was one of the earliest American groups to settle on what was called "The American Bottom," in St. Clair and Madison counties. They came there in the latter part of the eighteenth century, and were defenders of the frontier in the War of 1812. Moses Whiteside was a miner in Wisconsin as early as 1828; his relative, Ninian Whiteside, probably came to the territory somewhat later, since he was not born until 1819. He became popular with his neighbors, and after his service in the convention wherein he served on the committee on the executive, he was chosen a member of the territorial council for its last two sessions. 1847-48. In the latter year he represented Belmont in the first state assembly, was nominated for speaker by the Democrats, and elected to that office. Soon thereafter he sought the goid mines of California, and, so far as is known, never returned to Wisconsin. The date of his death is not known. Tenney and Atwood, Memorial Record, 183.
VICTOR M. WILLARD had come from New York, where he was born in 1813, to Wisconsin but a short time before the convention in which he represented as a Democrat Waterford, Racine County. In that body he served on the committee on admission of the state. Mr. Willard was elected to the state senate in 1849 for a term of two years. Nothing has been ascertained of his later career. Tenney and Atwood, Memorial Record, 183.
JOEL F. WILSON was born at Rupert, Bennington County, Vermont, February 18, 1801. He became an expert millwright and in that capacity removed to Hebron, New York, after his marriage in 1824 to Electa Munson. Twenty years later Mr. Wilson brought his family to Wisconsin, where the first year was spent at Waukesha. In 1845 Mr. Wilson moved his family north to Washington County and became one of the earliest settlers of the village of Hartford. From there he was chosen on the Democratic ticket to the constitutional convention, in which he served on the committee on admission of the state. Mr. Wilson went to Hartford in order to build a sawmill;
afterwards he purchased a mill site and built a mill for his own purposes. He was justice of the peace, chairman of Hartford's first board of supervisors, and held several offices of honor and trust. He was highly respected in the community, where he died November 29, 1860. History of Washington and Ozaukee Counties (Chicago, 1881), 594.
SUMMARY OF STATISTICS FOR THE FIRST CONSTITUTIONAL
The convention of 1846 was composed of one hundred twenty-four members; of these forty-six were born in New York; twenty-one in Vermont; nine each in Connecticut and Massachusetts. Six were natives of Pennsylvania, three each of New Jersey, Virginia, and Kentucky. South Carolina was the birthplace of two; from Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Maryland, Tennessee, and Illinois there was one apiece. From Europe there had come seven from Ireland, three each from England and Germany. The native places of three are unknown. Summed up by sections: forty-two were from New England; fifty-five from the Middle States; ten from the South; one from the Middle West; and thirteen from foreign lands. It should be noted that the preponderance from New York and the Middle States is not so great as appears, many of the parents of those born in New York having removed there from New England.
In politics one hundred three of the entire number were elected as Democrats; eighteen were Whigs, and three independents. Farmers were in the majority, forty-nine of the members devoting to agriculture their entire time, while those engaged in other pursuits for the most part also had farms. Twenty-six were lawyers, three physicians, two editors, and one a teacher. Twelve had sought Wisconsin in order to engage in mining; most of these, however, combined this occupation with farming. Eight were surveyors or land agents; three were lumbermen. Six each were either merchants, mechanics, or manufacturers (including millers). One was an Indian agent, and one the founder and manager of a coöperative rural community.
ABOLITIONISTS. See Antislavery
Historical Index-6253-Gal. 1
and Negro Suffrage.
Adjournment of convention, dis-
cussed, 144, 350, 363-64, 369-71,
373, 387, 605, 611, 617; recon-
sidered, 540, 584; resolution for,
700, 710; accomplished, 713.
Administrative officers, article on,
735; compensation for, 394.
Admission of state, committee on,
58; report, 267, 392; resolution,
135, 193, 298-99; reference to,
310, 314; article on, 559, 733; en-
grossed, 579; approved, 611; re-
lation to boundaries, 559-61, 670-
73.
Agry, David, member from Brown
County, 15; in the chair, 117,
128, 136, 138, 143, 147; intro-
duces resolution, 17, 28; motion,
30-31, 362, 408; on committee,
41, 57, 63-64, 66, 325, 450; votes,
56, 714-30; chairman of legisla-
tive committee, 57, 402, 404, 458;
offers substitute, 365; calls for
question, 401; moves adjourn-
ment, 401, 451; absent, 333, 479,
508, 519, 529, 541, 545, 551;
leave of absence, 510, 552;
sketch, 756.
Alabama, precedents from, 527.
Albany Evening Journal, cited, 233.
Aliens. See Foreigners.
Alton (Ill.), municipal courts, 494,
500.
Amendments, committee on, 58; re-
port, 191-92; article debated,
339-40; amended, 339-40, 350;
engrossed, 349; adopted, 350;
final form, 750.
Antirent movement, in New York,
450.
Antislavery, lecture on, 685. See
also Negro Suffrage.
Apportionment, resolution concern-
ing, 177, 483, 491; provision for,
211; select committee for, 450,
681-82; report on, 458-60, 479,
620-22, 687-88; debate, 465-69,
479-82, 621, 622-25, 679-83;
changes, 697, 701; article, 735-
38; for Congressional districts,
578, 687-88, 753. See also Sched-
ule.
Arbitration, proposed court for, 93,
294-95, 528; article on, 531, 742.
Attorney-general. See Administra-
tive officers.
Atwood, Elihu L., member from
Jefferson County, 16; votes, 56,
714-30; on committee, 58; ab-
sent, 357, 670, 673; signs consti-
tution, 755; sketch, 756.
BABCOCK, Barnes, member from
Waukesha County, 16; votes, 56,
714-30; on committee, 58; leave
of absence, 177, 200; sketch, 756.
Babcock, John M., member from
Dane County, 15; votes, 56, 714-
30; on committee, 58, 267; leave
of absence, 271, 519, 670; absent,
453, 479, 628, 701; signs consti-
tution, 754; sketch, 757.
Baird, Henry S., member from
Brown County, 15; votes, 56,
714-30; on committees, 17, 57,
63-64, 66, 329; motion, 44-45, 48,
269, 309, 486, 550; introduces
resolutions, 18, 370-71, 387, 452,
455; chairman of committee on
local government, 57, 271-72; in
the chair, 204, 206, 213, 216, 221,
235, 416, 541-42; moves to
amend, 309, 351, 517; to table,
296, 416; recess, 365, 450, 526,
554, 568; call of house, 605; calls
division, 554-55; moves to re-
consider, 611-12; remarks on
harmony, 21, 23, 66, 274, 520;
on judiciary, 497, 504-505, 587;
remarks in general, 282, 352, 387-
88, 439, 560, 580; asks leave,
401, 551; leave of absence, 617;
sketch, 757-58.
Baker, Charles M., member from
Walworth County, 16; nomina-
tion, 27; votes, 56, 714-30; in
the chair, 98, 103-104; chairman
judiciary committee, 58, 286, 292,
295-96, 578-79; on committees,
17, 41, 682; presents credentials,
43, 55, 135; introduces resolu-
tions, 17, 524, 579, 627, 638; mo-
tions, 34, 76, 144, 491, 525;
moves to reconsider, 509, 540,
584; to amend, 18-19, 41,
44, 55, 68-70, 78, 213, 221,
239-40, 456, 537, 557, 611, 623,
685-86, 688, 701, 703-704, 708;
to adjourn, 30, 510, 677; to table,
525; offers substitutes, 151-52,
159-60; general remarks, 46–48,
52, 205, 208, 222, 228, 268, 282,
306, 308, 321, 451, 501, 513, 527,
560; on banking, 109, 117-20,
126, 181, 490, 520; asks leave,
177, 267, 684; leave of absence,
310; absent, 453, 519, 612; signs
constitution, 754; sketch, 758.
Baldwin, Judge Roger S., cited,
372, 381-83.
Balloting, amendment for, 204-206;
section on,
743.
Banks and Banking, committee on,
58; report, 70-71, 154; minority
report, 91-92, 117; substitute,
124-25, 159-60, 181-87, 200; de-
bate on, 84-87, 98-116, 117–34,
136, 138-43, 147-76, 178-87, 200-
204, 470-78, 688–97; amendment,
178-81, 186, 196-97, 584, 689-90;
article adopted, 194-96, 201, 204;
reconsideration of, 362, 493–94,
507-510, 512, 524, 540, 550, 584,
605, 611; separate vote on, 462-
63, 470, 553, 585, 703; petition
on, 508-10, 626, 695; final form,
744-45.
Barber, Hiram, member from Dodge
County, 15; in the chair, 300,
480; votes, 56, 714-30; on com-
mittees, 58, 371, 385, 450; pre-
sents credentials, 107; introduces
resolutions, 553, 585; motions, 58,
371, 452; moves to amend, 309,
606-607, 615, 641, 688; general
remarks, 59-62, 368-69, 379-80,
398-400, 439, 451, 466-69, 516,
521, 531, 543, 590; remarks on
banking, 148, 195, 692, 697; on
suffrage, 207; asks leave, 455;
leave of absence, 701; absent,
541, 545, 603, 612; signs consti-
tution, 755; sketch, 758-59.
Barber, Joel Allen, member from
Grant County, admitted, 89; on
committees, 63, 65; votes, 714-
30; introduces resolutions, 350;
offers substitute, 373; motion,
322, 495, 501-502, 670; moves to
amend, 297, 321, 354, 360-61,
393, 410, 526-27, 688; general
remarks, 309, 351, 392-93; re-
marks on capital punishment,
426-30; on foreign suffrage, 235-
38, 252, 254-55, 257; on internal
improvements, 324; eulogy of
Burnett, 439-42; asks leave, 684;
leave of absence, 541, 701; ab-
sent, 612; sketch, 759.
Barnard, Henry, lecture, 136; in-
vited to floor, 144.
Baxter and Hall, account, 673; al-
lowed, 706.
Beall, Samuel W., member from
Marquette County, 16, 466;
votes, 56, 714-30; chairman com-
mittee on schedule, 58, 578; re-
port, 576; on committee, 450; in-
troduces resolutions, 92, 272, 284;
motions, 320, 525; moves
amend, 365, 387, 409, 537, 586,
641, 687; to table, 97; calls ques-
tion, 389; vote on suffrage, 268;
remarks, 56, 97, 146, 178, 368-
69, 381, 392, 439, 674; remarks
on banking, 121, 123-28, 162-63,
180-82, 696; leave of absence,
698; absent, 356-57, 508, 529,
541, 545, 689; signs constitution,
755; sketch, 759–60.
Bell, William, member from Wal-
worth County, 16; votes, 56,
714-30; on committees, 57, 482-
83; introduces resolution, 689-
90, 698; leave of absence, 271;
absent, 453, 612, 673; signs con-
stitution, 755; sketch, 760.
Bennett, James, witness, 456.
Bennett, Stephen O., member from
Racine County, 16; votes, 56,
714-30; on committees, 58, 177,
401, 682; offers substitutes, 268,
368, 372, 385; introduces resolu-
tions, 689, 703, 711; moves to
amend, 409-10; absent, 519, 541,
545, 608, 673, 680; leave of ab-
sence, 271; signs constitution,
754; sketch, 760-61.
Benton, Thomas Hart, cited, 231.
Berry, William, member from Wal-
worth County, admitted, 135;
votes, 714-30; on committee, 340;
moves to adjourn, 357, 394, 401;
moves to amend, 453; remarks,
229, 322; asks leave, 310; absent,
519, 545, 551, 608; leave of ab-
sence, 628-29, 673, 684; sketch,
761.
Bevans, Lorenzo, member from
Grant County, 15; in the chair,
615, 617; votes, 56, 714-30; pre-
sents credentials, 89; chairman
municipal committee, 58, 310-11;
report, 490-91, 686; on commit-
tees, 41, 371, 385, 682; introduces
resolutions, 627, 637; motions,
17, 285, 366, 370, 374, 611,
617, 681; moves to amend,
218-19, 336, 351, 360, 389-90,
409, 704; calls division, 274; re-
marks, 129, 159, 181, 216, 222,
224-25, 252, 274, 306, 371, 378-
79, 481, 516, 580, 590; remarks
on banking, 152, 157-58; on edu-
cation, 572-75; asks leave, 271,
325, 402; absent, 479, 673, 680;
signs constitution, 755; sketch,
761.
Bill of rights, committee on, 58; re-
port, 301-303, 490; debate on,
365-85, 387-89, 517-23; article,
engrossed, 524; adopted, 526;
final form, 748-50.
Bird, A. A., superintendent of pub-
lic property, 335, 352, 359, 362.
Black River, watershed, 565.
Blackstone, Sir William, cited, 236,
254, 257.
Blanchard and Company, present
accounts, 673; allowed, 706.
Bond, Joseph, witness, 456.
Boundaries, committee on, 58; ref-
erence to, 298-300, 617; report,
311-14; article on, 314-20, 392,
559; select committee on, 320,
329, 444, 670-72, 676, 682; re-
committed, 559, 580, 676; debate
on, 559-68, 580-83, 603-609, 611-
14; reconsidered, 603, 611-12,
670-73, 685, 701-702; article
adopted, 609, 673, 688; amend-
ed, 605-606; resolution on, 610,
617; engrossed, 676; final form,
732-33.
Bovee, M. J., contests seat, 266,
447, 455-56; report on, 460-62;
expenses, 644, 676, 699.
Bowen, Davis, member from Green
County, 15; votes, 56, 714-30;
on committee, 58, 339, 576; ab-
sent, 161, 608; leave granted, 177,
386; call of house, 709; signs
constitution, 755; sketch, 761.
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