# Isaac W. Van Schaick

Isaac Whitbeck Van Schaick (December 7, 1817 – August 22, 1901) was an American businessman and Republican politician. He served two terms in the U.S. House of Representatives, representing Milwaukee County, Wisconsin. He also served six years in the Wisconsin State Senate and two years in the State Assembly. His nephew, Aaron Van Schaick Cochrane, was also a member of congress.

## Early life

Van Schaick was born in Coxsackie, New York, on December 7, 1817. He was educated in the common schools there and worked on his father's farm. He engaged in the manufacture of glue in New York. He moved to Chicago in 1857, and to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 1861, where he was in the flour-milling business with his wife's family. After the American Civil War, Van Schaick traveled to Arkansas and worked for in the cotton industry. He returned to Milwaukee three years later.

## Politics

Van Schaick was elected to the Milwaukee Common Council in 1871. He served as member of the Wisconsin State Assembly in 1873 and 1875. He served in the Wisconsin State Senate from 1877 to 1882.
Van Schaick was elected as a Republican to the Forty-ninth Congress in 1884 as the representative of Wisconsin's 4th congressional district. He declined to be a candidate for renomination in 1886, and was succeeded by Henry Smith of the Union Labor Party.
Van Schaick defeated Smith for election to the 51st United States Congress in 1888, receiving 22,212 votes to 20,685 for Smith (running on the Democratic and Labor tickets), 527 for Socialist John Schuler and 302 for Prohibitionist George Heckendorn. He was not a candidate for renomination to Congress in 1890, and was succeeded by Democrat John Lendrum Mitchell. In 1892 he ran unsuccessfully for State Senator from the 4th district, losing to Democrat James W. Murphy.

## Late life

He moved to Catonsville, Maryland, in 1894, where he lived in retirement until his death there August 22, 1901. He was interred in Athens Cemetery, Athens, New York.

## Personal life and family

Isaac Van Schaick married Eliza Sanderson, daughter of John Sanderson and Margaret Whitfield, in 1842, in Athens, New York. She survived him, but died two years later, in 1903.

## Electoral history
### Wisconsin Assembly (1872, 1874)

Wisconsin Assembly, Milwaukee 1st District Election, 1872 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Republican | Isaac W. Van Schaick | 510 | 85.28% | |
| | Democratic | Jacob Braun | 88 | 14.72% | |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 598 | 100.0% | |
| | Republican gain from Democratic | Republican gain from Democratic | Republican gain from Democratic | Republican gain from Democratic | Republican gain from Democratic |
Wisconsin Assembly, Milwaukee 1st District Election, 1874 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Republican | Isaac W. Van Schaick | 752 | 56.54% | |
| | Democratic | John W. Cary | 578 | 43.46% | |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 1,330 | 100.0% | |
| | Republican gain from Democratic | Republican gain from Democratic | Republican gain from Democratic | Republican gain from Democratic | Republican gain from Democratic |

### Wisconsin Senate (1876, 1878, 1880)

Wisconsin Senate, 5th District Election, 1876 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Republican | Isaac W. Van Schaick | 4,563 | 58.78% | |
| | Democratic | Henry C. Runkle | 3,200 | 41.22% | |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 7,763 | 100.0% | |
| | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold |
Wisconsin Senate, 5th District Election, 1878 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Republican | Isaac W. Van Schaick (incumbent) | 3,437 | 53.80% | |
| | Democratic | David G. Hooker | 2,639 | 41.31% | |
| | Greenback | Robert Gunyan | 312 | 4.88% | |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 6,388 | 100.0% | |
| | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold |
Wisconsin Senate, 5th District Election, 1880 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Republican | Isaac W. Van Schaick (incumbent) | 5,678 | 60.05% | |
| | Democratic | Henry Smith | 3,778 | 39.95% | |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 9,456 | 100.0% | |
| | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold |

### U.S. House of Representatives (1884)

Wisconsin's 4th Congressional District Election, 1884 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Republican | Isaac W. Van Schaick | 16,783 | 49.05% | +7.31% |
| | Democratic | Peter V. Deuster (incumbent) | 15,907 | 46.49% | −2.11% |
| | Greenback | Henry Smith | 1,296 | 3.79% | |
| | Prohibition | C. E. Reed | 226 | 0.66% | |
| | | Harrison C. Hobart (write-in) | 1 | 0.00% | |
| Plurality | Plurality | Plurality | 876 | 2.56% | -4.30% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 34,213 | 100.0% | +71.66% |
| | Republican gain from Democratic | Republican gain from Democratic | Republican gain from Democratic | Republican gain from Democratic | Republican gain from Democratic |

### U.S. House of Representatives (1888)

Wisconsin's 4th Congressional District Election, 1888 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Republican | Isaac W. Van Schaick | 22,212 | 50.80% | +20.10% |
| | Democratic | Henry Smith (incumbent) | 20,685 | 47.31% | +4.80% |
| | Socialist | John Schuler | 527 | 1.21% | |
| | Prohibition | George M. Heckendorn | 302 | 0.69% | +0.10% |
| | | Write-ins | 3 | 0.00% | |
| Plurality | Plurality | Plurality | 1,527 | 3.49% | -8.32% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 43,729 | 100.0% | +39.18% |
| | Republican gain from Labor | Republican gain from Labor | Republican gain from Labor | Republican gain from Labor | Republican gain from Labor |

### Wisconsin Senate (1892)

Wisconsin Senate, 4th District Election, 1892 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Democratic | James W. Murphy | 5,214 | 51.01% | +15.47% |
| | Republican | Isaac W. Van Schaick | 4,824 | 47.19% | −4.32% |
| | Prohibition | William Bendike | 98 | 0.96% | +0.74% |
| | Populist | Meschaff | 86 | 0.84% | |
| Plurality | Plurality | Plurality | 390 | 3.82% | -12.15% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 10,222 | 100.0% | +0.06% |
| | Democratic gain from Republican | Democratic gain from Republican | Democratic gain from Republican | Democratic gain from Republican | Democratic gain from Republican |