# 5th Wisconsin Legislature

The Fifth Wisconsin Legislature convened from January 14, 1852, to April 19, 1852, in regular session. Senators representing even-numbered districts were newly elected for this session and were serving the first year of a two-year term. Assemblymembers were elected to a one-year term. Assemblymembers and even-numbered senators were elected in the general election of November 4, 1851. Senators representing odd-numbered districts were serving the second year of their two-year term, having been elected in the general election held on November 5, 1850.
The governor of Wisconsin during this entire term was Whig Leonard J. Farwell, of Dane County, serving the first year of a two-year term, having won election in the 1851 Wisconsin gubernatorial election. He was Wisconsin's only Whig governor.

## Major events

* January 5, 1852: Inauguration of Leonard J. Farwell as the 2nd Governor of Wisconsin.
* January 5, 1852: Inauguration of Timothy Burns as the 3rd Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin.
* January 30, 1852: Assemblymember Matthew Murphy of Lafayette County resigned his seat after it was demonstrated that he had actually lost his election to George W. Hammett.
* November 2, 1852: Franklin Pierce elected President of the United States

## Major legislation

* March 3, 1852: Act to incorporate Racine College, 1852 Act 65
* March 4, 1852: Act to incorporate the Milwaukee University, 1852 Act 79
* April 16, 1852: Act to set apart and incorporate the County of Kewaunee, 1852 Act 363
* April 17, 1852: Act to provide for the organization of a separate Supreme Court and for the election of Justices thereof, 1852 Act 395
* April 19, 1852: Act to authorize the business of Banking, 1852 Act 479
* April 19, 1852: Act to provide for the registration of Marriages, Births, and Deaths, 1852 Act 492
* April 19, 1852: Act to apportion and district anew the members of the Senate and Assembly of the State of Wisconsin, 1852 Act 499, increased the size of the Senate to 25 members, and the Assembly to 82.
* April 19, 1852: Act relating to Printing, 1852 Act 504

## Party summary
### Senate summary

| | Party (Shading indicates majority caucus) | Party (Shading indicates majority caucus) | Party (Shading indicates majority caucus) | Total | |
| | Dem. | F.S. | Whig | Total | Vacant |
| End of previous Legislature | 14 | 2 | 3 | 19 | 0 |
| 1st Session | 12 | 1 | 6 | 19 | 0 |
| Final voting share | 63.16% | 5.26% | 31.58% | | |
| Beginning of the next Legislature | 17 | 0 | 8 | 25 | 0 |

### Assembly summary

| | Party (Shading indicates majority caucus) | Party (Shading indicates majority caucus) | Party (Shading indicates majority caucus) | Total | |
| | Dem. | F.S. | Whig | Total | Vacant |
| End of previous Legislature | 49 | 7 | 10 | 66 | 0 |
| Start of 1st Session | 29 | 6 | 31 | 66 | 0 |
| After January 30 | 28 | 6 | 32 | 66 | 0 |
| Final voting share | 42.42% | 9.09% | 48.48% | | |
| Beginning of the next Legislature | 55 | 7 | 20 | 82 | 0 |

## Sessions

* 1st Regular session: January 14, 1852 – April 19, 1852

## Leaders
### Senate leadership

* President of the Senate: Samuel Beall, Lieutenant Governor
* President pro tempore: Eliab B. Dean, Jr.

### Assembly leadership

* Speaker of the Assembly: James McMillan Shafter

## Members
### Members of the Senate

Members of the Wisconsin Senate for the Fifth Wisconsin Legislature:
| District | Counties | Senator | Party | Residence |
| 01 | Brown, Calumet, Door, Manitowoc, Oconto, Outagamie, Sheboygan | Theodore Conkey | Dem. | Appleton |
| 02 | Columbia, Marathon, Marquette, Portage, Sauk, Waushara | James S. Alban | Whig | Plover |
| 03 | Bad Ax, Chippewa, Crawford, La Crosse, St. Croix, La Pointe | Hiram A. Wright | Dem. | Prairie du Chien |
| 04 | Fond du Lac, Waupaca, Winnebago | Bertine Pinckney | Whig | Rosendale |
| 05 | Iowa, Richland | Levi Sterling | Whig | Mineral Point |
| 06 | Grant | Joel C. Squires | Dem. | Lancaster |
| 07 | Lafayette | Samuel G. Bugh | Dem. | Shullsburg |
| 08 | Green | Thomas S. Bowen | Dem. | Waupun |
| 09 | Dane | Eliab B. Dean Jr. | Dem. | Madison |
| 10 | Dodge | Judson Prentice | Whig | Watertown |
| 11 | Washington | Harvey G. Turner | Dem. | Ozaukee |
| 12 | Jefferson | Alva Stewart | Whig | Fort Atkinson |
| 13 | Waukesha | E. B. West | Whig | Waukesha |
| 14 | Walworth | Eleazer Wakeley | Dem. | Whitewater |
| 15 | Rock | Andrew Palmer | Dem. | Janesville |
| 16 | Kenosha | John Sharpstein | Dem. | Milwaukee |
| 17 | Racine | Stephen O. Bennett | Free Soil | Racine |
| 18 | Milwaukee (Southern Half) | Duncan Reed | Dem. | Milwaukee |
| 19 | Milwaukee (Northern Half) | Francis Huebschmann | Dem. | Milwaukee |

### Members of the Assembly

Members of the Assembly for the Fifth Wisconsin Legislature:
| Senate District | County | District | Representative | Party | Residence |
| 03 | Bad Ax, Chippewa, Crawford, La Crosse | Bad Ax, Chippewa, Crawford, La Crosse | Andrew Briggs | Dem. | Bad Ax |
| 01 | Brown, Door, Oconto, Outagamie | Brown, Door, Oconto, Outagamie | Uriel H. Peak | Dem. | Green Bay |
| 01 | Calumet | Calumet | James Cramond | Dem. | Manchester |
| 02 | Columbia | Columbia | James T. Lewis | Dem. | Columbus |
| 09 | Dane | 1 | William A. Pierce | Dem. | Sun Prairie |
| 09 | Dane | 2 | Alexander Botkin | Whig | Madison |
| 09 | Dane | 3 | Hiram Giles | Whig | Stoughton |
| 10 | Dodge | 1 | Darius L. Bancroft | Whig | Waupun |
| 10 | Dodge | 2 | Timothy B. Sterling | Whig | Iron Ridge |
| 10 | Dodge | 3 | Maximilian Averbeck | Dem. | Emmet |
| 10 | Dodge | 4 | William H. Green | Dem. | Lowell |
| 10 | Dodge | 5 | Horace D. Patch | Dem. | Beaver Dam |
| 04 | Fond du Lac | 1 | Benjamin F. Moore | Whig | Fond du Lac |
| 04 | Fond du Lac | 2 | Nicholas M. Donaldson | Whig | Waupun |
| 06 | Grant | 1 | William Richardson | Whig | Fairplay |
| 06 | Grant | 2 | Noah Clemmons | Dem. | Platteville |
| 06 | Grant | 3 | David McKee | Dem. | Potosi |
| 06 | Grant | 4 | J. Allen Barber | Whig | Lancaster |
| 08 | Green | Green | Truman J. Safford | Whig | Exeter |
| 05 | Iowa & Richland | 1 | John Toay | Whig | Mineral Point |
| 05 | Iowa & Richland | 2 | Luman M. Strong | Dem. | Highland |
| 12 | Jefferson | 1 | Thomas R. Mott | Whig | Watertown |
| 12 | Jefferson | 2 | Jacob Skinner | Whig | Palmyra |
| 12 | Jefferson | 3 | A. H. Van Norstrand | Dem. | Jefferson |
| 16 | Kenosha | 1 | C. Latham Sholes | Free Soil | Kenosha |
| 16 | Kenosha | 2 | Lathrop Burgess | Free Soil | Salem |
| 03 | La Pointe & St. Croix | La Pointe & St. Croix | Otis W. Hoyt | Dem. | Hudson |
| 07 | Lafayette | 1 | Matthew Murphy, resigned Jan. 30 | Dem. | New Diggings |
| 07 | Lafayette | 1 | George W. Hammett, from Jan. 30 | Whig | |
| 07 | Lafayette | 2 | James H. Earnest | Whig | Shullsburg |
| 01 | Manitowoc | Manitowoc | Ezekiel Ricker | Dem. | Manitowoc |
| 02 | Marathon & Portage | Marathon & Portage | George W. Cate | Dem. | Amherst |
| 02 | Marquette & Waushara | Marquette & Waushara | Eleazer Root | Whig | Dartford |
| 19 | Milwaukee | 1 | Charles Cain | Whig | Milwaukee |
| 19 | Milwaukee | 2 | Joseph A. Phelps | Whig | Milwaukee |
| 18 | Milwaukee | 3 | Wallace W. Graham | Dem. | Milwaukee |
| 18 | Milwaukee | 4 | Jonathan L. Burnham | Whig | Milwaukee |
| 18 | Milwaukee | 5 | Valentin Knœll | Dem. | Milwaukee |
| 18 | Milwaukee | 6 | Edward Hasse | Dem. | Milwaukee |
| 19 | Milwaukee | 7 | William Beck | Dem. | Milwaukee |
| 17 | Racine | 1 | William L. Utley | Free Soil | Racine |
| 17 | Racine | 2 | Abram Gordon | Whig | Racine |
| 17 | Racine | 3 | James Catton | Whig | Burlington |
| 15 | Rock | 1 | William A. Lawrence | Whig | Janesville |
| 15 | Rock | 2 | John Hackett | Dem. | Spring Valley |
| 15 | Rock | 3 | George R. Ramsey | Whig | Janesville |
| 15 | Rock | 4 | Asal Kinney | Whig | Beloit |
| 15 | Rock | 5 | Simeon W. Abbott | Whig | Lima |
| 02 | Sauk | Sauk | Jonathan W. Fyffe | Whig | Prairie du Sac |
| 01 | Sheboygan | 1 | James McMillan Shafter | Whig | Sheboygan |
| 01 | Sheboygan | 2 | David B. Conger | Whig | Greenbush |
| 14 | Walworth | 1 | Joel H. Cooper | Free Soil | Elkhorn |
| 14 | Walworth | 2 | Zerah Mead | Whig | Spring Prairie |
| 14 | Walworth | 3 | Timothy H. Fellows | Free Soil | Genoa |
| 14 | Walworth | 4 | Lewis N. Wood | Whig | Whitewater |
| 14 | Walworth | 5 | Stephen Steele Barlow | Free Soil | Walworth |
| 11 | Washington | 1 | Simon D. Powers | Dem. | Port Washington |
| 11 | Washington | 2 | Phineas M. Johnson | Dem. | Grafton |
| 11 | Washington | 3 | Adam Staats | Dem. | Staatsville |
| 11 | Washington | 4 | Densmore W. Maxon | Dem. | Cedar Creek |
| 11 | Washington | 5 | Baruch S. Weil | Dem. | West Bend |
| 13 | Waukesha | 1 | John U. Hilliard | Dem. | Merton |
| 13 | Waukesha | 2 | Denison Worthington | Whig | Summit |
| 13 | Waukesha | 3 | Thomas Sugden | Whig | North Prairie |
| 13 | Waukesha | 4 | Publius V. Monroe | Dem. | New Berlin |
| 13 | Waukesha | 5 | Findley McNaughton | Dem. | Vernon |
| 04 | Waupaca & Winnebago | Waupaca & Winnebago | Dudley C. Blodget | Whig | Oshkosh |

## Employees
### Senate employees

* Chief Clerk: John K. Williams
* Sergeant-at-Arms: Patrick Cosgrove

### Assembly employees

* Chief Clerk: Alexander T. Gray
* Sergeant-at-Arms: Elisha Starr