# 2nd Wisconsin Legislature

The Second Wisconsin Legislature convened from January 10, 1849, to April 2, 1849, in regular session. Senators representing odd numbered districts were newly elected for this session and were serving the first year of a two-year term. Senators representing even numbered districts were serving the second year of their two-year term.
The governor of Wisconsin during this entire term was Democrat Nelson Dewey, of Grant County, serving his first full year in office after winning election in the state's first gubernatorial election in May 1848, and taking office in June 1848.

## Major events

* January 17, 1849: Isaac P. Walker re-elected United States Senator by the Wisconsin Legislature in joint session.
* March 4, 1849: Inauguration of Zachary Taylor as the 12th President of the United States.
* November 6, 1849: Nelson Dewey re-elected Governor of Wisconsin.

## Major legislation

* February 8, 1849: Joint resolution related to Slavery and the Slave trade, 1849 Joint Resolution 2
* March 6, 1849: Act to extend the boundaries of the county of Marquette, 1849 Act 73
* March 8, 1849: Act in relation to the boundaries of the counties of Columbia, Adams, Sauk, Chippewa, La Pointe, and St. Croix, 1849 Act 77
* March 8, 1849: Act to extend the boundaries of Winnebago county, 1849 Act 79
* March 10, 1849: Joint resolution relative to a proposed amendment to the constitution of the United States, concerning the election of Senators in congress, 1849 Joint Resolution 5
* March 22, 1849: Act submitting the question of the extension of the right of suffrage to a vote of the People, 1849 Act 137. Setting a referendum for the 1849 general election which would grant voting rights to African Americans living in Wisconsin. The referendum passed, but the legality was challenged. The Wisconsin Supreme Court finally upheld the result of the 1849 referendum in the 1866 case of Gillespie v Palmer and others.
* March 31, 1849: Joint resolution instructing the Hon. Isaac P. Walker to resign his seat as United States Senator, 1849 Joint Resolution 9.
* March 31, 1849: An Act in relation to homicide. Created Wisconsin's first law criminalizing abortion.

## 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 | 16 | 0 | 3 | 19 | 0 |
| 1st Session | 14 | 1 | 4 | 19 | 0 |
| Final voting share | 74% | 5% | 21% | | |
| Beginning of the next Legislature | 13 | 2 | 4 | 19 | 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 | 0 | 17 | 66 | 0 |
| 1st Session | 36 | 14 | 16 | 66 | 0 |
| Final voting share | 55% | 21% | 24% | | |
| Beginning of the next Legislature | 43 | 8 | 15 | 66 | 0 |

## Sessions

* 1st Regular session: January 10, 1849 – April 2, 1849

## Leaders
### Senate leadership

* President of the Senate: John E. Holmes, Lieutenant Governor

### Assembly leadership

* Speaker of the Assembly: Harrison Carroll Hobart

## Members
### Members of the Senate

Members of the Wisconsin Senate for the Second Wisconsin Legislature (19):
| District | Counties | Senator | Party | Residence |
| 01 | Brown, Calumet, Manitowoc, Sheboygan | Lemuel Goodell | Dem. | Stockbridge |
| 02 | Columbia, Marquette, Portage, Sauk | Henry Merrill | Whig | Fort Winnebago |
| 03 | Crawford, Chippewa, St. Croix, La Pointe | James Fisher | Dem. | Eastman |
| 04 | Fond du Lac, Winnebago | Warren Chase | Dem. | Ceresco |
| 05 | Iowa, Richland | Montgomery M. Cothren | Dem. | Mineral Point |
| 06 | Grant | George W. Lakin | Whig | Platteville |
| 07 | Lafayette | Dennis Murphy | Dem. | Shullsburg |
| 08 | Green | Elisha T. Gardner | Dem. | Monroe |
| 09 | Dane | Alexander Botkin | Whig | Madison |
| 10 | Dodge | William M. Dennis | Dem. | Watertown |
| 11 | Washington | Frederick W. Horn | Dem. | Cedarburg |
| 12 | Jefferson | Myron B. Williams | Dem. | Watertown |
| 13 | Waukesha | Frederick Sprague | Dem. | Eagleville |
| 14 | Walworth | John W. Boyd | Dem. | Geneva |
| 15 | Rock | Otis W. Norton | Whig | Milton |
| 16 | Racine (Southern half) | C. Latham Sholes | Dem. | Kenosha |
| 17 | Racine (Northern half) | Victor Willard | Free Soil | Waterford |
| 18 | Milwaukee (Southern half) | Asa Kinney | Dem. | Milwaukee |
| 19 | Milwaukee (Northern half) | John B. Smith | Dem. | Milwaukee |

### Members of the Assembly

Members of the Assembly for the Second Wisconsin Legislature (66):
| Senate District | Counties | Counties | Representative | Party | Residence |
| 01 | Brown | Brown | John F. Meade | Dem. | Green Bay |
| 01 | Calumet | Calumet | Alonzo D. Dick | Whig | Manchester |
| 02 | Columbia | Columbia | Joseph Kerr | Whig | Columbia |
| 03 | Crawford & Chippewa | Crawford & Chippewa | James O'Neill | Dem. | Black River |
| 09 | Dane | 1 | Charles Rickerson | Dem. | Medina |
| 09 | Dane | 2 | Ira W. Bird | Whig | Madison |
| 09 | Dane | 3 | Samuel H. Roys | Dem. | Dunkirk |
| 10 | Dodge | 1 | Paul Juneau | Dem. | Theresa |
| 10 | Dodge | 2 | Hiram Barber | Dem. | Fairfield (now Oak Grove) |
| 10 | Dodge | 3 | George G. King | Dem. | Shields |
| 10 | Dodge | 4 | Jedediah Kimball | Dem. | Portland |
| 10 | Dodge | 5 | Parker Warren | Free Soil | Beaver Dam |
| 04 | Fond du Lac | 1 | Morgan L. Noble | Free Soil | Fond du Lac |
| 04 | Fond du Lac | 2 | Jonathan Daugherty | Whig | Rosendale |
| 06 | Grant | 1 | Robert R. Young | Whig | Hazel Green |
| 06 | Grant | 2 | Davis Gillilan | Dem. | Potosi |
| 06 | Grant | 3 | Robert M. Briggs | Whig | Beetown |
| 06 | Grant | 4 | James Russell Vineyard | Dem. | Platteville |
| 08 | Green | Green | John C. Crawford | Whig | Monroe |
| 05 | Iowa & Richland | 1 | Jabez Peirce | Dem. | Mineral Point |
| 05 | Iowa & Richland | 2 | Timothy Burns | Dem. | Franklin |
| 12 | Jefferson | 1 | Benjamin Nute | Dem. | Milford |
| 12 | Jefferson | 2 | Jarvis K. Pike | Whig | Cold Spring |
| 12 | Jefferson | 3 | William H. Johnson | Dem. | Fort Atkinson |
| 03 | La Pointe & St Croix | La Pointe & St Croix | Joseph Bowron | Dem. | St. Croix Falls |
| 07 | Lafayette | 1 | Daniel Morgan Parkinson | Dem. | Fayette |
| 07 | Lafayette | 2 | William Hill | Dem. | New Diggings |
| 01 | Manitowoc | Manitowoc | Charles Kuehn | Dem. | Two Rivers |
| 02 | Marquette | Marquette | Satterlee Clark Jr. | Dem. | Green Lake |
| 19 | Milwaukee | 1 | James B. Cross | Dem. | Milwaukee |
| 19 | Milwaukee | 2 | Zelotus A. Cotton | Dem. | Milwaukee |
| 18 | Milwaukee | 3 | Julius White | Whig | Milwaukee |
| 18 | Milwaukee | 4 | Stoddard H. Martin | Free Soil | Milwaukee |
| 18 | Milwaukee | 5 | John Flynn Jr. | Dem. | Oak Creek |
| 18 | Milwaukee | 6 | Enoch Chase | Dem. | Lake |
| 19 | Milwaukee | 7 | Robert Wason Jr. | Dem. | Granville |
| 02 | Portage | Portage | John Delany | Dem. | Plover |
| 17 | Racine | 1 | Marshall Strong | Free Soil | Racine |
| 17 | Racine | 2 | James DeNoon Reymert | Free Soil | Norway |
| 17 | Racine | 3 | Maurice L. Ayers | Free Soil | Burlington |
| 16 | Racine | 4 | Otis Colwell | Free Soil | Southport |
| 16 | Racine | 5 | Herman S. Thorp | Free Soil | Bristol |
| 15 | Rock | 1 | Anson W. Pope | Whig | Janesville |
| 15 | Rock | 2 | Samuel G. Colley | Free Soil | Beloit |
| 15 | Rock | 3 | Lucius H. Page | Whig | Fulton |
| 15 | Rock | 4 | Paul Crandall | Whig | Lima |
| 15 | Rock | 5 | Josiah F. Willard | Free Soil | Rock |
| 02 | Sauk | Sauk | Cyrus Leland | Dem. | Prairie du Sac |
| 01 | Sheboygan | 1 | Harrison Carroll Hobart | Dem. | Sheboygan |
| 01 | Sheboygan | 2 | Jedediah Brown | Dem. | Sheboygan Falls |
| 14 | Walworth | 1 | Samuel Pratt | Free Soil | Spring Prairie |
| 14 | Walworth | 2 | Enos Hazard | Whig | La Grange |
| 14 | Walworth | 3 | Samuel D. Hastings | Free Soil | Geneva |
| 14 | Walworth | 4 | George H. Lown | Free Soil | Walworth |
| 14 | Walworth | 5 | Milo Kelsey | Whig | Delavan |
| 11 | Washington | 1 | Solon Johnson | Dem. | Port Washington |
| 11 | Washington | 2 | James Fagan | Dem. | Jackson |
| 11 | Washington | 3 | Peter Turck | Dem. | Mequon |
| 11 | Washington | 4 | Patrick Toland | Dem. | Erin |
| 11 | Washington | 5 | Chauncey M. Phelps | Dem. | Addison |
| 13 | Waukesha | 1 | William H. Thomas | Dem. | Lisbon |
| 13 | Waukesha | 2 | D. Henry Rockwell | Dem. | Oconomowoc |
| 13 | Waukesha | 3 | Albert Alden | Dem. | Delafield |
| 13 | Waukesha | 4 | John M. Wells | Free Soil | Prairieville |
| 13 | Waukesha | 5 | Thomas Sugden | Whig | Eagle |
| 04 | Winnebago | Winnebago | Thomas J. Townsend | Whig | Winnebago |

## Employees
### Senate employees

* Chief Clerk: William Rudolph Smith
* Assistant Clerk: P. N. Bovee
* Enrolling Clerk: G. W. Boardman
* Engrossing Clerk: Henry B. Welsh
* Transcribing Clerk: William Dutcher
* Messenger: Moritz Morgenstine
* Doorkeeper: J. S. Delno
* Fireman: S. B. Sibley
* Sergeant-at-Arms: W. Shellmer

### Assembly employees

* Chief Clerk: Robert L. Ream
* Chief Clerk pro tem: Daniel Noble Johnson
* Assistant Clerk: William Hull
* Assistant Clerk pro tem: Alexander T. Gray
* Enrolling Clerk: Aaron V. Fryer
* Engrossing Clerk: J. J. Driggs
* Transcribing Clerk: Lyman Cowderey
* Messenger: Marshall Ten Eyk
* Doorkeeper: C. W. White
* Fireman: Samuel Noyes
* Sergeant-at-Arms: Felix McLinden