page_title: James Duane Doty
section_title: Territorial politics
hierarchical_section_title: James Duane Doty / Territorial politics
caption_attribution_description: James Duane Doty
context_page_description: James Duane Doty was a land speculator and politician in the United States who played an important role in the development of Wisconsin and Utah Territory.
context_section_description: Following his career as a judge, Doty served as a member of the Michigan Territorial Council from 1834 to 1835, representing the western part of the territory. In this capacity Doty argued for the creation of a new territorial government for Wisconsin, sending petitions to Congress in favor of splitting Michigan Territory into two parts, one east and one west of Lake Michigan. Doty had supported this idea as early as 1824, and argued that the growing number of residents in Wisconsin were not adequately provided for by the territorial government in Detroit, which was hundreds of miles away from any settlement in Wisconsin. Doty claimed that votes sent by residents west of Lake Michigan could not be sent to Detroit in time to be counted, and that the residents in Lower Michigan cared little about the affairs west of the lake. In 1835, his wishes were partially granted when the Governor of Michigan Territory created a separate legislature to govern the western part of the territory as Michigan prepared for statehood.
  In 1835, Doty campaigned to represent western Michigan Territory as a delegate in Congress, but he lost in a three-way election to George Wallace Jones. Both Doty and Jones were running as Democrats, but Doty had little true loyalty to any political party. He was conservative in view and usually aligned himself with whichever people were most popular at any given time. After losing the election, Doty turned to land speculation and bought thousands of acres of land across the state, some of which he began developing into the city of Madison, Wisconsin.
  In 1836, Wisconsin Territory was officially created. Doty hoped to be the territorial governor, but President Andrew Jackson appointed Henry Dodge, Doty's longtime political rival, to the post. With no public title, Doty worked to improve his land holdings in what would become the city of Madison. Doty had this land surveyed and platted, and made plans to create a city on the isthmus between lakes Mendota and Monona. To gain recognition for the planned city, Doty lobbied the new territorial legislature to select his proposed city as the capital of Wisconsin. A temporary capital had already been established at Belmont, Wisconsin, but its distance from Milwaukee and Green Bay coupled with the dissatisfaction of many legislators towards the facilities at Belmont made it likely that the capital would be moved. Doty used numerous tactics to ensure that Madison would be made capital city, wooing legislators with plans for canals and railroads and offering legislators who voted to make Madison the capital choice lots in the new city. Madison was declared permanent capital in November, 1836, and construction at the new city began in 1837.
  In 1838, Doty was elected as Wisconsin Territory's congressional delegate, defeating George W. Jones in a rematch of the 1835 election. Despite being elected as a Democrat, Doty formed personal friendships with several Whigs in Washington, D.C., including Henry Clay. In 1840, Whig Party candidate William Henry Harrison was elected president, and he made plans to appoint Doty to the governorship of Wisconsin Territory despite Doty's status as a Democrat. Harrison died before he could make the appointment, but vice president John Tyler fulfilled Harrison's desire after ascending to the presidency in 1841. Doty was largely unsuccessful as territorial governor, the Dodge supporters in the territorial legislature rejected most of the legislation Doty supported, and Doty failed on four separate occasions to get public support for Wisconsin statehood. Doty's term ended in 1844, and he was not reappointed by Tyler, who instead selected Nathaniel P. Tallmadge to the post. This left Doty to once again return to his private life.
caption: Doty in 1858,
  by William F. Cogswell
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