Charles Eugene Flandrau Charles Eugene Flandrau ( July 15 , 1828 in New York City – September 9 , 1903 in St . Paul , Minnesota ) was an American lawyer and colonel in the Union Army . Early life . Flandrau ' s father was Thomas Hunt Flandrau of New Rochelle , New York , a law partner of Aaron Burr . His mother was Elizabeth Maria Macomb , a daughter of Alexander Macomb , the wealthy New York merchant , and half - sister of General Alexander Macomb , hero of the war of 1812 and afterward head of the United States Army . The Flandraus were descendants of Jacques Flandreau , a Huguenot who came to New Rochelle in the 1690s . Flandrau was educated in Georgetown , then a separate community in the District of Columbia , until the age of 13 when he tried to enlist in the Navy . Too young to obtain an appointment , he instead spent three years as a common sailor under other services . In 1844 , tiring of the sea , he spent three years in the mahogany trade in New York City , after which he rejoined his family at Whitesboro , New York , where he apprenticed in his father ' s law practice . He passed the bar in 1851 and joined his father ' s firm as partner . Career . In 1853 , he relocated to Traverse des Sioux , Minnesota to practice law . During the 1850s , he served on the Minnesota Territorial Council , in the Minnesota Constitutional Convention , and on the Minnesota territorial and state supreme courts . He was also appointed U . S . Agent for the Sioux in 1856 . In August 1862 , learning of a violent Dakota uprising in the southwestern corner of the state , he enlisted in the Union Army as a captain , and assembled an armed force to rush to the defense of the community of New Ulm . It is in honor of his success there that both Flandrau State Park and the community of Flandreau , South Dakota , are so named . Governor Ramsey put him in charge of the defense of the southwestern frontier of the state , and he served in this capacity as colonel for two years , simultaneous to his position on the Minnesota supreme court . In 1864 he resigned from both positions , and moved to Nevada to practice law , but returned to Minneapolis within a year . In 1867 , he was the Democratic candidate for governor but was defeated by William Rainey Marshall . In 1869 he ran for chief justice of the Minnesota supreme court , but was again defeated . Personal life . Judge Flandrau was married twice . His first marriage was on August 10 , 1859 to Isabella Dinsmore of Kentucky . She died in 1867 , leaving two daughters , Martha Macomb Flandrau and Sarah Gibson Flandrau . Martha Macomb Flandrau married Tilden Russell Selmes , and their daughter , Isabella Selmes was the first female congresswoman from Arizona , under her married name Isabella Greenway . Flandrau ' s second wife was the widow Rebecca B . Riddle , daughter of Judge William McClure of Pittsburgh . They had two sons , Charles Macomb Flandrau , a noted author , and William Blair McClure Flandrau , whose wife Grace Hodgson Flandrau was also a popular author , more financially successful than her brother - in - law . Grace Flandrau left money in her will to a variety of institutions , including the University of Arizona , which named Flandrau Science Center for her . Charles Eugene Flandrau died at his home in St . Paul , Minnesota on September 9 , 1903 .