Daniel Harris Johnson

Daniel Harris Johnson (July 27, 1825 – June 15, 1900) was a Canadian American immigrant, lawyer, and judge. He was a Wisconsin Circuit Court Judge for the last twelve years of his life. Earlier he served three terms in the Wisconsin State Assembly.

The Honorable Daniel H. Johnson
Wisconsin Circuit Court Judge for the 2nd Circuit, Branch 1
In office January 1, 1900 – June 15, 1900
Preceded by	Position Established
Succeeded by	Lawrence W. Halsey
Wisconsin Circuit Court Judge for the 2nd Circuit
In office January 2, 1888 – January 1, 1900
Preceded by	Charles A. Hamilton
Succeeded by	Position Abolished
Member of the Wisconsin State Assembly from the Milwaukee 7th district
In office January 1, 1869 – January 1, 1871
Preceded by	Patrick Walsh
Succeeded by	Matthew Keenan
Member of the Wisconsin State Assembly from the Bad Ax-Crawford district
In office January 1, 1861 – January 1, 1862
Preceded by	William C. McMichael
Succeeded by	Ormsby B. Thomas (Crawford) Ole C. Johnson (Bad Ax 1st) Jeremiah McLain Rusk (Bad Ax 2nd)
Personal details
Born	Daniel Harris Johnson July 27, 1825 Kingston, Upper Canada
Died	June 15, 1900 (aged 74) Milwaukee County, Wisconsin
Resting place	Forest Home Cemetery Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Nationality	American
Political party	Democratic Republican (before 1872)
Spouse(s)	Electa Amanda Wright (died 1929)
Children	Kate Johnson (b. 1861; died 1892)
Occupation	Lawyer, judge
Signature

Biography

Johnson was born in Kingston, Ontario, which was then part of Upper Canada. His father died just two years after his birth. He had been a British Army sergeant under Wellington in the War of 1812, who remained in Canada after the war. His mother was daughter of an American Revolutionary War volunteer.[1] After attending Rock River Seminary, Johnson moved to Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, in 1848. Here, he began the study of law, and, in 1849, was admitted to the State Bar of Wisconsin.[2]

He practiced law in Prairie du Chien for several years, but, in 1854, he purchased a stake in the Prairie du Chien Courier, and soon became its sole proprietor and editor. He returned to the practice of law in 1856, forming a partnership with W. R. Bullock, a nephew of John C. Breckinridge. The partnership was broken by the American Civil War, when Bullock joined with the Confederacy.[2]

In November 1860, Johnson was elected on the Republican Party ticket to represent Crawford and Bad Ax counties in the Wisconsin State Assembly during the 14th Wisconsin Legislature. After the legislative session ended, in the fall of 1861, he worked as an assistant to Wisconsin Attorney General James Henry Howe.[2]

In November 1862, he moved to Milwaukee and, for the next 16 years, practiced law with a number of different legal firms in the city. In 1868, Milwaukee voters elected him to return to the Wisconsin Assembly. He was re-elected in 1869. In the 1869 session of the legislature, he was chairman of the committee on education, and in 1870, he was chairman of the committee on the judiciary.[2][3]

After serving in the Assembly as a Republican, he became associated with the Liberal Republican faction in the so-called "Greeley movement", named for Horace Greeley. He was a delegate for Wisconsin to the 1872 Liberal Republican convention in Cincinnati which nominated Greeley for president. Greeley was subsequently also nominated by the Democratic Party, and, from that point on, Johnson became affiliated with the Democratic Party. He served in various local offices over the next decade, as city attorney and member of the Milwaukee School Board.[4][2]

In 1887, he was elected to the Wisconsin Circuit Court for the Milwaukee-based 2nd Circuit.[2] He was re-elected without opposition in 1893, and, in 1899, when the circuit was split into two branches, he was one of the two judges elected. He died, however, just six months after the start of his third term.

He died on June 15, 1900, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.[4]

Electoral history

Wisconsin Circuit Court, 2nd Circuit Election, 1887[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
General Election, April 5, 1887
	Nonpartisan	Daniel H. Johnson	14,606	52.54%
	Nonpartisan	Newton S. Murphy	13,192	47.45%
		Scattering	2	0.01%
Total votes			'27,800'	'100.0%'

Wisconsin Circuit Court, 2nd Circuit Election, 1893[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
General Election, April 1893
	Nonpartisan	Daniel H. Johnson (incumbent)	30,653	100.0%
Total votes			'30,653'	'100.0%'	+10.26%

Wisconsin Circuit Court, 2nd Circuit Election, 1899[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
General Election, April 4, 1899
	Nonpartisan	Eugene S. Elliott	9,742	25.91%
	Nonpartisan	Daniel H. Johnson (incumbent)	6,275	16.69%
	Nonpartisan	Frederick W. Cotzhausen	5,292	14.07%
	Nonpartisan	James H. Stover	5,062	13.46%
	Nonpartisan	Jerred Thompson, Jr.	3,470	9.23%
	Nonpartisan	John M. Clarke	3,431	9.12%
	Nonpartisan	Joseph E. Wildish	2,883	7.67%
	Nonpartisan	Daniel J. Dalton	833	2.22%
	Nonpartisan	Frederick Starr Fish	614	1.63%
Total votes			'37,602'	'100.0%'	+22.67%

References

1. Memiors. Proceedings of the State Bar Association of Wisconsin. 1902. Retrieved October 12, 2013.
2. Berryman, John R., ed. (1898). "History of the Bench and Bar of Wisconsin". Chicago: H. C. Cooper, Jr. pp. 389–392. Retrieved January 6, 2021 – via archive.org.
3. "Johnson, Daniel Harris 1825 - 1900". Wisconsin Historical Society. Retrieved October 12, 2013.
4. "Sudden Death". The Oshkosh Northwestern. June 15, 1900. p. 1. Retrieved October 28, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
5. Timme, Ernst G., ed. (1889). "Part III. Election statistics". The Blue Book of the state of Wisconsin (Report). State of Wisconsin. p. 259. Retrieved January 19, 2020.
6. Casson, Henry, ed. (1895). "Part III. Election statistics". The Blue Book of the state of Wisconsin (Report). State of Wisconsin. p. 350. Retrieved January 19, 2020.
7. Froehlich, William H., ed. (1901). "Part III. Election statistics". The Blue Book of the state of Wisconsin (Report). State of Wisconsin. p. 380. Retrieved January 19, 2020.

External links

• Daniel Harris Johnson at Find a Grave