Jeremiah McLain Rusk

Jeremiah McLain Rusk (June 17, 1830 – November 21, 1893) was a U.S. Representative, the 15th Governor of the U.S. state of Wisconsin from 1882 to 1889 and the second United States Secretary of Agriculture from 1889 to 1893. He also served as Union Army officer during the American Civil War.

Jeremiah Rusk
2nd United States Secretary of Agriculture
In office March 6, 1889 – March 6, 1893
President	Benjamin Harrison Grover Cleveland
Preceded by	Norman Coleman
Succeeded by	Julius Morton
15th Governor of Wisconsin
In office January 2, 1882 – January 7, 1889
Lieutenant	Sam Fifield George Ryland
Preceded by	William E. Smith
Succeeded by	William D. Hoard
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Wisconsin's 7th district
In office March 4, 1873 – March 3, 1877
Preceded by	Constituency established
Succeeded by	Herman L. Humphrey
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Wisconsin's 6th district
In office March 4, 1871 – March 3, 1873
Preceded by	Cadwallader C. Washburn
Succeeded by	Philetus Sawyer
Personal details
Born	Jeremiah McLain Rusk June 17, 1830 Malta, Ohio, U.S.
Died	November 21, 1893 (aged 63) Viroqua, Wisconsin, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Branch/service	United States Army  • Union Army
Rank	Lieutenant Colonel Brevet Brigadier General
Unit	25th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment
Battles/wars	American Civil War

Biography

Representative Jeremiah M. Rusk

Rusk was born in Malta, Ohio,[1] the younger brother of Allen Rusk.[2] He was a member of the Republican Party. He began as a planter, then turned to innkeeping and finally to banking before the American Civil War.

Rusk started his service with the Union Army during Civil War as major of the 25th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry Regiment on August 14, 1862.[3] He was promoted to lieutenant colonel on September 16, 1863.[3] He took command of the regiment on July 22, 1864 when Colonel Milton Montgomery was wounded and captured at Decatur, Georgia during the Battle of Atlanta.[3][4] He continued in command after Montgomery was exchanged because Montgomery was given command of the brigade to which the 25th Wisconsin Infantry was assigned.[3][4] Rusk was wounded at Salkehatchie River, Georgia on January 20, 1865.[3] Rusk was mustered out of the volunteers on June 7, 1865.[3] He received an appointment as brevet colonel to rank from March 13, 1865.[3] On February 24, 1866, President Andrew Johnson nominated Rusk for appointment to the grade of brevet brigadier general of volunteers to rank from March 13, 1865, and the United States Senate confirmed the appointment on April 10, 1866.[5]

After the Civil War, he became a congressman in the United States House of Representatives.[6] He was elected to the Forty-second United States Congress as the representative of Wisconsin's 6th congressional district serving from March 4, 1871 to March 3, 1873. For the Forty-third Congress he redistricted and was elected as representative of Wisconsin's newly created 7th District. He was reelected to the Forty-fourth Congress as well serving from March 4, 1873 to March 3, 1877. While in congress, he was chairman of Committee on Invalid Pensions (Forty-third congress). After his terms in congress he ran as a Republican for Governor of Wisconsin, an election he won.[6] His most noted act during his governorship was when he sent the National Guard into Milwaukee to keep the peace during the May Day Labor Strikes of 1886. The strikers had shut down every business in the city except the North Chicago Rolling Mills in Bay View. The guardsmen's orders were that, if the strikers were to enter the Mills, they should shoot to kill. But when the captain received the order it had a different meaning: he ordered his men to pick out a man and shoot to kill when the order was given. This led to the Bay View Tragedy, in which a number of workers were killed; Governor Rusk took most of the blame.

In 1889, after the end of his third term as governor, he accepted the new cabinet position of Secretary of Agriculture in the Benjamin Harrison administration.[6] He lived, died and was buried in Viroqua, Wisconsin.[7]

The house he bought and lived in while Governor of Wisconsin, now known as the Old Executive Mansion, was used by the state as the official residence of the Governor for several decades and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.[8] His son, Lycurgus J. Rusk, was a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly.

See also

• List of American Civil War brevet generals (Union)

References

1. "Rusk, Jeremiah McLain (1830–1893)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. United States Congress. Retrieved 20 December 2010.
2. "Lively Times of Another Era Gone, Liberty Basks in Quiet". The La Crosse Tribune. May 14, 1967. p. 20. Retrieved October 17, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
3. Eicher, John H., and David J. Eicher, Civil War High Commands. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2001. ISBN 0-8047-3641-3. p. 465.
4. Eicher, 2001, pp. 393–394.
5. Eicher, 2001, p. 756.
6. Spetter, Allan. "Jeremiah M. Rusk (1889–1893): Secretary of Agriculture". American President: An Online Reference Resource. University of Virginia. Archived from the original on 17 December 2010. Retrieved 20 December 2010.

External links

• Works by or about Jeremiah McLain Rusk at Internet Archive

• United States Congress. "Jeremiah McLain Rusk (id: R000517)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved on 2008-02-12
• "Jeremiah McLain Rusk". Find a Grave. Retrieved 12 February 2008.