Wyman Spooner

Wyman Spooner (July 2, 1795 – November 18, 1877)[1] was an American printer, lawyer, politician, and Wisconsin pioneer. He was the 9th Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin and the 10th Speaker of the Wisconsin State Assembly.

The Honorable Wyman Spooner
9th Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin
In office January 1864 – January 3, 1870
Governor	James T. Lewis Lucius Fairchild
Preceded by	Edward Salomon
Succeeded by	Thaddeus C. Pound
10th Speaker of the Wisconsin State Assembly
In office January 14, 1857 – January 13, 1858
Preceded by	William Hull
Succeeded by	Frederick S. Lovell
Wisconsin Circuit Court Judge for the 1st Circuit
In office June 14, 1853 – September 26, 1853
Appointed by	Leonard J. Farwell
Preceded by	Edward V. Whiton
Succeeded by	James R. Doolittle
Member of the Wisconsin Senate from the 12th district
In office January 8, 1862 – January 13, 1864
Preceded by	Oscar Bartlett
Succeeded by	Newton Littlejohn
Member of the Wisconsin State Assembly from the Walworth 4th district
In office January 9, 1861 – January 8, 1862
Preceded by	James Child
Succeeded by	Hollis Latham
In office January 14, 1857 – January 13, 1858
Preceded by	Asa W. Farr
Succeeded by	James Baker
Member of the Wisconsin State Assembly from the Walworth 5th district
In office January 9, 1850 – January 14, 1852
Preceded by	Milo Kelsey
Succeeded by	Stephen Steele Barlow
Personal details
Born	Wyman Spooner July 2, 1795 Hardwick, Massachusetts, U.S.
Died	November 18, 1877 (aged 82) Lyons, Wisconsin, U.S.
Resting place	Hazel Ridge Cemetery, Elkhorn, Wisconsin
Political party	Republican (1854-1876) Democratic (after 1876) Free Soil (before 1854)
Spouse(s)	Elizabeth Fish ​ ​ (m. 1818; died 1877)​
Children	3
Profession	lawyer, printer, politician
Signature

Background

He was born in 1795 in Hardwick, Massachusetts, where he worked as a printer. He studied law in Vermont and was admitted to the Vermont bar. In 1835, he moved to Canton, Ohio, where he practiced law. In 1842, he moved to what is now Elkhorn, Wisconsin.

Public office

From 1847 until 1859 he served as Walworth County's probate judge. He then became a Wisconsin Circuit Court judge. Spooner was an abolitionist and initially a Freesoiler. He was elected in 1849 and 1850 for two one-year terms as a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly from Walworth County's 5th Assembly district. He became a Republican in 1854 upon the organization of that party, and was elected to two additional terms (1857 and 1861) before advancing to the Wisconsin State Senate's 12th District from 1862 until 1863. He served three terms as the ninth Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin, from 1864 until 1870 under Governors James T. Lewis and Lucius Fairchild.

In 1872 he supported Liberal Republican Horace Greeley for the presidency of the United States. He renounced his membership in the Republican Party entirely in 1876, heading the slate of Democratic presidential electors for nominee Samuel J. Tilden.[2] He died in 1877 in Lyons, Wisconsin.

Sources

• "Wisconsin Constitutional Officers; Lieutenant Governors" (PDF). State of Wisconsin Blue Book 2005–2006. Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau. July 2005. p. 31. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 25, 2007. Retrieved October 6, 2007.

References

1. .History of Royalton, Vermont: with family genealogies, 1769-1911,' vol 1, Mary Evelyn Lovejoy Wood, Free Press Printing Company, Royalton, Vermont: 1911, Biographical Sketch of Wyman Spooner, pg. 626-627
2. "Term: Spooner, Wyman 1795 - 1877" in Dictionary of Wisconsin History Wisconsin Historical Society; accessed April 5, 2013