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Wisconsin is bounded on the north
by Minnesota and Michigan, on the northeast, and east in
Lake Michigan by Michigan, on the south by Illinois, and on
the west by Iowa and Minnesota; or according to the
Constitution, as follows, to wit: " Beginning at the
northeast corner of the State of Illinois, that is to say,
at a point in the center of Lake Michigan, where the line of
forty-two degrees and thirty-nine minutes of north latitude
crosses the game; thence running with the boundary line of
the state of Michigan, through Lake Michigan, Green Bay, to
the mouth of the Menomonee River; thence up the channel of
the said river to the Brule River; thence up said last
mentioned river to Lake Brule; thence along the southern
shore of Lake Bruit, in a direct line to the center of the
channel between Middle and South Islands, in the Lake of the
Desert; thence in a direct line to the head waters of the
Montreal River, as marked upon the survey made by Captain
Cram; thence down the main channel of the Montreal River to
the middle of Lake Superior; thence through the center of
Lake Superior to the month of the St. Louis River; thence up
the main channel of said river to the first rapids in the
same, above the Indian village, according to Nicollet's map;
thence due south to the main branch of the river St. Croix;
thence down the main channel of said river to the
Mississippi; thence down the center of the main channel of
that river to the northwest corner of the state of Illinois;
thence due east with the northern boundary of the state of
Illinois, to the place of beginning, as established by 'an
act to enable the people of the Illinois territory to form a
constitution and state government, and for the admission of
such state into the Union on an equal footing with the
original states,' approved April 18th, 1818."
The area of Wisconsin in land is 53,924 square miles, or
34,511,360 square acres.
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Wisconsin was first visited by
French Missionaries in 1660, in October of which year
Mesnard reached Che-goi-me-gon, on Lake Superior. In
1672, Aloues and Dablon visited Green Bay and the
country between the Fox River and the south end of Lake
Michigan. In the year following, on the 13th of May,
Marquette, a Jesuit Missionary, and Joliet, an agent of
the government of France, with five other Frenchmen,
embarked from their Mission, near Mackinac, and arrived
at Green Bay, where they found an Indian village and
procured guides to accompany them up Fox River to the
Portage with the Wisconsin. They descended this river to
its mouth, where they arrived on the 17th of June, 1673,
and made the first discovery of the Upper Mississippi
River. The Territory remained under the government of
the French, who claimed it, until 1783, when, at the
treaty of Paris, it was ceded to Great Britain, who
retained it until the Independence of the United States
was acknowledged by that county in 1783, when it was
claimed by Virginia, as a part of the Illinois country
conquered by Col. George Rogers Clark. It however
remained in the possession of Great Britain until 1796,
when it was surrendered in accordance with Jay's treaty,
ratified the previous year. On the first day of March,
1784, it was ceded by Virginia to the United States. By
the celebrated ordinance passed the 13th of July, 1787,
a government was provided for the Territory northwest of
the Ohio River, which territory was divided into two
separate governments, the western called Indiana, by an
act passed May 7th, 1800. An act dividing the Indiana
Territory and organizing Illinois was passed and
approved February 3d, 1809. By the act of Congress to
enable the people of Illinois to form a State
government, approved April 18th, 1818, all that portion
of said territory north of the parallel of latitude 42°
30' west of the middle of Lake Michigan, was attached to
the Territory of Michigan, which had been set off from
Indiana in 1805.
In 1835, Michigan having assumed a State government,
John S. Horner, Secretary and Acting Governor, convened
a session of the legislature, at Green Bay, from the
remainder of said Territory. No business was transacted,
except the passage of several Memorials to Congress,
among which was one asking for the organization of the
Territory of Wisconsin, with the seat of government at
Cassville, on the Mississippi.
An act establishing the Territorial government of
Wisconsin was passed and approved April 20th, 1836, and
the Territory fully organized July 4th, 1836.
On the 12th day of June 1838, an act was passed dividing
the Territory of Wisconsin, and establishing that
portion on the west side of the Mississippi (which had
been attached to Michigan in 1834,) into a separate
government, under the name of Iowa.
In 1836, Governor Dodge, by proclamation dated September
9th, convened the legislature at Belmont, now in
Lafayette County, on the 25th day of October in that
year. The second session was held at Burlington, now in
the State of Iowa, Nov, 6th, 1837, at which session the
seat of government was located at Madison, where the
first session of the 2d Legislative Assembly of
Wisconsin was held Nov. 26th, 1838.
A Convention was held at Madison, October 5th, 1846, for
the purpose of drafting a State Constitution, which was
adopted in Convention, December 16th, 1846, but rejected
by the people at the election held on the first Tuesday
in April, 1847. A second Convention was held December
16th, 1847, and a Constitution agreed to February 1st,
1848, which was approved of by the electors at the
election held April, 1848, and Wisconsin was admitted
into the Union, on an equal footing with the other
States, on the 29th day of May, 1848.
At the dates given below, the gentlemen named were
appointed by the President of the United States, to the
offices designated:
Governors
Henry Dodge April 13th, 1836
Henry Dodge, re-appointed March 9th, 1839
James Duane Doty, September 80th, 1841
Nathaniel P. Tallmadge June 21st, 1844
Henry Dodge April 8th, 1845 |
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| Secretaries
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John S. Horner 1836
William B. Slaughter February 16th, 1837
Francis J. Dunn 1841
A. P. Field 1841
George K. C. Floyd 1845
John Catlin February 24th, 1846 |
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| Supreme Court |
Charles Dunn, Chief
Justice
_____ Frazier Associate
David Irwin, Jr. Associate
Andrew G. Miller Associate, in place of Frazier,
deceased. |
The following is a list of the several State Officers,
from the organization of the State:
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| Governors |
Nelson Dewey May 8th,
1848
Nelson Dewey, re-elected November, 1849
Leonard J. Farwell November 4th, 1851 |
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Lieutenant-Governors |
John E. Holmes May 8th,
1848
Samuel W. Beall November, 1849
Timothy Burns November 4th, 1851 |
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| Secretaries Of
State |
Thomas McHugh May 8th,
1848
William A. Barstow November, 1849
Charles D. Robinson November 4th, 1851 |
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| State Treasurers
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Jairus C. Fairchild May
8th, 1848
Jairus C. Fairchild, re-elected November, 1849
Edward H. Janssen November 4, 1851 |
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Attorneys-General |
James S. Brown May 8th,
1848
S. Park Coon November, 1849
Experience Estabrook November 4th, 1851 |
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| State
Superintendents |
Eleazer Boot May 8th,
1848
Eleazer Root November, 1849
Azel P. Ladd November 4th, 1851 |
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| Bank Comptroller |
| James S. Baker,
appointed by Governor, November 20th, 1852 |
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| Judges of the
Supreme Court |
Edward V. Whiton, Judge
of 1st Circuit, 1848
Levi Hubbell, Judge of 2d Circuit, 1848
Charles H. Larrabee, Judge of 3d Circuit, 1848
Alexander W. Stow, Judge of 4th Circuit, 1848
M. M. Jackson, Judge of 5th Circuit, 1848
Wiram Knowlton, Judge of 6th Circuit, 1850
Timothy O. Howe, Judge of 4th Circuit, 1850
Levi Hubbell, Judge of 2d Circuit, 1851
M.M. Cothren, Judge of 5th Circuit, 1852 |
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| Separate, Or New
Supreme Court |
Edward V. Whiton, Chief
Justice, 1852
Abram D. Smith, Judge, 1852
Samuel Crawford, Judge, 1852 |
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