Joseph W. Furber Explained

Joseph Warren Furber
Order:1st
Office:Speaker of the Minnesota Territory House of Representatives
Term Start:September 3, 1849
Term End:December 31, 1850
Predecessor:Territory Created
Successor:Michael E. Ames
Order2:8th
Office2:Speaker of the Minnesota Territory House of Representatives
Term Start2:January 7, 1857
Term End2:December 1, 1857
Predecessor2:Charles Gardner
Successor2:John S. Waltrous (State)
Birth Date:August 29, 1814
Birth Place:Farmington, New Hampshire, U.S.
Death Date:July 10, 1884
Death Place:Cottage Grove, Minnesota, U.S.
Party:Whig
Children:Aurilla Furber
Relations:Pierce P. Furber (nephew)

Joseph Warren Furber (August 29, 1814  - July 10, 1884) was a Whig politician in Minnesota. He was born in Farmington, New Hampshire. He helped with his family's farm and attended school (including Foxcroft Academy) before moving west in 1838. He lived in Alton, Illinois for two years, then worked in the lumber industry near St. Croix Falls, Wisconsin for another two years before settling in Cottage Grove, Minnesota.[1] [2] [3]

In 1846, Furber was elected to the Wisconsin Territorial Legislature as the representative, in the Wisconsin Territorial House of Representatives, for Crawford County, Wisconsin.[4] In 1849, he was elected to the first Minnesota Territorial Legislature and served as the first Speaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives. He was elected to the legislature again in 1856 and once again served as speaker. He was appointed United States Marshal for Minnesota by President Millard Fillmore during the 1850s and also held positions with the state militia and as a member of the University of Minnesota Board of Regents. Later in his life, he was elected to two more terms in the Minnesota State House of Representatives in 1868 and 1875.[1] [2]

He died at his home in Cottage Grove in 1884.[2]

Notes and References

  1. Book: Folsom. William Henry Carman. Fifty Years in the Northwest. 1888. Pioneer Press Company. Minnesota. 362.
  2. Web site: Furber, Joseph W. — Legislator Record. Minnesota Legislative Reference Library.
  3. 'Collections of the Minnesota Historical Society.' Volume XVI, Warren Upham-editor, Minnesota Historical Society, Saint Paul, Minnesota: 1912, Biographical Sketch of Joseph W. Furber, pg. 244
  4. 'Legislative Manual of the State of Wisconsin 1877.' pg. 148