Sam Fifield Explained

Sam Fifield
Order:14th
Office:Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin
Governor:Jeremiah Rusk
Term Start:January 2, 1882
Term End:January 3, 1887
Predecessor:James M. Bingham
Successor:George W. Ryland
Order1:26th
Title1:Speaker of the Wisconsin Assembly
Term Start1:January 12, 1876
Term End1:January 1, 1877
Predecessor1:Frederick W. Horn
Successor1:John B. Cassoday
State2:Wisconsin
State Senate2:Wisconsin
District2:24th
Term Start2:January 1, 1880
Term End2:January 1, 1882
Predecessor2:Dana Reed Bailey
Successor2:James Hill
Term Start3:January 1, 1877
Term End3:January 1, 1878
Predecessor3:Henry D. Barron
Successor3:Dana Reed Bailey
State Assembly4:Wisconsin
District4:Ashland-Barron-Bayfield-Burnett-Douglas-Polk
Term Start4:January 1, 1874
Term End4:January 1, 1877
Predecessor4:Henry D. Barron
Successor4:Woodbury S. Grover
Birth Date:June 24, 1839
Birth Place:Corinna, Maine
Death Date:February 17, 1915 (aged 75)
Death Place:Ashland, Wisconsin
Restingplace:Mount Hope Cemetery
Ashland, Wisconsin
Party:Republican
Residence:Ashland, Wisconsin

Samuel S. Fifield (June 24, 1839February 17, 1915)[1] was a Wisconsin politician and influential businessperson. The Town of Fifield in Price County, Wisconsin is named after him.

Biography

He was born in Corinna, Maine, in 1839 and received an education as a printer. He moved to Wisconsin in 1854, where he worked as a clerk on a steamboat on the St. Croix River. He founded the Polk County Press in 1861.[2]

After the American Civil War, he entered politics and served as a Sergeant-at-Arms for the Wisconsin State Assembly in 1871 and 1872. He later served as a Republican member of the Assembly from 1874 through 1876, serving as speaker the last year. He was elected to the Wisconsin State Senate in 1876, to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Henry D. Barron. He served in the state senate until 1881, at which time he was elected as Wisconsin's 14th Lieutenant Governor.

He lived in Ashland from 1872, and helped found the Ashland Press newspaper. He was the chairman of the first board of supervisors in June 1872.

After retiring from politics in 1887, he served as postmaster in Ashland,[3] and opened a summer resort on Sand Island in Lake Superior.[4] Named Camp Stella, after Fifield's wife, the camp was one of the first successful resorts in northern Wisconsin. The site is now within the boundaries of the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore; many of the buildings are still standing, and one, the Sevona Memorial Cottage, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Fifield died in 1915 at his home in Ashland. In Ashland, there is a street of historic homes named Fifield Row in his honor.

Notes and References

    • Book: https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/misc/lrb/blue_book/2005_2006/840_history.pdf . Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau . Wisconsin Constitutional Officers, 1848-2005 . State of Wisconsin Blue Book 2005 - 2006 . Madison . Wisconsin Legislature Joint Committee on Legislative Organization . 2005 . 725 . April 3, 2018 .
    • Web site: Sam S. Fifield . October 6, 2007 . Office of the Lieutenant Governor . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20100528100915/http://ltgov.wisconsin.gov/subcategory.asp?linksubcatid=2078&linkcatid=2042&linkid=1070&locid=126 . May 28, 2010 .
  1. Book: James E. Heg . The Blue Book of the State of Wisconsin . 23 . Madison . Democrat Printing Co. . 1885 . 416 .
  2. Peterson, Sheree L. "Camp Stella: Meeting Place of Kindred Souls," report for the Eastern National Park and Monument Association, 1997
  3. Busch, Jane C. People and Places: a Human History of the Apostle Islands, prepared for National Park Service, 2008.