Wiram Knowlton Explained

Honorific-Prefix:The Honorable
Wiram Knowlton
Office:Justice of the
Status:ex officio
Term Start:August 1850
Term End:June 1, 1853
Office1:Wisconsin Circuit Court Judge
Term Start1:August 1850
Term End1:August 6, 1856
Predecessor1:Position Established
Successor1:George Gale
Office2:Member of the Council of the for Crawford and Counties
Term Start2:January 6, 1845
Term End2:January 4, 1847
Predecessor2:Theophilus La Chappelle
Successor2:Benjamin F. Manahan
Nationality:American
Birth Name:Wiram Knowlton
Birth Date:24 January 1816
Birth Place:Canandaigua, New York
Death Place:Menekaunee, Wisconsin
Restingplace:Evergreen Cemetery
Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin
Relatives:James H. Knowlton (brother)
Occupation:lawyer, judge
Allegiance:United States
Branch:United States Volunteers
Serviceyears:1846 - 1848
Rank:Captain, USV
Battles:Mexican–American War

Wiram Knowlton (January 24, 1816June 27, 1863) was an American politician and jurist from Wisconsin. He was a Wisconsin Circuit Court Judge and ex officio Justice of the pre-1853 Wisconsin Supreme Court (the Wisconsin Supreme Court before 1853 was composed of the state's elected circuit court judges).

Biography

Born in Canandaigua, New York, Knowlton moved to Janesville, Wisconsin Territory, in 1837 and began to study law. He was admitted to the bar in 1840 and started a law practice in Prairie du Chien, where he was also elected to the Wisconsin Territorial Council (upper house of the Territorial Legislature) from 1845 to 1847.[1]

During the Mexican–American War, he raised a company of men using the W.H.C. Folsom House. He was elected captain of the company and they were stationed at Fort Winnebago for frontier duty, freeing up the regular garrison to be redeployed to the south. In July 1850, he was elected Wisconsin Circuit Court judge for the newly created 6th circuit and sworn into office in August.[2] Because of this office, he also served as a justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court, which at the time was composed of Wisconsin's circuit court judges.[1] This changed in 1853, when a separate supreme court was created by an act of the Wisconsin Legislature.[3] [4] [5] Knowlton died in Menekaunee, Wisconsin.[6]

Knowlton's brother, James H. Knowlton, was a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly.[6] [7]

Electoral history

Wisconsin Supreme Court (1852)

| colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;"| General Election, September 1852

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Portraits of Justice: The Wisconsin Supreme Court's First 150 Years . Trina E. . Gray . Karen Leone . de Nie . Jennifer . Miller . Amanda K. . Todd . Wisconsin Historical Society Press . 2003 . December 17, 2019.
  2. Book: The Bench and Bar of Wisconsin . Reed . Parker McCobb . P. M. Reed . 1882. . 70 . December 18, 2019.
  3. An Act to provide for the organization of a separate Supreme Court, and for the election of justices thereof . 1852 . . 601-604 . Act 395 . December 18, 2019.
  4. Web site: Wisconsin Court System - Wiram Knowlton . 2011-02-22 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110721073305/http://www.wicourts.gov/about/judges/supreme/retired/knowlton.htm# . 2011-07-21 . dead .
  5. Web site: "Barstow and the Balance" . 2018-07-17 . https://web.archive.org/web/20080824125629/http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/dictionary/index.asp?action=view# . 2008-08-24 . dead .
  6. News: Judge Wiram Knowlton Dead. Janesville Daily Gazette. July 11, 1863. 6. Newspapers.com. March 4, 2017.
  7. Web site: "Barstow and the Balance" . 2018-07-17 . https://web.archive.org/web/20080824125629/http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/dictionary/index.asp?action=view# . 2008-08-24 . dead .