Alphonso Barto

Alphonso Barto (May 24, 1834 – November 4, 1899) was a Minnesota legislator and the seventh lieutenant governor of Minnesota.

Life and career

Barto was born in Hinesburg, Vermont, in 1834. His father William Barto was from a French family which had emigrated to the United States before the American Revolution (their surname was originally spelled "Barteau"). His mother Mary Barto (née Gage) was a descendant of English settlers. Barto moved to Ferrisburgh, Vermont, to attend school. In 1854 he married Harriet E. Hitchcock. Shortly thereafter the two moved west, settling in Elgin, Illinois, where he ran a farm and later read law.

During the American Civil War Barto enlisted in the 52nd Illinois Volunteer Infantry Regiment, serving for three years and mustering out with the rank of captain in October 1865. His first wife Harriet died shortly before Barto returned from his service. Barto resumed his life in Elgin, winning election as treasurer of Kane County, Illinois, for one term and remarrying in 1866 to Charlotte "Lottie" A. Allen. While he did not hold a state office again, Barto served in various local offices in and near Saint Cloud, Minnesota, and was appointed as a regent of the University of Minnesota by Governor David Marston Clough. He also remained active with the Republican Party as an organizer and delegate to the 1884 Republican National Convention. Barto died on November 4, 1899, in Saint Cloud, Minnesota.