Ezekiel Ricker

Ezekiel Ricker III (December 3, 1819 – August 10, 1854) was an American lawyer, politician, and Wisconsin pioneer. He was a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly, representing Manitowoc County during the 1852 and 1853 terms. He also served as county judge from 1850 to 1853. He was one of the first lawyers to reside in Manitowoc County, but died at age 34, a victim of the 1846–1860 cholera pandemic.

Biography Ezekiel Ricker was born in Lebanon, Maine, in 1819. He was raised and educated in Maine, and attended academies at Parsonsfield, Maine, then North Scituate, Rhode Island. In the 1840s, he became a law student in the law office of U.S. representative Nathan Clifford (later an associate justice of the United States Supreme Court). In 1846, Clifford was appointed U.S. attorney general, and Ricker looked to complete his legal training elsewhere. He attended courses at Harvard Law School, and was admitted to the bar. The following year, in September 1849, Ricker was elected county judge, defeating the incumbent judge . He was subsequently re-elected two times, serving until January 1853.

While serving as county judge, he was also elected to represent Manitowoc County in the Wisconsin State Assembly during the 1852 and 1853 terms, running on the Democratic Party ticket.

In the summer of 1854, the 1846–1860 cholera pandemic reached Manitowoc County, Wisconsin. Ricker contracted the infection and died on August 10, 1854.

Ezekiel Ricker III married Emelia Melzner on Christmas Day 1849, in Manitowoc. Melzner was a Wisconsin-born daughter of German immigrants. They had three daughters together, who all survived them.