Henry Samuel Baird

Henry Samuel Baird Jr. (May 16, 1800 – April 30, 1875) was an Irish American immigrant, Wisconsin pioneer, lawyer, and politician. He was the first Attorney General of the Wisconsin Territory, appointed by territorial governor Henry Dodge. He is known as "Father of the Wisconsin Bar," and was said to be the first practicing lawyer in the Wisconsin Territory.

Biography Born in Dublin, Ireland, Baird moved with his family, at age five, to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He worked in various law firms in Ohio and Pennsylvania—including the law firm of the future governor of Ohio Reuben Wood. Baird moved to Mackinac Island, in the Michigan Territory, in 1822, where he became a teacher. Baird also served in the Wisconsin Territorial Council, the upper house of the Wisconsin Territorial Legislature, and was the first president of the territorial council; he also served in the first Wisconsin Constitutional Convention of 1846. After Wisconsin statehood, he was the Whig Party nominee for Governor of Wisconsin in 1853, losing badly (this would be the last Wisconsin gubernatorial election in which there was a Whig candidate on the ballot). He served as mayor of Green Bay for two terms, in 1861 and 1862.

Family and personal life On August 12, 1824, Henry Baird married 14-year-old Elizabeth Fisher, Henry and Elizabeth had four daughters, with two surviving to adulthood.

Henry's law office, the Baird Law Office, is a small Greek Revival building that he purchased in 1841. The building was moved and is preserved at Heritage Hill State Park.

Electoral history Wisconsin Attorney General (1848)

Wisconsin Governor (1853)