James Kerr Proudfit

James Kerr Proudfit (July 24, 1831 – May 30, 1917) was an American military officer, politician, and pioneer of Wisconsin, New Mexico and Kansas. He served in the Union Army throughout the American Civil War, rising to the rank of colonel, and earned an honorary brevet to the rank of brigadier general after the conclusion of the war. He later served as a member of the Wisconsin Senate, adjutant general of Wisconsin, and surveyor general of New Mexico; he was also one of the founders of the Grand Army of the Republic, serving as the first department commander for Wisconsin.

His elder brother, Andrew Proudfit, was also a Wisconsin state senator and the 9th mayor of Madison, Wisconsin. James Proudfit's daughter Isabelle married Orrin L. Miller, who went on to become a U.S. representative and judge in Kansas.

Early life James Kerr Proudfit was born July 24, 1831, in Argyle, New York. He received his early education in that region of New York. After his father's death in 1839, his elder brother, Andrew Proudfit, took responsibility for the family. Andrew brought the family west to the Wisconsin Territory in 1842, where he obtained a small farm in the town of Brookfield. In 1846, the family moved to Delafield, Wisconsin, where Andrew built a flour mill. James went to work in 1850 as a store clerk in Milwaukee; over the next several years he traveled around the region, working in Manitowoc, Appleton, and Waupun, before returning to Delafield.

In the spring of 1855, he moved to Madison, Wisconsin, where his brother, Andrew, had gone a year earlier. In Madison, Proudfit partnered with Elias A. Calkins to purchase the Argus and Democrat newspaper from Beriah Brown. Proudfit remained only two years with the paper, however, selling his share of the company to George Webb in May 1857.

In 1857, Proudfit's elder brother was elected to the Wisconsin Senate. The following spring, James Proudfit was elected to his first public office, when he was elected city treasurer of Madison.

The 1st Wisconsin Infantry was sent east to Pennsylvania, then deployed to the vicinity of Hagerstown, Maryland, where they engaged Stonewall Jackson's brigade of Confederate militia at the Battle of Hoke's Run. In this early skirmish, casualties were light and the fighting was indecisive. As the 1st Wisconsin Infantry had only been mustered on a three-month enlistment, they were dismissed back to Wisconsin and mustered out on August 22, 1861.

After returning to Wisconsin, Proudfit re-enlisted for a three year term and was commissioned adjutant of the 12th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment. The 12th Wisconsin Infantry mustered into federal service in October 1861, and was sent south to Kansas, performing guard duty at various points around the state through all of 1862. From February to June 1863, the regiment's commander, Colonel George E. Bryant, was acting brigade commander, and he appointed Proudfit to the role of acting assistant adjutant general. During those months, the brigade was ordered to proceed south and join the Siege of Vicksburg. Shortly after the fall of Vicksburg, the regiment's lieutenant colonel retired and Proudfit was promoted to succeed him; The 26th Senate district, at that time, comprised roughly Madison and the western half of Dane County. James Proudfit won the election and served in the 1866 and 1867 legislative terms. While serving as senator, Governor Fairchild also appointed Proudfit to serve as adjutant general of the state; at the same time, Proudfit was active in the organization of the Grand Army of the Republic and was elected the first department commander for Wisconsin. He did not run for re-election in 1867, and resigned as adjutant general in the summer of 1868.

Personal life and family James Kerr Proudfit was the youngest of four children born to James Proudfit and his wife Maria ( Kerr). James Kerr Proudfit's elder brother, Andrew Proudfit, also was elected to the Wisconsin Senate and became the 9th mayor of Madison, Wisconsin. The Proudfit family were descendants of Andrew Proudfit (or Proudfoot), who emigrated to the Province of Pennsylvania from Scotland about 1750.

On September 20, 1855, James Kerr Proudfit married Emelie Teresa Kreuz, a Bohemian immigrant, at Delafield, Wisconsin. They had ten children, though four died in infancy (including triplets born on March 1, 1866). Another daughter, Julia, died of influenza at age 21. There was apparent family history of mental illness. Proudfit's wife, Emelie, left their home late at night on April 28, 1884, and was not seen again, with some speculating that she committed suicide. Their eldest son, James D. Proudfit, also committed suicide at age 35.

Proudfit's daughter Isabelle (Belle) married Orrin L. Miller at Kansas City in 1883. Miller went on to serve one term in the U.S. House of Representatives, and was then a judge in Wyandotte County, Kansas.