Nelson Dewey

Nelson Webster Dewey (December 19, 1813 – July 21, 1889) was an American lawyer, land speculator, politician, and Wisconsin pioneer. He was the first governor of Wisconsin, and also served in the Wisconsin Senate and served several years in the Wisconsin Territory government before Wisconsin achieved statehood. He was also particularly important in the development of Cassville, Wisconsin, which he had at one time hoped to make the state capitol.

Early life Dewey was born in Lebanon, Connecticut, on December 19, 1813, to Ebenezer and Lucy (née Webster) Dewey. His father's family had lived in New England since 1633, when their ancestor Thomas Due (Dewey) came to America from the county of Kent, England. |group="note"|name="birthnote" He attended the academy for three years, and then returned to Butternut to teach. Daniels, Dennison & Co. had purchased the land on which Cassville was built, and their plan was to develop and promote the village in the hopes that it grow and eventually be chosen as the capital of the Wisconsin Territory or of a future state.

Territorial politics

On March 4, 1837, Dewey was elected Register of Deeds for the newly formed Grant County; he was appointed the county's Justice of the Peace by Territorial Governor Henry Dodge the same year. He was, and continued to be for the rest of his political career, a member of the Democratic Party. When Daniels, Dennison & Co.'s business plans collapsed in 1838, after Madison was chosen to be the capital, one centered in the lead-mining regions, and another centered in the eastern portion of the state. Dewey defeated Whig candidate John Hubbard Tweedy and the independent Charles Durkee, and thus became the first governor of the State of Wisconsin. John E. Holmes, also a Democrat, was elected lieutenant governor in the same election. he was elected by a majority of three votes, serving a two-year term. after being unconscious for the previous forty-eight hours.

Personal life Dewey married Catherine Dunn in 1849 during his first term as governor. The couple had three children:

Dewey was called a "friend of the poor" and known for his generosity.

The former Nelson Dewey Generating Station was named after the governor.

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