Lucien B. Caswell
Lucien B. Caswell
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Wisconsin's 1st district
In office
March 4, 1885 – March 3, 1891
Preceded byJohn Winans
Succeeded byClinton Babbitt
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Wisconsin's 2nd district
In office
March 4, 1875 – March 3, 1883
Preceded byGerry Whiting Hazelton
Succeeded byDaniel H. Sumner
Member of the Wisconsin State Assembly
from the Jefferson 3rd district
In office
January 5, 1874 – January 4, 1875
Preceded byJames W. Ostrander
Succeeded byJames W. Ostrander
In office
January 1, 1872 – January 6, 1873
Preceded byNelson Fryer
Succeeded byJames W. Ostrander
In office
January 5, 1863 – January 4, 1864
Preceded byWilliam W. Reed
Succeeded byJoseph Powers
District Attorney of Jefferson County, Wisconsin
In office
January 1, 1855 – January 5, 1857
Preceded byWilliam Dutcher
Succeeded byDaniel Hall
Personal details
BornNovember 27, 1827
Swanton, Vermont
DiedApril 26, 1919(1919-04-26) (aged 91)
Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin
Resting placeEvergreen Cemetery, Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin
Political partyRepublican
SpouseAnna (Rogers)[1]

Lucien Bonaparte Caswell (November 27, 1827 – April 26, 1919) was an American lawyer and Republican politician. He served 14 years in the United States House of Representatives between 1875 and 1891, representing parts of southeast Wisconsin.

Biography

Lucien Bonaparte Caswell was born in Swanton, Vermont, on November 27, 1827. When he was nine, he moved with his family to the frontier Wisconsin Territory and settled along the Rock River, just south of Lake Koshkonong. Caswell attended Milton Academy and took a course at Beloit College in Beloit. He began to study law in Beloit with the practice of future United States Senator Matthew H. Carpenter. Caswell was admitted to the bar in October 1851. He moved to Fort Atkinson later that year, where he opened a law practice.[2]

In 1854, Caswell was appointed the district attorney of Jefferson County. Caswell was elected to the Wisconsin State Assembly in 1863, 1872, and 1874. He founded the First National Bank of Fort Atkinson in 1863 and served as cashier for twenty-five years.[3] He was with Governor Louis P. Harvey on his fatal trip to visit Wisconsin troops in Tennessee. Caswell was selected as a delegate to the 1868 Republican National Convention and supported Ulysses S. Grant.[2]

Caswell served seven terms in the United States House of Representatives as a Republican. He was first elected in 1874 to the 44th Congress, defeating Democrat Amasa G. Cook by 217 votes. He represented Wisconsin's 2nd congressional district, covering Columbia, Dane, Jefferson, and Sauk counties.[4] Caswell was subsequently elected to the 45th, 46th and 47th Congresses serving from March 4, 1875 to March 3, 1883. In 1885, he founded the Citizens' State Bank of Fort Atkinson. He was once again elected to the 49th and subsequent congresses through to the 51st Congress however this time representing Wisconsin's 1st congressional district from March 4, 1885, to March 3, 1891. As a representative, he was active in establishing the Federal appeals court system and overseeing the construction of the Library of Congress. Caswell was defeated in the Republican primaries in 1890 by state senator Henry Allen Cooper, who was defeated in the general election by Clinton Babbitt.

After his time in Congress, Caswell returned to Fort Atkinson to practice law. He died there on April 26, 1919, and was buried in Evergreen Cemetery.[5]

References

  1. ↑ CASWELL, Lucien B., in Who's Who in America (1901-1902 edition), via archive.org
  2. 1 2 Reed, Parker McCobb (1882). The Bench and Bar of Wisconsin: History and Biography. Milwaukee, WI: P. M. Reed. p. 170.
  3. ↑ The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography. Vol. III. New York City, NY: James T. White & Company. 1893. p. 856.
  4. ↑ "Tabular Statement". Wisconsin State Journal. December 12, 1874. Retrieved November 19, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ↑ "Caswell, Lucien Bonaparte". United States House of Representatives. Retrieved November 19, 2021.
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