Democratic Constitutional Convention 1857; House 1864-65 (District 12); Senate 1875-78 (District 5)
Party when first elected: Republican
Counties Served: Freeborn, Olmsted
Western Reserve College, Ohio; College Graduate; 1854Cincinnati Law School; Law Degree;
Spouse: Single (when first elected); Elizabeth M. Burgess Butman (married in 1868) Children: Family Members Who Have Served in the Minnesota Legislature:
He came to Minnesota in 1855 and settled in High Forest. He moved to Albert Lea, Minnesota in April 1874."In his early political life he was a Douglas Democrat and adhered to that faith up to the breaking out of the war in 1861, at which point he became identified with the Republican party." (Biographical Sketches of the Officers of the State Government of Minnesota and of the 19th Minnesota State Legislature, by C.L. Hall, 1877, p. 11)In the fall of 1874 he "ran independently, was elected to the State Senate." (Biographical Sketches of the Officers of the State Government of Minnesota and of the 19th Minnesota State Legislature, by C.L. Hall, 1877, p. 12)The Minnesota Legislative Manual, 1869 lists him as a Republican when he served as President of the Senate.He was elected as a Republican, to serve as Minnesota Lieutenant Governor, in the 1865 election. (Minnesota in Three Centuries, Volume 3, p. 427.)He was listed as a Republican on the list of members posted after the 1877 election. ("The Next Legislature." St. Paul Pioneer Press, November 10, 1877)He was a candidate to run for Governor of Minnesota in 1873 but withdrew before being nominated.