Coles Bashford
Coles Bashford | |
|---|---|
John Fitzgerald | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | January 24, 1816 Cold Spring, New York, U.S. |
| Died | April 25, 1878 (aged 62) Prescott, Arizona Territory, U.S. |
| Resting place | Mountain View Cemetery (Oakland, California) |
| Political party | Whig (until 1855) Republican (until 1866) Independent |
| Spouse | Frances Ann Forman |
| Children | 7 |
| Profession | Lawyer, Politician, Merchant |
Coles Bashford (January 24, 1816 – April 25, 1878) was an American lawyer and politician who became the fifth governor of Wisconsin, and one of the founders of the U.S. Republican Party. His one term as governor ended in a bribery scandal that ended in him fleeing Wisconsin, but he was later instrumental in the government of the newly formed Arizona Territory.
Early life and career
Bashford was born near
1855 election scandal
Bashford ran for governor as a Republican in 1855 and was at first declared the loser to the Democratic incumbent, William A. Barstow, by a mere 157 votes. However, Bashford claimed the result was fraudulent, and it was later discovered that Barstow's win was due to forged election returns coming from non-existent precincts in the sparsely populated northern part of the state, in addition to other irregularities such as two separate canvassing boards claiming legitimacy in Waupaca County. With rival militia units converging on the state capitol in Madison, Bashford was sworn in quietly in the chambers of the Wisconsin Supreme Court, by Chief Justice Edward Whiton, on January 7, 1856.[4]
On the same day, Barstow was publicly inaugurated with full ceremony. The Wisconsin Attorney General filed
The following day, as Madison was crowded with onlookers, Bashford entered the
Term as governor and railroad scandal
As governor, Bashford appointed the first Black officeholder to Wisconsin state office when he made barber and entrepreneur William Noland a notary public in 1857.[6] Bashford declined renomination from the Republican Party and left office at the end of his term on January 4, 1858.
Mere weeks later, an investigation was launched regarding
Bashford managed to cash in his stock before the railroad company folded as a result of the investigation, and fled the state. He traveled first to
Arizona Territory career
Though moving to the Territory as a private citizen, Bashford was soon appointed its first
The last political office Bashford held was Secretary of State for the Arizona Territory, by appointment from U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant in 1869, and again in 1873. After the Territory's capital moved from Prescott, where Bashford and Levi ran the Bashford Mercantile Store, Bashford resigned in 1876 to stay close to his business interests. He died in Prescott two years later. Bashford was buried in Mountain View Cemetery, in Oakland, California. He and his wife Frances Adams had seven children: Belle (who had died at age 11), Edward, Elizabeth, Helen, Lillian, Margaret, and William Coles. The Bashford Mercantile Store remained operating in Prescott until the 1940s.[3]: 90
Electoral history
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| General Election, November 6, 1855 | |||||
Republican
|
Coles Bashford | 36,198 | 49.9% | +10.6% | |
Democratic
|
William A. Barstow | 36,355 | 50.1% | -4.5% | |
| Scattering | 45 | nil | |||
| Total votes | 72,598 | 100.0% | +30.4% | ||
| Republican gain from Democratic | |||||
See also
References
- ^ "Bashford, Coles (1816–1878)". Wisconsin Historical Society. 3 August 2012. Retrieved August 17, 2020.
- ^ Heg, J. E., ed. (1882). "Annals of the Legislature". The Blue Book of the State of Wisconsin (Report). State of Wisconsin. pp. 185, 187, 189. Retrieved August 17, 2020.
- ^ a b c Toepel, M. G.; Kuehn, Hazel L., eds. (1960). "Wisconsin's Former Governors, 1848–1959: Coles Bashford 1856–58". The Wisconsin Blue Book, 1960 (Report). State of Wisconsin. pp. 87–90. Retrieved August 17, 2020.
- ^ a b McCann, Dennis (December 10, 1998). "3 governors held office within weeks". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Archived from the original on March 7, 2003. Retrieved August 15, 2020 – via Wayback Machine.
- ^ "Attorney General ex rel. Bashford v. Barstow – 4 Wis. 567 (1856)" (PDF). Wisconsin Court System. Retrieved August 15, 2020.
- ISBN 9780471143451. Retrieved August 17, 2020.
- ISBN 978-0-9752820-7-6. Retrieved August 17, 2020.
Further reading
- Wilson, James Grant; Fiske, John, eds. (1888). "Bashford, Coles". Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography. Vol. 1 (Aaron–Crandall). New York: D. Appleton and Company. p. 190.
- Toepel, M. G.; Kuehn, Hazel L., eds. (1960). "Wisconsin's Former Governors, 1848–1959: Coles Bashford 1856–58". The Wisconsin Blue Book, 1960 (Report). State of Wisconsin. pp. 87–90.
- Campbell, Tracy. Deliver the Vote : A History of Election Fraud, an American Political Tradition-1742-2004, pp. 43–45. Carroll & Graf, 2005.
- Current, Richard Nelson. Wisconsin: A History, pp. 176–78, 180. University of Illinois Press, 2001.
- McCann, Dennis. 3 governors held office within weeks Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, December 10, 1998.
- Attorney General ex. rel. Bashford v. Barstow, 4 Wis. 567 (1856).
- Farish, Thomas Edwin (1916). History of Arizona. Vol. III. San Francisco: The Filmer Brothers Electrotype Company. Archived from the original on 2005-03-15. Retrieved 2005-02-22.
- Sonnichsen, C.L. Tucson: The Life and Times of an American City, pp. 69–70. University of Oklahoma Press, 1987.
External links
- United States Congress. "Coles Bashford (id: B000219)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
- Coles Bashford at Find a Grave
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