Wilmot Brookings

Wilmot Brookings
Wilmot Brookings
Governor of the Dakota Territory
	Acting
	In office; January 1859 – March 2, 1861
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	William Jayne
Personal details
Born	Wilmot Wood Brookings; October 23, 1830; Woolwich, Maine, U.S.
Died	June 13, 1905 (aged 74); Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Clara Carney
Education	Bowdoin College (BA)

Wilmot Wood Brookings (October 23, 1830 – June 13, 1905) was an American pioneer, frontier judge, and early South Dakotan politician. He was provisional governor of the Dakota Territory, and both the cities of Wilmot and Brookings as well as the county of Brookings, South Dakota are named for him.^[1]^[2]

Early life

Brookings was born on October 23, 1830, in Woolwich, Maine, to Abner and Susannah Bayley Brookings. (The 1860 Dakota Territory census lists his birthplace, possibly incorrectly, as North Carolina). Brookings attended Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine, graduating in 1855. He married Clara Carney of Dresden, Maine, and went on to teach at Litchfield, North Anson, and Wiscasset before being admitted to the bar in May 1857.

Dakota Territory

Brookings moved to

district attorney

.

In February 1858, Brookings rode a horse from Sioux Falls to the

wooden legs

that caused him discomfort and sometimes made walking difficult.

Provisional governor

When

organized territory in 1861, Brookings was elected to the Territory Council for two years and later served three straight terms as a representative from Yankton County. In 1864 he served as territory speaker of the house and was appointed superintendent of the U.S. Military Wagon Road from Minnesota to Montana

in 1865.

Later political career

After the assassination of

congressional delegate, on an anti-Johnson platform. Brookings lost to fellow Republican Walter A. Burleigh

.

Brookings served on the Territorial Council from 1867 to 1869, including a stint as council president in 1868. He also served as district attorney for Yankton County from 1867 to 1868. In 1869 President

constitutional convention

.

On July 3, 1871, Brookings County was formally organized and named after him. The city of Brookings, South Dakota was also named for him, though he only ever visited the town twice. In 1871 Brookings helped organize the

Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad. Brookings was among the first to ride a locomotive

into Dakota Territory when the first Dakota Southern train entered the region on October 1, 1872.

Later life and death

In January 1885, Brookings bought and became editor of the Sioux Falls Leader newspaper (which later merged with the Sioux Falls Argus and became known as the Argus Leader). Brookings also served as president of the Minnehaha Trust Company, Director of the Sioux Falls National Bank, National Realty Company, and Safe Deposit Company.

Brookings died riding a

streetcar in Boston, Massachusetts

, on June 13, 1905, while on a return trip from visiting his hometown in Woolwich, Maine. He is buried in Yankton, South Dakota.

References

Political offices
New office	Governor of the Dakota Territory Acting 1859–1861	Succeeded by William Jayne

[1] "The Political Graveyard: Index to Politicians: Bronstad to Brookover".

[2] Wilmot Brookings

[1]

[2]

Authority control databases
International	FAST VIAF
National	United States