Wiram Knowlton

The Honorable
Wiram Knowlton
The Honorable Wiram Knowlton
Justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court
	ex officio
	In office; August 1850 – June 1, 1853
Wisconsin Circuit Court Judge for the 6th Circuit
	In office; August 1850 – August 6, 1856
Preceded by	Position Established
Succeeded by	George Gale
Member of the Council of the Wisconsin Territory for Crawford and St. Croix Counties
	In office; January 6, 1845 – January 4, 1847
Preceded by	Theophilus La Chappelle
Succeeded by	Benjamin F. Manahan
Personal details
Born	Wiram Knowlton; January 24, 1816; Canandaigua, New York
Died	June 27, 1863 (aged 47); Menekaunee, Wisconsin
Resting place	Evergreen Cemetery; Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin
Nationality	American
Spouses	Candace Knowlton; (m. 1842; died 1863);
Relatives	James H. Knowlton (brother)
Occupation	lawyer, judge
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Branch/service	United States Volunteers
Years of service	1846–1848
Rank	Captain, USV
Battles/wars	Mexican–American War

Wiram Knowlton (January 24, 1816 – June 27, 1863) was an American politician and jurist from Wisconsin. He was a Wisconsin Circuit Court Judge and ex officio Justice of the pre-1853 Wisconsin Supreme Court (the Wisconsin Supreme Court before 1853 was composed of the state's elected circuit court judges).

Biography

Born in Canandaigua, New York, Knowlton moved to Janesville, Wisconsin Territory, in 1837 and began to study law. He was admitted to the bar in 1840 and started a law practice in Prairie du Chien, where he was also elected to the Wisconsin Territorial Council (upper house of the Territorial Legislature) from 1845 to 1847.^[1]

During the Mexican–American War, he raised a company of men using the W.H.C. Folsom House. He was elected captain of the company and they were stationed at Fort Winnebago for frontier duty, freeing up the regular garrison to be redeployed to the south. In July 1850, he was elected Wisconsin Circuit Court judge for the newly created 6th circuit and sworn into office in August.^[2] Because of this office, he also served as a justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court, which at the time was composed of Wisconsin's circuit court judges.^[1] This changed in 1853, when a separate supreme court was created by an act of the Wisconsin Legislature.^[3]^[4]^[5] Knowlton died in Menekaunee, Wisconsin.^[6]

Knowlton's brother, James H. Knowlton, was a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly.^[6]^[7]

Electoral history

Wisconsin Supreme Court (1852)

Wisconsin Supreme Court Election, 1852^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
General Election, September 1852
	Democratic	Samuel Crawford	10,520	53.48%
	Independent	Wiram Knowlton	9,151	46.52%
Plurality			1,369	6.96%
Total votes			19,671	100.0%
	Democratic win (new seat)

References

^ ^a ^b Gray, Trina E.; de Nie, Karen Leone; Miller, Jennifer; Todd, Amanda K. (2003). "Portraits of Justice: The Wisconsin Supreme Court's First 150 Years" (PDF). Wisconsin Historical Society Press. Retrieved December 17, 2019.
^ Reed, Parker McCobb, ed. (1882). The Bench and Bar of Wisconsin. Milwaukee: P. M. Reed. p. 70. Retrieved December 18, 2019.
^ An Act to provide for the organization of a separate Supreme Court, and for the election of justices thereof (PDF) (Act 395). 5th Wisconsin Legislature. 1852. pp. 601–604. Retrieved December 18, 2019.
^ "Wisconsin Court System - Wiram Knowlton". Archived from the original on 2011-07-21. Retrieved 2011-02-22.
^ ""Barstow and the Balance"". Archived from the original on 2008-08-24. Retrieved 2018-07-17.
^ ^a ^b "Judge Wiram Knowlton Dead". Janesville Daily Gazette. July 11, 1863. p. 6. Retrieved March 4, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
^ ""Barstow and the Balance"". Archived from the original on 2008-08-24. Retrieved 2018-07-17.
^ "Judicial Election". Racine Advocate. October 13, 1852. p. 2. Retrieved April 7, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.

[justices-1] Gray, Trina E.; de Nie, Karen Leone; Miller, Jennifer; Todd, Amanda K. (2003). "Portraits of Justice: The Wisconsin Supreme Court's First 150 Years" (PDF). Wisconsin Historical Society Press. Retrieved December 17, 2019.

[2] Reed, Parker McCobb, ed. (1882). The Bench and Bar of Wisconsin. Milwaukee: P. M. Reed. p. 70. Retrieved December 18, 2019.

[3] An Act to provide for the organization of a separate Supreme Court, and for the election of justices thereof (PDF) (Act 395). 5th Wisconsin Legislature. 1852. pp. 601–604. Retrieved December 18, 2019.

[4] "Wisconsin Court System - Wiram Knowlton". Archived from the original on 2011-07-21. Retrieved 2011-02-22.

[5] ""Barstow and the Balance"". Archived from the original on 2008-08-24. Retrieved 2018-07-17.

[Obit-6] "Judge Wiram Knowlton Dead". Janesville Daily Gazette. July 11, 1863. p. 6. Retrieved March 4, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.

[7] ""Barstow and the Balance"". Archived from the original on 2008-08-24. Retrieved 2018-07-17.

[8] "Judicial Election". Racine Advocate. October 13, 1852. p. 2. Retrieved April 7, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.

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