Samuel Hale Jr.

Samuel Hale Jr. (September 13, 1800 – January 23, 1877) was an American merchant, judge and politician from Kenosha, Wisconsin who served two one-year terms in the Wisconsin State Assembly, as well as holding a number of other public offices.

Samuel Hale Jr.
Member of the Wisconsin State Assembly from the Kenosha 1st district
In office January 11, 1854 – January 10, 1855
Preceded by	Christopher Latham Sholes
Succeeded by	Charles C. Sholes
Member of the Wisconsin State Assembly from the Racine 4th district
In office January 9, 1850 – January 8, 1851
Preceded by	Otis Colwell
Succeeded by	Position abolished
Personal details
Born	Samuel Hale Jr. (1800-09-13)September 13, 1800 Oneida County, New York
Died	January 23, 1877(1877-01-23) (aged 76) Chicago, Illinois
Resting place	Green Ridge Cemetery Kenosha, Wisconsin
Political party	Free Soil Party Democratic (before 1853)
Spouse(s)	Mary Barnard
Mother	Hannah Munson
Father	Samuel Hale, Sr.

Background, business and civic life

Hale was born in Oneida County, New York, on September 13, 1800. He came to the Wisconsin Territory in May 26, 1836, and settled in the tiny settlement first known as Southport, then as Kenosha.[1] He became part of the community quickly; when in December 1836 the territorial legislature incorporated the Milwaukee and Racine Mutual Fire Insurance Company, he was enumerated as one of the initial subscribers.[2] By the winter of 1838, he was part-owner of Hale & Bullen, one of the only four stores in the settlement of 200 people [his partner was John Bullen, whose brother William Bullen was one of the remaining three merchants]; in the autumn of 1839 he was one of the charter members of the "Southport Lyceum", a society supposedly educational in intent, but generally regarded as being more recreational in purpose. As of June 1840, he was advertising his lumber business; and by September 1841, S. Hale Jr. & Co. were advertising their dry goods.

His father, Samuel Hale, one of the first settlers of Oneida County, died in Southport on August 25, 1842;[3] but it is unknown whether he had accompanied his son to the Territory, or was merely there on a visit.

In the spring of 1843, Hale sold his business to N. R. Allen, who in October of the same year married one Mary Hale: a native of Oneida County, New York, and presumably Samuel Jr.'s sister.[4] By 1858, Hale was on the board of directors of the City Bank of Kenosha, as well as being an officer of the local Masonic lodge.[5]

In the early years of Southport, the settlement had no harbor or wharf facilities. An 1857 Early History of Kenosha recounts, "A 'lighter,' capable of carrying several tons weight, was built in the spring of 1836, and kept on the beach of the Lake; whenever a steamer or sail vessel anchored off shore, for the purpose of landing passengers or freight, whether in the daytime or nighttime, the lighter was launched from the beach and manned. The. lighter being heavy, it required a large portion of the able-bodied men of the town to handle it. Among the most active on such occasions, to man the lighter, was Judge Hale. Many of the citizens of Kenosha have still vivid recollections of hearing his stentorian voice, at midnight hours, calling for men to launch the lighter; when his voice did not suffice to awaken the sleepers, a heavy kick against the door never failed to bring them to a sense of wakefulness."[6]

Public office

The new Racine County was organized on December 7, 1836 from the southern portion of Milwaukee County, and encompassed what would later become Kenosha County. When the first elections were held on April 4, 1837, Hale was one of the previously appointed justices of the peace who made up the Board of Elections. He was elected at that time to be one of the three members of the county board of supervisors. By April 1838, the title had been changed to "Commissioner", and Hale was the only one of the three members of the initial body to be retained. He remained on the board until the fall of 1839, when a new election was held. From 1840-1842, he served as "judge of probate", a position later renamed county judge Contemporary press reports indicate that the division between northern and southern Racine County, rather than partisan politics, was the deciding factor in many of these elections, until the County was divided in 1850.[7]

In 1849, Hale was elected as a Democrat to his first term in the Assembly, from one of the districts of what was then still Racine County. (The Obed Hale who was elected to the Assembly in 1850 from the new Kenosha County as a Freesoiler was not a relative of his.)

In 1853, he was elected as a member of the Assembly from Kenosha County as a member of the Free Soil Party.

By 1860, he had gone back to the Democratic Party, and was one of the contenders for delegate to the 1860 Democratic National Convention[8]

Death

Hale died in Chicago, Illinois on January 23, 1877, after having lived there for about 18 years, and was buried in Kenosha.[9][10]

References

1. Caption of "Photograph: Samuel Hale" Wisconsin Historical Society website
2. Act 13. AN ACT to incorporate the Milwaukee and Racine Mutual Fire Insurance company." Acts Passed at the First Session of the Legislative Assembly of the Territory of Wisconsin, Begun and Held in the Council Chamber and House of Representatives, at Belmont, on Tuesday, the Twenty-Fifth Day of October, in the Year of Our Lord One Thousand Eight Hundred and Thirty-Six Belmont, Wisconsin Territory: James Clarke, Printer to the Legislative Assembly, 1836; pp. 152-159
3. Bowen, Francis. The American Almanac and Repository of Useful Knowledge for the Year 1843 Boston: David H. Williams, 1842; p. 313
4. Western Historical Company. The history of Racine and Kenosha Counties, Wisconsin Chicago: Western Historical Company, 1879; pp. 502, 517, 520, 545, 567, 685
5. The Kenosha City Directory, Containing the Names of the Citizens, Business Directory, State and City Record, and an Appendix of Much Userful Information. Milwaukee: Smith, Du Moulin, & Co., Great Northwestern Directory & Statistic Publishing & Advertising House, 1858; p. 87, 89
6. Frank, M. The Early History of Kenosha (1857), reprinted in Collections of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin edited by Lyman Copeland Draper, L.L.D., Secretary of the Society, Vol. III, Being a page-for-page reprint of the original issue of 1857, Under the editorial direction of Reuben Gold Thwaites, L.L.D., Secretary and Superintendent. Madison: Wisconsin Historical Society, 1904; pp. 370 et seq.
7. Western Historical Company. The history of Racine and Kenosha Counties, Wisconsin Chicago: Western Historical Company, 1879; pp. 310, 311, 313, 319, 447
8. "Wisconsin Democratic Convention" Louisville Democrat February 19, 1860; p. 1, col. 5
9. "General News: Samuel Hale". Chicago Daily Tribune. January 24, 1877. p. 8. Retrieved January 30, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
10. "Samuel Hale". Chicago Daily Tribune. January 27, 1877. p. 8. Retrieved January 30, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.