Samuel Beall

Samuel Wootton Beall
2nd Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin
In office
January 7, 1850  January 5, 1852
Governor Nelson Dewey
Preceded by John E. Holmes
Succeeded by Timothy Burns
Personal details
Born (1807-06-16)June 16, 1807
Montgomery County, Maryland U.S.
Died September 26, 1868(1868-09-26) (aged 61)
Helena, Montana U.S.
Resting place Forestvale Cemetery, Helena
Citizenship American
Political party Democratic
Spouse(s) Elizabeth Fenimore Cooper Beall
Children 7
Alma mater Union College
Profession Lawyer
Land Speculator
Politician
Military service
Allegiance United States
Service/branch United States Army
Union Army
Rank lieutenant colonel
Unit 18th Wisconsin Infantry
Battles/wars American Civil War
Battle of Shiloh

Samuel Wootton Beall (June 16, 1807 September 26, 1868) was an American land speculator and lawyer, who served as the second Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin, and as an officer in the American Civil War.

Early life

Born in Montgomery County, Maryland, Beall graduated from Union College in Schenectady, New York in 1827.

Career

Beall moved to what is now Green Bay, Wisconsin in 1835, where he made a fortune in land speculation, and was admitted to the bar and practiced law. In the 1840s he settled in Taycheedah.

Between 1832 and 1856, Beall loaned the Stockbridge and Munsee Indians' delegations to Washington, D.C. some $3,000 for their expenses while they pursued claims against the federal government. He was promised one third of whatever they recovered, but when they won their case, he claimed and recovered only his actual expenditures.[1]

Beall served as a delegate to both the first and second Wisconsin Constitutional Conventions from Marquette County, one of only six men to do so (most members of the first convention declined to serve in the second).[2]

Beall was a Democrat, and served as lieutenant governor for Nelson Dewey's second term as governor, from 1850 until 1852.[3]

During the American Civil War, he was a lieutenant-colonel in the 18th Wisconsin Infantry and was wounded in the Battle of Shiloh. After recovering, he served as second-in-command of a prisoner of war camp in Elmira, New York, where the prisoners nicknamed him "old peg-leg" and accused him of a pattern of repeated cruelty and abuse.[4]

Death

After briefly returning to Wisconsin after the war, Beall moved to Helena, Montana, where, on September 26, 1868, he was shot following an argument.[5][6][7] He was re-interred in 1907 at Forestvale Cemetery in Helena.[8]

Family life

Son of Lewis and Eliza Beall, in 1829, he married Elizabeth Fenimore Cooper, a niece of James Fenimore Cooper, and they had seven children.

References

  1. Viola, Herman J. Diplomats in Buckskins: A History of Indian Delegations in Washington City Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press, 1995; p. 57
  2. Smith, William R. The History of Wisconsin. In Three Parts, Historical, Documentary and Descriptive. Madison: Beriah Brown, Printer, 1854. Part II. - Documentary. Vol. III; p. 302.
  3. "Public Square at Rapids Was First County Seat". Manitowoc Herald-Times. June 11, 1924. p. 5. Retrieved March 9, 2015 via Newspapers.com.
  4. Gray, Michael P. The Business of Captivity: Elmira and Its Civil War Prison Kent, Ohio: Kent State University Press, 2001; pp. 125-126
  5. "Coroner's Inquest". The Montana Post. October 2, 1868. p. 3. Retrieved December 12, 2016 via Newspapers.com.
  6. "Death of Co. Beall". Green Bay Weekly Gazette. October 3, 1868. p. 5. Retrieved December 12, 2016 via Newspapers.com.
  7. Beall, Samuel Wooton[?] 1807 - 1868. Wisconsin Historical Society.
  8. "Locate Body of Former State Official". Eau Claire Leader. November 28, 1907. p. 6. Retrieved December 12, 2016 via Newspapers.com.


Political offices
Preceded by
John Edwin Holmes
Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin
18501852
Succeeded by
Timothy Burns
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