Augustus A. Bird

Augustus Allen Bird (April 1, 1802 – February 25, 1870) was an American pioneer and politician. He was the 2nd Mayor of Madison, Wisconsin, represented the Madison area for two terms in the Wisconsin State Assembly, and was one the commissioners responsible for establishing the first Capitol building located at Madison, Wisconsin, used by the territorial government and Wisconsin Legislature until 1863.[1]

Augustus A. Bird
2nd Mayor of Madison, Wisconsin
In office
April 1857 – April 1858
Preceded byJairus C. Fairchild
Succeeded byGeorge Baldwin Smith
Member of the Wisconsin State Assembly
from the Dane 5th district
In office
January 1, 1856 – January 1, 1857
Preceded byLevi Baker Vilas
Succeeded byHorace A. Tenney
Member of the Wisconsin State Assembly
from the Dane 2nd district
In office
January 1, 1851 – January 1, 1852
Preceded byChauncey Abbott
Succeeded byAlexander Botkin
Personal details
Born
Augustus Allen Bird

(1823-05-22)May 22, 1823
Thetford, Vermont, U.S.
DiedSeptember 18, 1879(1879-09-18) (aged 56)
Green Bay, Wisconsin, U.S.
Resting placeForest Hill Cemetery
Madison, Wisconsin
NationalityAmerican
Political partyDemocratic
Spouse(s)
  • Charity LeClair
  • (m. 1824; died 1876)
Children
  • Rhenodyne Augustus Bird
  • (b. 1825; died 1877)
  • Marian (Starkweather)
  • (b. 1830; died 1882)
  • Juliette Bird
  • (b. 1832; died 1833)
  • William Wallace Bird
  • (b. 1836; died 1902)
  • George Washington Bird
  • (b. 1837; died 1912)
MotherTabita (Burgoyne) Bird
FatherZenas Bird
RelativesIra W. Bird (brother)
Occupationcontractor, politician

Biography

Born in Thetford, Vermont, he moved with his family to Madison County, New York, and, in 1824, married Charity LeClair. In 1826, he moved with his family to Ann Arbor, Michigan Territory, but returned to Madison County in 1830.[1][2]

In 1836, Bird moved to the Wisconsin Territory, settled in Milwaukee, and engaged in a construction business. The Governor of Wisconsin Territory Henry Dodge appointed Bird to a three-man commission to plan the new territorial capitol, and, in June 1837, Bird set out with about forty workmen from Milwaukee to the site of the new capitol in Madison, cutting a road from Milwaukee to Madison in the process.[1]

In 1851 and 1856, Bird served in the Wisconsin State Assembly and, in 1857, was elected the 2nd Mayor of Madison. He died suddenly in Green Bay, Wisconsin, while visiting his daughter Marian and her husband, John Starkweather.[3][1]

His brother, Ira W. Bird, also served in the Wisconsin State Assembly.[4]

Notes
  1. Augustus Bird
  2. Wisconsin Biography-Dane County
  3. Augustus Bird, Wisconsin Historical Society
  4. Wisconsin Biography-Dane County


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