Alexander Botkin (March 4, 1801March 5, 1857) was an American lawyer, politician, and pioneer settler of Dane County, Wisconsin. He served one term each as a member of the

Wisconsin Senate The Wisconsin Senate is the upper house of the Wisconsin State Legislature. Together with the larger Wisconsin State Assembly they constitute the legislative branch of the state of Wisconsin. The powers of the Wisconsin Senate are modeled after t ...

and

Wisconsin State Assembly The Wisconsin State Assembly is the lower house of the Wisconsin Legislature. Together with the smaller Wisconsin Senate, the two constitute the legislative branch of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Representatives are elected for two-year terms, ...

Biography

Born in

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...

, at an early age he moved to Hamilton County, Ohio, and then to

Alton, Illinois Alton ( ) is a city on the Mississippi River in Madison County, Illinois, Madison County, Illinois, United States, about north of St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri. The population was 25,676 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. It is a p ...

, in 1832, where he practiced law. He was serving as a justice of the peace at the time of the riots that resulted in the murder of

abolitionist Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people. The British ...

Elijah P. Lovejoy Elijah Parish Lovejoy (November 9, 1802 – November 7, 1837) was an American Presbyterianism, Presbyterian Minister (Christianity), minister, journalist, Editing, newspaper editor, and Abolitionism in the United States, abolitionist. Followin ...

, and was active in attempting to preserve order in the city. He moved north into the

Wisconsin Territory The Territory of Wisconsin was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 3, 1836, until May 29, 1848, when an eastern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Wisconsin. Belmont was ...

in 1841, to work as the assistant secretary of the territory under Alexander Pope Field, in

Madison Madison may refer to: People * Madison (name), a given name and a surname * James Madison (1751–1836), fourth president of the United States Place names * Madison, Wisconsin, the state capital of Wisconsin and the largest city known by this ...

. While living there, he also worked as a law partner to Field, and became active in politics. He was a candidate for delegate to Wisconsin's first constitutional convention in 1846, but was defeated by John Y. Smith. After the first constitution was rejected by voters, however, he was elected to serve in the

5th Wisconsin Territorial Assembly The Fifth Legislative Assembly of the Wisconsin Territory convened from , to , and from , to , in regular session. The Assembly also convened in special session from October 18, 1847, to October 27, 1847, to organize a second constitutional conve ...

as a representative of

Dane Dane or Danes may refer to: People Pertaining to Denmark * Dane, somebody from Denmark * Danes, an ethnic group native to Denmark * Danes (Germanic tribe) Other people * Dane (name), a surname and a given name (and a list of people with the nam ...

Green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a combi ...

, and Sauk counties. This was the last session of the territorial government before the adoption of Wisconsin's second constitution and their admission as a

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

. In the 1848 fall general election, Botkin was elected to a two-year term in the

running on the Whig Party ticket. He represented Dane County in the

2nd A second is the base unit of time in the International System of Units (SI). Second, Seconds or 2nd may also refer to: Mathematics * 2 (number), as an ordinal (also written as ''2nd'' or ''2d'') * Second of arc, an angular measurement unit, ...

and 3rd legislatures. During the 1849 session, he was the Whig nominee for

United States Senator The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...

, but the Democrats held a substantial majority in the Legislature and selected

Isaac P. Walker Isaac Pigeon Walker (November 2, 1815March 29, 1872) was an American politician who served as a U.S. Senator from Wisconsin. Walker was born in Virginia and moved with his family to Illinois in 1825. He practiced law in Springfield, Illinois, and ...

instead. He ran for re-election in 1850, but was defeated. After leaving the Senate, he was elected to a one-year term in the

for the 5th Wisconsin Legislature. He died of a stroke while stopping at Angel's Hotel in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, and was buried in

Madison, Wisconsin Madison is the county seat of Dane County and the capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census the population was 269,840, making it the second-largest city in Wisconsin by population, after Milwaukee, and the 80th-lar ...

Personal life and family

Botkin was married to Jane Roslin Sinclair, who survived him. One of their sons was Alexander Campbell Botkin, who became

Lieutenant Governor of Montana The lieutenant governor of Montana is an elected official in the State of Montana that ranks just below the governor of Montana. List of lieutenant governors ;Parties Living former lieutenant governors , there are six former lieutenant gov ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Botkin, Alexander 1801 births 1857 deaths People from Kentucky Politicians from Alton, Illinois Politicians from Madison, Wisconsin Wisconsin Whigs Illinois state court judges Members of the Wisconsin Territorial Legislature 19th-century American legislators Members of the Wisconsin State Assembly Wisconsin state senators 19th-century American judges