Alonzo D. Dick

Alonzo David Dick (1813 – October 9, 1872) was a Brothertown Indian farmer, tavernkeeper, and postmaster from Brothertown, Wisconsin, (then called "Manchester"). As a member of the Whig Party, he served one term in the Wisconsin State Assembly, representing Calumet County.

Background

Born 1813 in upstate New York, Dick was among the Brothertown Indians who left New York in accordance with the agreement which gave them land in Wisconsin Territory. He came with his family (he had married Lureanett or Lucenette Crosley, born 1808 of Pequot and Niantic heritage) on the steamboat ''United States'' in 1835. In 1839, he was one of the commissioners elected for the purpose of surveying, dividing and apportioning the lands of the Brothertowns. He received farmland allotments, as did his wife and two children Cornelia (born 1838) and Almira (born 1839). At one point around 1837, Dick was running a tavern in Brothertown.

In 1842, Dick was elected "highway overseer" for the Town of "Kaukalan" (encompassing a large area, including what would later become Wrightstown), where he was an early settler and kept "probably the first tavern in Wrightstown". In 1845 the new federal Department of Indian Affairs paid him $3.19 (~$ in ) for his services as a sub-agent, interpreter and teamster.

In 1844, the Brothertowns (most of whom were Methodist) elected Dick as one of a committee to erect new building to replace the log chapel they had been using. ''("...made of logs hewn on both sides, about eight inches thick, the ends dovetailed together and crevices filled with mortar. It had a pleasing appearance within and without. It had log seats, and the altar was a hewn piece of log. It could seat 100 people and there was standing room for 100 more.")'' When Methodist circuit rider W. G. Miller came to Brothertown in the spring of 1845, he was hosted by Dick, who served as one of the stewards of the congregation. It was the beginning of what Miller described as "a life-long friendship." Decades later, a white visitor recalled Dick in 1836 as "a very good singer" who served as the "starter" for the congregation's singing.

Legislature

Dick was elected to the Assembly's Calumet County district for the 2nd Wisconsin Legislature, replacing Democrat Lemuel Goodell, who was elected to the State Senate. He was assigned to the standing committees on town and county organization, and on state lands. He was succeeded by fellow Whig David E. Wood.

With William Fowler and W. H. Dick, he was one of three Brothertown Indians to serve in Wisconsin's legislature before the Civil War, the only non-white members of that body until the 1908 election of Lucian H. Palmer.

After the legislature

Dick is recorded as the postmaster of what was still called the Pequot post office in 1851.United States Post Office Dept. ''Table of post offices in the United States on the first day of January, 1851, arranged in alphabetical order, and exhibiting the states, territories, and counties in which they are situated, with the names of the post masters; also an appendix, containing a list of the post offices, arranged by states and counties, to which is added a list of the offices established, changed, or discontinued to May 31'' Washington, W. & J.C. Greer, Printers; p. 210
/ref>

He died at his home in Chilton, Wisconsin, in October 1872.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dick, Alonzo D.
Wisconsin Whigs
Members of the Wisconsin State Assembly
People from Brothertown, Wisconsin
Methodists from Wisconsin
Native American state legislators in Wisconsin
1813 births
1872 deaths
19th-century American legislators
Native American people from Wisconsin
Wisconsin postmasters
19th-century Wisconsin politicians
Tavernkeepers