Armine Pickett (July 10, 1800April 25, 1875) was an American farmer, politician, and

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

pioneer. He was the first white settler in the

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

Utica, Winnebago County, Wisconsin Utica (formerly Welaunee) is a town in Winnebago County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 1,299 at the 2010 census. The unincorporated communities of Elo, Fisk, and Pickett are located in the town. History The town's first Eur ...

, and the namesake of Pickett, Wisconsin. He also served one term in the

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, ...

, representing southern Winnebago County in the 1861 session.

Biography

Armine Pickett was born in July 1800. He resided for some time at

Litchfield, Ohio Litchfield is an unincorporated community in central Litchfield Township, Medina County, Ohio, United States. It is situated at the junction of State Routes 83 and 18, about nine miles northwest of the city of Medina. A post office called Lit ...

, before moving west to 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 1840. In Wisconsin, he initially settled in Jefferson County, but went north in the fall of 1845 and eventually selected to settle in what is now the town of

. Although his time in Jefferson County was brief, it did have a lasting impact on the economy of the state due to the actions of his wife, Anne. While living on a farm in the vicinity of Lake Mills, Wisconsin, Anne had the idea to enlist their neighbors and the neighbors' cows in a cooperative to manufacture cheese. The neighbors agreed and provided Anne with their milk, which Anne then manufactured into cheese. The finished cheese was then distributed to the various cow-owners who could trade it for other goods in nearby markets. Her venture was described as the first dairy cooperative in the United States, and the first commercial cheese factory in Wisconsin. In late August 1860, Pickett sheltered

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 ...

Sherman Booth Sherman Miller Booth (September 25, 1812 – August 10, 1904) was an abolitionist, editor and politician in Wisconsin, and was instrumental in forming the Liberty Party, the Free Soil Party and the Republican Party. He became known nationally a ...

at his farm, where an unsuccessful attempt was made to arrest Booth under the

Fugitive Slave Act A fugitive (or runaway) is a person who is fleeing from custody, whether it be from jail, a government arrest, government or non-government questioning, vigilante violence, or outraged private individuals. A fugitive from justice, also kno ...

for helping to free escaped slave

Joshua Glover __NOTOC__ Joshua Glover was a fugitive slave from St. Louis, Missouri, who sought asylum in Racine, Wisconsin, in 1852. Upon learning his whereabouts in 1854, slave owner Bennami Garland attempted to use the Fugitive Slave Act to recover him. Glo ...

. A few months later, on November 6, 1860, he was elected a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

member of the

for the Third Winnebago County Assembly district (the

Towns A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

Black Wolf A black wolf is a melanistic colour variant of the gray wolf (''Canis lupus''). Black specimens were recorded among red wolves (''Canis rufus''), though the colour morph in this species is probably now extinct. Genetic research from the Sta ...

, Utica, Nepeuskin, Rushford, Omro and Nekemi). He later ran for

Wisconsin's 19th State Senate district The 19th Senate District of Wisconsin is one of 33 districts in the Wisconsin State Senate. Located in east-central Wisconsin, the district comprises northern Winnebago County, Wisconsin, Winnebago County and southwest Outagamie County, Wisconsin ...

as a candidate of the short-lived Democratic Reform or Liberal Reform Party, but was defeated in the 1874 general election. He served as postmaster of the Welaunee or Weelaunee post office; and as chairman of the Town of Utica's board of supervisors. The settlement of Pickett. Pickett Station or Pickett's Station, formerly named Weelaunee, was renamed in his honor. He died April 25, 1875."Necrology 1874-1875" in ''Report and Collections of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, for the Years 1873, 1874, 1875 and 1876. Vol. VII'' Madison: E. B. Bolens, State Printer, 1876; p. 468

Electoral history

Wisconsin Senate (1874)

, colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, November 3, 1874

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pickett, Armine 1800 births 1875 deaths Farmers from Wisconsin County supervisors in Wisconsin People from Utica, Winnebago County, Wisconsin Republican Party members of the Wisconsin State Assembly Wisconsin Reformers (19th century) 19th-century American politicians Wisconsin pioneers