Elisha Pearl (7 March 1819 – 20 November 1896) was an American farmer from

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

, Wisconsin who served one term as a Free Soil Party member of the Wisconsin State Assembly from Waukesha County, Wisconsin.

Background

Pearl was born on 7 March 1819, in Ashford, Connecticut. He first came to what was then the Wisconsin Territory in 1839, returned to Connecticut, came back and settled near Merton in Waukesha County. He returned to Connecticut once more, where he married Sarah Trowbridge (a fellow native of Ashford), and the two of them came to Wisconsin in 1844 to stay on the farm he had established in Lisbon.

Public office

Before Wisconsin had become a state, on 14 August 1846, a convention of the newly organized Liberty Party was held in Prairieville. Although Pearl was not himself a delegate, he was nominated by the convention to the office of County Register of Deeds for the upcoming election, but seems to have failed of election. He served on the first jury ever empaneled in the county; and was a member of the county

board of supervisors A board of supervisors is a governmental body that oversees the operation of county government in the U.S. states of Arizona, California, Iowa, Mississippi, Virginia, and Wisconsin, as well as 16 counties in New York. There are equivalent agenc ...

for a one-year term in 1850. Pearl was elected to a one-year term in the Assembly's 4th Waukesha County district (the Towns of

Brookfield Brookfield may refer to: Australia *Brookfield, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane *Brookfield, Victoria Canada * Brookfield, Manitoba, on Manitoba Highway 11 *Brookfield, Newfoundland and Labrador *Brookfield, Nova Scotia *Brookfield, Ontario ...

, Lisbon, Menomonee and Pewaukee) in 1852 as a Free Soil candidate, after a redistricting had cost the county one of its Assembly seats. He was succeeded the next year by Whig

Chauncey Purple Chauncey H. Purple (c. 1820 – December 13, 1882) was an American businessman and clerical worker from Wisconsin who served one term as a Whig member of the Wisconsin State Assembly from Waukesha County, Wisconsin. He was also a prominent me ...

Later years

In later years Pearl identified with the

Republican Party Republican Party is a name used by many political parties around the world, though the term most commonly refers to the United States' Republican Party. Republican Party may also refer to: Africa *Republican Party (Liberia) * Republican Part ...

which carried on the ideals of the Liberty and Free Soil parties; and served as a

justice of the peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

in Lisbon. He died 20 November 1896, in his home in Lisbon after a rapid decline; he had not been actively engaged in farming for many years, but leased his lands and lived quietly in his home. His wife had died a few months earlier, on 3 February 1896. The couple left two surviving sons, Edward and Eugene."Death of Elisha Pearl: Another Honored Pioneer's Life Closed" ''Waukesha Freeman'' November 26, 1898

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pearl, Elisha 1819 births 1896 deaths County supervisors in Wisconsin Republican Party members of the Wisconsin State Assembly People from Ashford, Connecticut People from Lisbon, Waukesha County, Wisconsin Wisconsin Free Soilers 19th-century American legislators Wisconsin Libertyites 19th-century Wisconsin politicians