Isaac Whitbeck Van Schaick (December 7, 1817August 22, 1901) was an

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businessman and

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politician. He served two terms in the

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, representing

Milwaukee County, Wisconsin Milwaukee County is located in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. At the 2020 census, the population was 939,489, down from 947,735 in 2010. It is both the most populous and most densely populated county in Wisconsin, and the 45th most populous cou ...

. He also served six years in the

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and two years in the State Assembly. His nephew, Aaron Van Schaick Cochrane, was also a member of congress.

Early life

Van Schaick was born in

Coxsackie, New York Coxsackie ( ) is a town in Greene County, New York, United States. The population in the 2020 census was 8,382, a decrease from the 2010 census. The name of the town is said to be derived from a Native American term, but it has various transl ...

, on December 7, 1817. He was educated in the common schools there and worked on his father's farm. He engaged in the manufacture of glue in New York. He moved to Chicago in 1857, and to

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, Wisconsin, in 1861, where he was in the flour-milling business with his wife's family. After the

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, Van Schaick traveled to

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and worked for in the cotton industry. He returned to Milwaukee three years later.

Politics

Van Schaick was elected to the Milwaukee Common Council in 1871. He served as member of 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, ...

in 1873 and 1875. He served in the

from 1877 to 1882. Van Schaick was elected as a

to the Forty-ninth Congress in 1884 as the representative of

Wisconsin's 4th congressional district Wisconsin's 4th congressional district is a congressional district of the United States House of Representatives in Wisconsin, encompassing a part of Milwaukee County and including almost all of the city of Milwaukee (except the slivers of the c ...

. He declined to be a candidate for renomination in 1886, and was succeeded by Henry Smith of the Union Labor Party. Van Schaick defeated Smith for election to the

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in 1888, receiving 22,212 votes to 20,685 for Smith (running on the Democratic and

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tickets), 527 for

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John Schuler and 302 for

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George Heckendorn. He was not a candidate for renomination to Congress in 1890, and was succeeded by Democrat John Lendrum Mitchell. In 1892 he ran unsuccessfully for State Senator from the

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, losing to Democrat James W. Murphy.

Late life

He moved to Catonsville, Maryland, in 1894, where he lived in retirement until his death there August 22, 1901. He was interred in Athens Cemetery,

Athens, New York Athens is a town in Greene County, New York, United States. The population was 3,916 at the 2020 census. The town of Athens has a village also called Athens. The town is near the eastern edge of the county. History The town of Athens was for ...

Personal life and family

Isaac Van Schaick married Eliza Sanderson, daughter of John Sanderson and Margaret Whitfield, in 1842, in Athens, New York. She survived him, but died two years later, in 1903.

Electoral history

Wisconsin Assembly (1872, 1874)

Wisconsin Senate (1876, 1878, 1880)

U.S. House of Representatives (1884)

U.S. House of Representatives (1888)

Wisconsin Senate (1892)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Van Schaick, Isaac Whitbeck 1817 births 1901 deaths American people of Dutch descent Wisconsin city council members Wisconsin state senators Members of the Wisconsin State Assembly People from Coxsackie, New York Maryland Republicans Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Wisconsin People from Catonsville, Maryland 19th-century American politicians