Joseph Hamilton (July 14, 1826 – March 16, 1912) was an

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printer Printer may refer to: Technology * Printer (publishing), a person or a company * Printer (computing), a hardware device * Optical printer for motion picture films People * Nariman Printer ( fl. c. 1940), Indian journalist and activist * Jame ...

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editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, photographic, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, orga ...

, and

life insurance Life insurance (or life assurance, especially in the Commonwealth of Nations) is a contract between an insurance policy holder and an insurer or assurer, where the insurer promises to pay a designated beneficiary a sum of money upon the death ...

agent Agent may refer to: Espionage, investigation, and law *, spies or intelligence officers * Law of agency, laws involving a person authorized to act on behalf of another ** Agent of record, a person with a contractual agreement with an insuranc ...

from

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at th ...

who spent two one-year terms as a 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 1874 as a member of the short-lived People's Reform Party, also known as the Liberal Reform Party, and in 1877 as a

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Early life

He was born in

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on July 14, 1826, and received an academic education. He came to Wisconsin in 1849 and settled at Milwaukee, where he was engaged in the printing business for many years; in 1851 and 1852 he was editor and part-owner of the Milwaukee ''Daily Journal''. By 1873, he had become a life insurance agent.

Legislative service

In 1873, having never run for office before, he was elected to Milwaukee County's 2nd Assembly seat (the 2nd Ward of the City of Milwaukee). (Incumbent Jacob Sander, who was also part of the Liberal Reform Party, was not a candidate for re-election.) He received 1,277 votes, against 161 for former 2nd District incumbent August Richter, who had served as a Democrat but was running as an

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

in a year when most Democrats were part of the Reform Party coalition. Hamilton was assigned to the standing committee on

engrossed bill In the United States Congress, an enrolled bill is the final copy of a bill or joint resolution which has passed both houses of Congress in identical form. In the United States, enrolled bills are engrossed—prepared in a formally printed copy� ...

s, and the joint committee on printing. He was not a candidate for re-election, and was succeeded by fellow Reformer Peter Fagg. In 1876, he was elected as a Democrat to his old seat, garnering 1,194 votes, against 921 for Republican Christian Widule (the incumbent, Fagg, was not a candidate for re-election). He was assigned to the committee on ways and means; and was elected secretary of the Assembly's Democratic caucus and of the joint Democratic caucus. He was not a candidate for re-election, and was succeeded by "Reform Democrat" John C. Dick. He should not be confused with

Joseph B. Hamilton Joseph B. Hamilton (June 10, 1817 - 1902) was an American teacher, lawyer and judge from Neenah, Wisconsin, who served in the Wisconsin State Senate. Background Hamilton was born on June 10, 1817, in Lansing, New York, son of William and Elizab ...

Neenah, Wisconsin Neenah () is a city in Winnebago County, Wisconsin, in the north central United States. It is situated on the banks of Lake Winnebago, Little Lake Butte des Morts, and the Fox River, approximately forty miles (60 km) southwest of Green ...

, who served in the Wisconsin State Senate in the 1860s and 1880s. He died on March 16, 1912.Annual Reunion (1912)
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hamilton, Joseph 1826 births 1912 deaths 19th-century American newspaper editors Insurance agents Businesspeople from Wisconsin Editors of Wisconsin newspapers Democratic Party members of the Wisconsin State Assembly Politicians from Milwaukee Wisconsin Reformers (19th century) 19th-century American legislators Journalists from New York City 19th-century Wisconsin politicians