Philip Greening (February 29, 1824 – October 28, 1906) was an American blacksmith,

machinist A machinist is a tradesperson or trained professional who not only operates machine tools, but also has the knowledge of tooling and materials required to create set ups on machine tools such as milling machines, grinders, lathes, and drilling ...

and farmer from

Lamartine Alphonse Marie Louis de Prat de Lamartine (; 21 October 179028 February 1869), was a French author, poet, and statesman who was instrumental in the foundation of the Second Republic and the continuation of the Tricolore as the flag of France. ...

, Wisconsin who spent a single one-year term as a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly from Fond du Lac County. He ran as a " Greenback

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

Background

Greening was born in Lamerton, Devonshire, England on February 29, 1824. He studied in the

public school Public school may refer to: * State school (known as a public school in many countries), a no-fee school, publicly funded and operated by the government * Public school (United Kingdom), certain elite fee-charging independent schools in England an ...

s until he was apprenticed to a blacksmith at the age of fourteen. He took up that trade in his adulthood, eventually moving to

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...

. In 1849 he sailed from England to Quebec, ending up in Woodstock, Ontario. He married one Mary Gainer on October 13, 1849 in Ingersoll, Ontario, and worked in the Woodstock area for about ten months before emigrating to Wisconsin. He worked in Green Bay for a year and one-half, after which he purchased a large parcel of land in

Calumet Calumet may refer to: Places United States *Calumet Region, in northern Illinois and Indiana **Calumet River **Calumet Trail, Indiana ** Calumet (East Chicago) * Calumet, Colorado *Calumet, Iowa * Calumet, Michigan *Calumet, Minnesota * Calumet ...

, which he cleared and farmed for some years. In 1863 he sold his holdings and moved with his family to Winneshiek County, Iowa, farming there for four years before once more selling out and returning to Wisconsin once more, this time to a farm in Byron, which he later sold in favor of a larger parcel in Lamartine.

Political career

In 1860, Greening ran as a Democrat for treasurer of Calumet County. Greening served for four years as chairman of the Town

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 ...

, and one year as

Assessor An assessor may be: * ''Assessor'' (fish), a genus of fishes * Assessor (law), the assistant to a judge or magistrate * Assessor (Oxford), a senior officer of the University of Oxford * Assessor (property), an expert who calculates the value of pr ...

. In 1878, he ran as a "Greenback Democrat", although in most districts the two parties opposed each other, in the second Fond du Lac County Assembly district (Towns of Byron, Empire, Fond du Lac, Friendship, Lamartine, Oakfield and

Waupun Waupun is a city in Dodge County, Wisconsin, Dodge and Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin, Fond du Lac counties in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The population was 11,344 at the 2020 census. Of this, 7,795 were in Dodge County, and 3,549 were in Fond du ...

, and the North Ward of the Village of

). He won with 1,046 votes, against 897 for Republican Delos Allen (Republican incumbent

Almon Swan Almon A. Swan ( 1819 – May 17, 1883) was a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly. Biography Swan was born in Berlin, New York, sources have differed on the exact date. He married Esther D. Alderman in Massachusetts in 1841. He died on May 17, ...

was not a candidate). He was assigned to the standing committee on lumbering and manufactures. He did not seek re-election, and was succeeded by Republican Daniel Treleven, who faced separate Democratic and Greenback challengers. An 1889 account says that he was nominated for the Wisconsin State Senate for 1880, but declined the nomination (it does not say by which party or parties); and that he remained affiliated with the Democratic party in later years.

After the Assembly

After the Assembly, he returned to farming. As of 1889, he and Mary had had six children, of whom only two (Ellen and William) survived.''Portrait and Biographical Album of Fond Du Lac County, Wisconsin: Containing Full Page Portraits and Biographical Sketches of Prominent and Representative Citizens of the County, Together with Portraits and Biographies of All the Governors of the State and of the presidents of the United States'' Chicago: Acme Publishing Company, 1889; pp. 362, 367

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Greening, Philip Farmers from Wisconsin American blacksmiths Machinists Democratic Party members of the Wisconsin State Assembly People from Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin People from the Borough of West Devon Wisconsin Greenbacks 19th-century American politicians 1824 births 1906 deaths People from Byron, Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin