Prosper Cravath, Jr., (May 28, 1809May 20, 1886) was an American lawyer 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 one of the original settlers of

Whitewater, Wisconsin Whitewater is a city located in Walworth and Jefferson counties in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located near the southern portion of the Kettle Moraine State Forest, Whitewater is the home of the University of Wisconsin–Whitewater. As of the ...

, and helped lay out the town plat. He represented Whitewater 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, ...

during the

1st Wisconsin Legislature The First Wisconsin Legislature convened from June 5, 1848, to August 21, 1848, in regular session. Members of the Assembly and Senate were elected after an election on February 1, 1848, that ratified the proposed state constitution. Major event ...

(1848). He is the namesake of Cravath Lake in Whitewater.

Biography

Cravath was born in

Cortland, New York Cortland is a city and the county seat of Cortland County, New York. Known as the Crown City, Cortland is in New York's Southern Tier region. As of the 2020 census it had a population of 17,556. The city of Cortland, near the county's western bo ...

, on May 28, 1809. He read law in the office of a prominent lawyer in Cortland for two years, but abandoned the study to pursue other work. He moved to

Huron County, Ohio Huron County is a county located in the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 census, the population was 58,565. Its county seat is Norwalk. The county was created in 1809 and later organized in 1815. Huron County is included in the Norwalk, OH ...

, sometime in the 1830s. In March 1839, he came to the town of

Lima Lima ( ; ), originally founded as Ciudad de Los Reyes (City of The Kings) is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín Rivers, in the desert zone of the central coastal part of ...

, in Rock County,

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 ...

, near the site that would become the city of

. He was soon joined by his parents and other family. During 1839, he participated in the first lawsuit in what would become the town of

Whitewater Whitewater forms in a rapid context, in particular, when a river's gradient changes enough to generate so much turbulence that air is trapped within the water. This forms an unstable current that froths, making the water appear opaque and ...

, though he was not yet a practicing attorney. He was counsel for the plaintiff in a dispute over compensation for labor, and won the case for his client, William Birge. In August 1840, the neighboring town was formalized and named "Whitewater" by an act of the territorial legislature. Later that year, he was summoned by Dr. James Tripp for his expertise to survey the site of a planned village in the neighboring town. Together with David J. Powers, who planned to set up a hotel in the new village, the men devised a plat for a settlement that would become the city of Whitewater. He became a large landowner in the new village and later sold dozens of lots for residential and commercial use. During this time, he resumed the study of law; he was admitted to the Wisconsin bar in 1843 and set up a legal practice. He moved into the town of Whitewater in 1845 and served eight terms on the town board of supervisors in the 1840s, 1850s, and 1860s. On February 1, 1848, the people ratified the

Constitution of Wisconsin The Constitution of the State of Wisconsin is the governing document of the U.S. State of Wisconsin. It establishes the structure and function of state government, describes the state boundaries, and declares the rights of state citizens. The W ...

and elected representatives to the

. Prosper Cravath was elected to the

as representative of Walworth County's 2nd Assembly district–then comprising the towns of Whitewater, Richmond, and La Grange, in the northwest corner of the county. At the time, he was a member of the Whig Party. Rather than run for re-election in 1848, he ran for county judge, but was defeated. He subsequently ran for district attorney in 1850, but lost again. Like many northern Whigs, he became a member of the Republican Party when that party was organized in the 1850s. He did not run for state office again, but was appointed postmaster at Whitewater under President

Ulysses S. Grant Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant ; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was an American military officer and politician who served as the 18th president of the United States from 1869 to 1877. As Commanding General, he led the Union Ar ...

. During the Civil War, he was a member of the county committee to assist in raising

volunteers Volunteering is a voluntary act of an individual or group freely giving time and labor for community service. Many volunteers are specifically trained in the areas they work, such as medicine, education, or emergency rescue. Others serve ...

for the

Union Army During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union of the collective states. It proved essential to th ...

. Later in life, he helped organize the Historical Society of Walworth County. He served several years as an officer of the society, and contributed his own writings on the early days of Whitewater. He died at his home in Whitewater on May 20, 1886, after a long illness.

Personal life and family

Prosper Cravath, Jr., was the eldest son of Prosper Cravath, a

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

deacon, and his wife Miriam (' Kinney). Prosper Cravath would ultimately have fifteen siblings. He married Maria Prudence Noble on March 27, 1834. Maria was a daughter of Solomon Noble, a blacksmith who had served in the

Massachusetts House of Representatives The Massachusetts House of Representatives is the lower house of the Massachusetts General Court, the state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It is composed of 160 members elected from 14 counties each divided into single-member ...

. They had two children. Their son, Pitt Cravath, also became a lawyer and was editor and owner of the Whitewater ''Chronicle''. Pitt Cravath also served as a private in the

40th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment The 40th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment was a volunteer infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. It was among scores of regiments that were raised in the summer of 1864 as Hundred Days Men, an effort to augment ...

during the Civil War and after the war gave two years service to reconstruction in

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

as assistant secretary of state.

References

External links

* , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Cravath, Prosper 1809 births 1886 deaths Farmers from Wisconsin Members of the Wisconsin State Assembly People from Cortland, New York People from Whitewater, Wisconsin Wisconsin lawyers Wisconsin Whigs Wisconsin Republicans 19th-century American politicians 19th-century American lawyers