Samuel Dexter Hastings Sr. (July 24, 1816March 26, 1903) was an American businessman, politician, and Wisconsin pioneer. He was the 4th

state treasurer of Wisconsin The State Treasurer of Wisconsin is a constitutional officer in the executive branch of the government of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Thirty-six individuals have held the office of State Treasurer since statehood. The incumbent is Sarah Godlewski ...

and served two years in the Wisconsin State Assembly.

Background

Hastings was born in Leicester, Massachusetts, on July 24, 1816, to Simon and Betsey Hastings. He is a descendant of the 17th century Massachusetts colonist

Thomas Hastings Thomas Hastings may refer to: *Thomas Hastings (colonist) (1605–1685), English immigrant to New England *Thomas Hastings (composer) (1784–1872), American composer, primarily of hymn tunes *Thomas Hastings (cricketer) (1865–1938), Australian cr ...

. He moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he took part in the

anti-slavery movement Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people. The British ...

. In 1846, he moved to the Wisconsin Territory, settling in Geneva.

Public office

In 1849 Hastings he was elected as a

Free Soiler The Free Soil Party was a short-lived coalition political party in the United States active from 1848 to 1854, when it merged into the Republican Party. The party was largely focused on the single issue of opposing the expansion of slavery into ...

, succeeding

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 ...

Erasmus Richardson Erasmus Darwin Richardson (November 26, 1810January 2, 1892) was an American banker in Geneva, Wisconsin, who served as a member of the 1st Wisconsin Legislature in the Wisconsin State Assembly, as well as holding various local offices.Albert Cla ...

. In January he introduced a series of bills calculated to force the hand of Democrats and Whigs, both of which parties were courting the newly successful Free Soilers with an eye towards merger. The "Hastings resolutions", as they came to be called, urged Wisconsin's Representatives and instructed its Senators (then elected by the Legislature) to apply their power and influence to completely break with slavery: to forbid the admission of new slave states, to ban slavery in all federal territories, and to repeal any laws that favored slave labor over free. The tensions revealed by the votes of all three parties on these and related resolutions would eventually lead the Free Soilers to conclude that merger with either of the old parties was an illusion unworthy of pursuit. He was succeeded in the 1850 session by Alexander S. Palmer, a Democrat. Hastings moved to

La Crosse, Wisconsin La Crosse is a city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of La Crosse County. Positioned alongside the Mississippi River, La Crosse is the largest city on Wisconsin's western border. La Crosse's population as of the 2020 census w ...

, and later to Trempealeau. In 1857, he was again elected to the Assembly, this time as a Republican. He served as Wisconsin State Treasurer from 1858 to 1866, and as a trustee of the State Hospital for the Insane, and in similar positions for other state bodies headquartered in

Madison Madison may refer to: People * Madison (name), a given name and a surname * James Madison (1751–1836), fourth president of the United States Place names * Madison, Wisconsin, the state capital of Wisconsin and the largest city known by this ...

. In 1884, Hastings (long involved with the temperance movement) ran as the Prohibitionist candidate for

Governor of Wisconsin The governor of Wisconsin is the head of government of Wisconsin and the commander-in-chief of the state's army and air forces. The governor has a duty to enforce state laws, and the power to either approve or veto bills passed by the Wiscons ...

, and in 1892 as a Prohibitionist candidate for the Assembly from Madison.

Civic activism

He was a founding member of the

Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters 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 Michi ...

, and later served as Treasurer of that body. Hastings argued against the idea that the introduction of the wine-drinking habit into the United States would be a preventative for drunkenness. He died March 26, 1903, at his daughter's home in Evanston, Illinois. Some of his papers are in the holdings of the Wisconsin Historical Society.

References

, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Hastings, Samuel D. 1816 births 1903 deaths Abolitionists from Wisconsin American bankers American temperance activists Businesspeople from Wisconsin Members of the Wisconsin State Assembly People from Leicester, Massachusetts Businesspeople from Philadelphia State treasurers of Wisconsin Wisconsin Free Soilers Wisconsin Republicans Wisconsin Prohibitionists Politicians from Philadelphia People from Geneva, Wisconsin 19th-century American legislators 19th-century American businesspeople 19th-century American merchants 19th-century Wisconsin politicians