Thomas Benton Stoddard (December 11, 1800 – February 24, 1876) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the first mayor of

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 ...

Early life and education

Born in

Canandaigua, New York Canandaigua (; ''Utaʼnaráhkhwaʼ'' in Tuscarora language, Tuscarora) is a City (New York), city in Ontario County, New York, United States. Its population was 10,545 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Ontario County; some administrat ...

, Stoddard graduated from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

and

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

. He studied law under

Aaron Burr Aaron Burr Jr. (February 6, 1756 – September 14, 1836) was an American politician and lawyer who served as the third vice president of the United States from 1801 to 1805. Burr's legacy is defined by his famous personal conflict with Alexand ...

Career

In 1851, Stoddard moved to La Crosse, Wisconsin, and he was elected the first mayor of the city in 1856. In 1862, he served 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, ...

. The village of

Stoddard, Wisconsin Stoddard is a village in Vernon County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 840 at the 2020 census. History Stoddard was founded as a farming community. It is notable as one of the few communities along the Mississippi River that was n ...

was named after Stoddard.http://www.mwt.net/~stod/

References

New York (state) lawyers Mayors of La Crosse, Wisconsin Republican Party members of the Wisconsin State Assembly Columbia College (New York) alumni Yale University alumni Politicians from Canandaigua, New York 1800 births 1876 deaths 19th-century American legislators 19th-century American lawyers 19th-century Wisconsin politicians 19th-century mayors of places in Wisconsin {{Wisconsin-mayor-stub