William Fowler (1815October 10, 1862) was a Native American politician and the first non-white legislator in Wisconsin. He served in the 1845 session of the Legislative Assembly of the

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 ...

, representing

Calumet County Calumet County is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 52,442. The county seat is Chilton, Wisconsin, Chilton. The county was created in 18 ...

and other northeastern counties, and was later treasurer of Calumet County.United States Bureau of Indian Affairs. ''Proposed Finding Against Acknowledgment of The Brothertown Indian Nation (Petitioner #67): Prepared in Response to the Petition Submitted to the Assistant Secretary - Indian Affairs for Federal Acknowledgment as an Indian Tribe'' August 17, 2009; p. 74
/ref> During the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...

, he volunteered for service in 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 ...

and died of wounds he received at the

Battle of Perryville The Battle of Perryville, also known as the Battle of Chaplin Hills, was fought on October 8, 1862, in the Chaplin Hills west of Perryville, Kentucky, as the culmination of the Confederate Heartland Offensive (Kentucky Campaign) during the ...

in 1862.

Background

William Fowler was born in 1815 into the

Brothertown Indians The Brothertown Indians (also ''Brotherton''), located in Wisconsin, are a Native American tribe formed in the late 18th century from communities of so-called " praying Indians" (or Moravian Indians), descended from Christianized Pequot, Nar ...

, at a time when his people were living on a small reservation in

Oneida County, New York Oneida County is a county in the state of New York, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 232,125. The county seat is Utica. The name is in honor of the Oneida, one of the Five Nations of the Iroquois League or ''Haudenos ...

. He was presumably part of one of the five groups of Brothertown people who removed to Wisconsin, arriving on ships at the port of Green Bay between 1831 and 1836, after having traveled across the

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes in the mid-east region of North America that connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River. There are five lak ...

, when the entire tribe was removed to Wisconsin.

Tribal affairs

Fowler was one of a seven-man committee elected at a

civil township A civil township is a widely used unit of local government in the United States that is subordinate to a county, most often in the northern and midwestern parts of the country. The term town is used in New England, New York, and Wisconsin to re ...

town meeting Town meeting is a form of local government in which most or all of the members of a community are eligible to legislate policy and budgets for local government. It is a town- or city-level meeting in which decisions are made, in contrast with ...

to arrange for the sale of tribally owned

saw mill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes ( dimens ...

and

grist mill A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and Wheat middlings, middlings. The term can refer to either the Mill (grinding), grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist i ...

(s) to two non-Indians in 1841. In 1854, Fowler submitted "a memorial of the Brotherton tribe of Indians" to the U.S. Congress advancing a historical claim for $30,000 as compensation for lands allegedly ceded by several treaties. He signed the memorial as the "delegate from the Brotherton Indians" and claimed to be "their legally authorized agent."

Legislative and other civic offices

Fowler served during the 1845 session of the Territorial Assembly ("Third Session of the Fourth Legislative Assembly" January 6-February 24, 1845) as one of three Representatives from a district consisting of Manitowoc, Sheboygan,

Brown Brown is a color. It can be considered a composite color, but it is mainly a darker shade of orange. In the CMYK color model used in printing or painting, brown is usually made by combining the colors orange and black. In the RGB color model us ...

, Fond du Lac, Marquette, Portage, Calumet, and Winnebago counties. He was identified by a footnote in subsequent

Annals Annals ( la, annāles, from , "year") are a concise historical record in which events are arranged chronologically, year by year, although the term is also used loosely for any historical record. Scope The nature of the distinction between ann ...

of the Legislature as "*Brothertown Indian." (In December 1843, he had been chosen by the Assembly as their

fireman A firefighter is a first responder and rescuer extensively trained in firefighting, primarily to extinguish hazardous fires that threaten life, property, and the environment as well as to rescue people and in some cases or jurisdictions also ...

for that year's session.) With Alonzo D. Dick and W. H. Dick, he was one of three Brothertown Indians to serve in Wisconsin's legislature before the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

, the only non-white members of that body until the 1908 election of

Lucian H. Palmer Lucian H. Palmer (March 12, 1855February 17, 1923) was an American politician and businessman. He was the first African American elected to the Wisconsin Legislature. A Republican, he served one term in the Wisconsin State Assembly (from 1907 to ...

. In July 1856, when a Calumet County Agricultural Society was organized, Fowler was elected as one of the vice-presidents. Later that year, he was elected County Treasurer for Calumet County.

Civil War service and death

Fowler enlisted in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

, in the

21st Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry Regiment The 21st Wisconsin Infantry Regiment was a volunteer infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. They were assigned for their entire war service to XIV Corps, operating in the western theater of the war. Serv ...

, during the

when he was in his late 40s. He was wounded at the

—his first combat experience—and died of his wounds at Sulphur Springs, Virginia, on October 10, 1862.Bruckner, Andrea and Caroline Andler. ''Letters Home from the Brothertown Boys''. Bloomington, Illinois: AuthorHouse, 2001; p. 26, footnote 11

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fowler, William 1815 births 1862 deaths Members of the Wisconsin Territorial Legislature Native American people from Wisconsin Native American state legislators in Wisconsin Native Americans in the American Civil War 19th-century Native American politicians People from Calumet County, Wisconsin People from Oneida County, New York People of Wisconsin in the American Civil War Union Army soldiers Union military personnel killed in the American Civil War Military personnel from Wisconsin 19th-century American politicians