Byron Kilbourn (September 8, 1801December 16, 1870) was an American surveyor, railroad executive, and politician who was an important figure in the founding of

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee ...

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 ...

. He was the 3rd and 8th mayor of Milwaukee.

Biography

Kilbourn was born in Granby,

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capita ...

. In 1803, he moved with his family to

Worthington, Ohio Worthington is a city in Franklin County, Ohio, United States, and is a northern suburb of Columbus. The population in the 2020 Census was 14,786. The city was founded in 1803 by the Scioto Company led by James Kilbourne, who was later elected to ...

, which his father had helped found that year. Kilbourn's father was

James Kilbourne James Kilbourne (October 19, 1770April 9, 1850) was an American surveyor, politician from Ohio, and Episcopalian clergyman. He served two terms in the United States House of Representatives from 1813 to 1817. Early life and career Kilbourne was ...

, a colonel during the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States, United States of America and its Indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom ...

and a

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

from Ohio from 1813 to 1817. Byron Kilbourn worked in Ohio as a surveyor and as a state engineer. He first visited

in 1834, landing at Green Bay, and worked as a government surveyor in the area. He later deemed the area near the

Milwaukee River The Milwaukee River is a river in the state of Wisconsin. It is about long.U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed May 19, 2011 Once a locus of industry, the river is now the c ...

to be a promising location for commerce, and he purchased land there. In 1837 Kilbourn founded Kilbourntown (present-day

Westown Westown is a suburb of New Plymouth, in the western North Island of New Zealand. It is located to the southwest of the city centre and west of Frankleigh Park. According to the 2013 New Zealand census, Westown has a population of 3,414, an in ...

), which rivaled with Solomon Juneau's Juneautown (present-day East Town) and

George Walker George Walker may refer to: Arts and letters * George Walker (chess player) (1803–1879), English chess player and writer *George Walker (composer) (1922–2018), American composer * George Walker (illustrator) (1781–1856), author of ''The Co ...

's Walker's Point. He was a key figure in the

Milwaukee Bridge War The Milwaukee Bridge War, sometimes simply the Bridge War, was an 1845 conflict between people from different regions of what is now the city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, over the construction of a bridge crossing the Milwaukee River. Background The ...

in 1845. In 1846, the three combined and formed the city of

. He served in the Wisconsin Territorial House of Representatives in 1845 and was a member of the second Wisconsin Constitutional Convention of 1847. Kilbourn also served as a Milwaukee alderman and was elected to two non-consecutive terms as mayor in 1848 and 1854. Kilbourn was also an 1849 candidate for the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

, but was defeated by incumbent

Isaac P. Walker Isaac Pigeon Walker (November 2, 1815March 29, 1872) was an American politician who served as a U.S. Senator from Wisconsin. Walker was born in Virginia and moved with his family to Illinois in 1825. He practiced law in Springfield, Illinois, and ...

. When working as a highway commissioner for the Wisconsin Territorial Legislature, Kilbourn founded what was to become the City of West Bend in 1845. In 1857, Kilbourn founded the city of Kilbourn City, now known as the city of Wisconsin Dells. Kilbourn became involved in the railroad industry, serving as president of the Milwaukee and Mississippi Railroad for about three years from around 1849 until 1852. He was fired by the railroad's board of directors following allegations of mismanagement and fraud. He then started a new railroad from Milwaukee to La Crosse as a competitor with his former railroad. The La Crosse & Milwaukee Railroad was chartered in 1852 and became the second railroad to connect Milwaukee to the Mississippi River. Kilbourn's public career was ruined following a scandal alleging the use of around $900,000 ($ today) in railroad bonds to bribe dozens of state officials including Governor

Coles Bashford Coles Bashford (January 24, 1816April 25, 1878) was an American lawyer and politician who became the fifth governor of Wisconsin, and one of the founders of the U.S. Republican Party. His one term as governor ended in a bribery scandal that end ...

, for land grants necessary for the railroad. The La Crosse & Milwaukee Railroad Company failed in the aftermath of the scandal and subsequent investigations. Byrontomb

In 1868, a decade after the railroad scandals, Kilbourn moved to

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...

to relieve arthritis symptoms. He died there December 16, 1870, age 69, and was buried in Jacksonville. Historic Milwaukee, Inc. worked to have him re-interred in Milwaukee because he was the only one of the three Milwaukee founders not buried in there. In late 1998 Kilbourn's remains were returned to Milwaukee for interment at

Forest Home Cemetery Forest Home Cemetery is a historic rural cemetery located in the Lincoln Village neighborhood of Milwaukee, Wisconsin and is the final resting place of many of the city's famed beer barons, politicians and social elite. Both the cemetery and ...

References

Bibliography

External links

*
Kilbourn, Byron (1801-1870)
at

Wisconsin Historical Society The Wisconsin Historical Society (officially the State Historical Society of Wisconsin) is simultaneously a state agency and a private membership organization whose purpose is to maintain, promote and spread knowledge relating to the history of N ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kilbourn, Byron Members of the Wisconsin Territorial Legislature Wisconsin city council members Mayors of Milwaukee Businesspeople from Milwaukee American surveyors 19th-century American railroad executives American city founders People from Granby, Connecticut People from Worthington, Ohio 1801 births 1870 deaths 19th-century American politicians