Edward Salomon (August 11, 1828 – April 21, 1909) was a Jewish American politician and the 8th governor of Wisconsin, having ascended to office from the lieutenant governorship after the accidental drowning of his predecessor, Louis P. Harvey. He was the first Jewish governor of Wisconsin.
Edward Salomon | |
|---|---|
 | |
| 8th Governor of Wisconsin | |
| In office April 19, 1862 – January 4, 1864 | |
| Preceded by | Louis P. Harvey |
| Succeeded by | James T. Lewis |
| 8th Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin | |
| In office January 6, 1862 – April 19, 1862 | |
| Governor | Louis P. Harvey |
| Preceded by | Butler G. Noble |
| Succeeded by | Wyman Spooner |
| Personal details | |
| Born | August 11, 1828 Ströbeck, Prussia (now Germany) |
| Died | April 21, 1909 (aged 80) Frankfurt, Germany |
| Political party | Democratic (before 1860) Republican (1860–1909) |
| Spouse | Elise Nebel |
| Relatives | Charles Eberhard Salomon (brother) Frederich Salomon (brother) Edward S. Salomon (cousin) |
| Education | University of Berlin |
Early life
editSalomon was born in Ströbeck, in the Province of Saxony, in what was then the Kingdom of Prussia. He was the son of Dorothea (Klussman) and Christoph Salomon. He attended the University of Berlin, but as a sympathizer with the contemporary German revolution, fled the country in 1849. He immigrated to the United States and settled in Manitowoc, Wisconsin, where he was a schoolteacher, a surveyor, and served as deputy circuit court clerk. In 1852 he moved to Milwaukee, where he read law, was admitted to the bar in 1855, and set up a law practice with Winfield Smith. Salomon was Jewish and a cousin of Edward S. Salomon, the future governor of the Washington Territory who was considered to be one of the highest-ranking Jewish heroes in the American Civil War.[1]
Career
editIn 1860, to support Abraham Lincoln for the presidency, Salomon changed his party affiliation from Democratic to Republican. In 1861 he was nominated by the Republican Party on their Union Party ticket as candidate for lieutenant governor. He ultimately won the election by a narrow margin. In 1862, when Governor Louis P. Harvey drowned, Salomon became Wisconsin's first German-born and first Jewish governor.
In 1862 Governor Salomon responded to a request from the War Department for more troops by asking for volunteers and setting up a draft. He was able to raise 14 regiments. Salomon had to call up federal troops to quell the Port Washington Draft Riot. Suppression of the rioters with use of federal troops cost him the 1864 Republican nomination.[2][3]
In 1864, Salomon resumed his law practice in Milwaukee. In 1869 he moved to New York City, where he continued his law practice for a number of years as legal representative for various important German interests. When he retired in 1894, he returned to Germany and lived there until his death.[4]
Death
editSalomon died April 21, 1909, in Germany at Frankfurt am Main. He was buried at Frankfurt's Old Jewish Cemetery.
Family
editSalomon married a woman named Elise Nebel. He had three brothers, Charles Eberhard Salomon, Frederich Salomon, and Herman Salomon, all of whom were involved in the American Civil War.
Salomon's brothers, Frederick Salomon and Charles Eberhard Salomon, served as officers in the Union Army. On July 18, 1862, Frederick was appointed by President Abraham Lincoln as a brigadier general of volunteers to rank from July 16, 1862.[5] President Lincoln submitted the nomination to the U.S. Senate on May 17, 1862, and the Senate confirmed the appointment on July 16, 1862.[5] Charles served as colonel of the 5th Missouri Volunteer Infantry (3 months, 1861) and on September 26, 1862, rejoined the army and succeeded Frederick as colonel of the 9th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry Regiment.[6] On March 13, 1865, his cousin Edward S. Salomon was made a brigadier general for his "distinguished gallantry and meritorious service."[1] On January 13, 1866, President Andrew Johnson nominated Charles Eberhard Salomon for appointment to the grade of brevet brigadier general of volunteers to rank from March 13, 1865, and the Senate confirmed the appointment on March 12, 1866.[7]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b Green, David B. (July 17, 2014). "1913: A Jewish Civil War hero dies". Haaretz.
- ^ "Salomon, Gov. Edward 1828 - 1909". Wisconsin Historical Society. Archived from the original on November 4, 2013.
- ^ "Wisconsin's Salomon Brothers in the Civil War". Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War. Archived from the original on 2018-07-29. Retrieved 2008-03-21.
- ^ "Edward Salomon | Painting". Wisconsin Historical Society. December 2003. Retrieved 25 May 2014.
- ^ a b Eicher, John H., and David J. Eicher, Civil War High Commands. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2001. ISBN 0-8047-3641-3. p. 727.
- ^ Eicher, 2001, p. 468
- ^ Eicher, 2001, p. 756.