Lucien B. Caswell

Lucien B. Caswell
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Wisconsin's 2nd district
In office March 4, 1875 – March 3, 1883
Preceded by	Gerry Whiting Hazelton
Succeeded by	Daniel H. Sumner
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Wisconsin's 1st district
In office March 4, 1885 – March 3, 1891
Preceded by	John Winans
Succeeded by	Clinton Babbitt
Member of the Wisconsin Senate
In office 1863 1872 1874
Personal details
Born	November 27, 1827 Swanton, Vermont
Died	April 26, 1919 (aged 91) Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin
Political party	Republican

Lucien Bonaparte Caswell (November 27, 1827 – April 26, 1919) was an American politician.

Biography

Lucien Bonaparte Caswell was born in Swanton, Vermont on November 27, 1827. When he was nine, he moved with his family to frontier Wisconsin and settled along the Rock River, just south of Lake Koshkonong. Caswell attended Milton Academy and took a course at Beloit College in Beloit, Wisconsin. He began to study law in Beloit with the practice of future United States Senator Matthew H. Carpenter. Caswell was admitted to the bar in October 1851. He moved to Fort Atkinson later that year, where he opened a law practice.^[1]

In 1854, Caswell was appointed the district attorney of Jefferson County. Caswell was elected to the Wisconsin State Assembly in 1863, 1872, and 1874. He founded the First National Bank of Fort Atkinson in 1863 and served as cashier for twenty-five years.^[2] He was with Governor Louis P. Harvey on his fatal trip to visit Wisconsin troops in Tennessee. Caswell was selected as a delegate to the 1868 Republican National Convention and supported Ulysses S. Grant.^[1]

Caswell served seven terms in the United States House of Representatives as a Republican. He was first elected in the 44th Congress representing Wisconsin's 2nd congressional district and was subsequently elected to the 45th, 46th and 47th Congresses serving from March 4, 1875 to March 3, 1883. In 1885, he founded the Citizens' State Bank of Fort Atkinson. He was once again elected to the 49th and subsequent congresses through to the 51st Congress however this time representing Wisconsin's 1st congressional district from March 4, 1885 to March 3, 1891. As a representative, he was active in establishing the Federal appeals court system and overseeing the construction of the Library of Congress.

References

1. Reed, Parker McCobb (1882). The Bench and Bar of Wisconsin: History and Biography. Milwaukee, WI: P. M. Reed. p. 170.
2. The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography. III. New York City, NY: James T. White & Company. 1893. p. 856.

• Lucien B. Caswell's Reminiscences An archival collection documenting the life of Lucien B. Caswell, digitized by the University of Wisconsin Digital Collections Center.

United States Congress. "CASWELL, Lucien Bonaparte (id: C000245)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.