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Mcindoe, Walter Duncan 1819 - 1872 | Wisconsin Historical Society

Historical Essay

Mcindoe, Walter Duncan 1819 - 1872

Mcindoe, Walter Duncan 1819 - 1872 | Wisconsin Historical Society

lumberman, politician, Congressman, b. Dumbartonshire, Scotland. He migrated to the U.S. in 1834, and worked for a number of years at various enterprises in New York, Charleston, S.C., and St. Louis, Mo. In 1847 he moved to Wisconsin, settling at Big Bull Falls (Wausau), where he became co-partner in a lumber-milling business. A Whig, he was state assemblyman (1850), and while serving in the legislature introduced a bill changing the name of Big Bull Falls to Wausau, and creating the County of Marathon, with Wausau the county seat. In 1852 Mclndoe helped plat the town of Wausau and began selling lots to settlers. In 1854 he became a member of the newly formed Republican party, and was again state assemblyman (1854, 1855). Mclndoe was three times a Republican presidential elector (1856, 1860, 1872), and in Dec., 1862, was elected to Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Luther Hanchett (q.v.). He was twice re-elected, and served from Jan., 1863, to Mar., 1867. He retired from public office in 1867, and returned to his business pursuits in Wausau. Biog. Dir. Amer. Cong. (1928); J. G. Gregory, ed., W. Central Wis. (4 vols., Indianapolis, 1933); L. Marchetti, Hist. of Marathon Co. (Chicago, 1913); Wausau Central Wis., Aug. 27, 1872; WPA MS.

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[Source: Dictionary of Wisconsin biography]