Cunningham, Thomas Jefferson 1852 - 1941 | Wisconsin Historical Society

Historical Essay

Cunningham, Thomas Jefferson 1852 - 1941

Cunningham, Thomas Jefferson 1852 - 1941 | Wisconsin Historical Society

newspaperman, politician, b. Brooklyn, N.Y. In 1869 he moved to Wisconsin, living in Madison until 1875 when he moved to Chippewa Falls. In 1875 he founded the Chippewa Times, and served as editor or co-editor (1875-1889, 1897-1916). He was also an editor of the Chippewa Falls Daily Independent (1896-1919) (styled the Evening Independent after 1916), and the Chippewa County Independent (1888 until it merged with the Times in 1889). A Democrat, he was a clerk in the office of the secretary of state (1873-1875), mayor of Chippewa Falls, and state assemblyman (1887-1888). In 1890 he was elected secretary of state (1891-1895). He also served on the Civil Service Commission, the State Forestry Commission, and the state oil commission. A. M. Thomson, Political Hist. of Wis. (Milwaukee, 1900); J. G. Gregory, ed., W. Central Wis. (4 vols., Indianapolis, 1933); Madison Capital Times, Apr. 28, 1941; D. E. Oehlerts, comp., Guide to Wis. Newspapers (Madison, 1958).

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[Source: Dictionary of Wisconsin biography]