Gill, Charles R. 1830 - 1883 | Wisconsin Historical Society

Historical Essay

Gill, Charles R. 1830 - 1883

Gill, Charles R. 1830 - 1883 | Wisconsin Historical Society

lawyer, politician, soldier, b. Winfield, Herkimer County, N.Y. He studied law in Batavia, N.Y., and was admitted to the bar. In 1854 he moved to Wisconsin, settling in Watertown where he was police judge (1857) and city superintendent of schools (1857-1859). A Democrat, he was state senator (1860-1861). During the Civil War he served as colonel of the 29th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry (1862-1863). Resigning his commission in 1863, he returned to Wisconsin and resumed his law practice in Watertown. With the outbreak of the war, Gill had become a Republican, and in 1865 was elected state attorney general on that ticket. He was re-elected in 1867, and served two terms (1866-1870). In 1870 he moved to Blooming Grove and opened a law office in Madison. He was appointed commissioner of pensions by President Grant in 1876, but soon resigned this post and retired to his farm. Hist. of Dane Co. (Chicago, 1880); E. B. Quiner, Military Hist. of Wis. (Chicago, 1866); Madison Wis. State Journal, Mar. 29, 1883; Madison Democrat, Mar. 29, 1883.

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[Source: Dictionary of Wisconsin biography]