Hubbell, Levi 1808 - 1876 | Wisconsin Historical Society

Historical Essay

Hubbell, Levi 1808 - 1876

Hubbell, Levi 1808 - 1876 | Wisconsin Historical Society

lawyer, politician, judge, b. Ballston, N.Y. He graduated from Union College, Schenectady, N.Y. (1827), read law, and was admitted to the bar in New York. A Democrat, he was for a time editor of the Ontario (N.Y.) Messenger, the county organ for the party, and was adjutant general of New York (1833-1836), and a member of the New York legislature. In 1844 he moved to Wisconsin, settling in Milwaukee where he practiced law with Asahel Finch (q.v.) and William Pitt Lynde (q.v.). He was a delegate to the Democratic national convention of 1848, but during the same year ran as an independent candidate for judge of the 2nd judicial circuit of Wisconsin. He was elected to the judgeship in 1848, drew the short term, and was re-elected in 1851. Under the provisions of the state constitution he also served as ex officio justice of the state supreme court (Aug. 1848-June 1853), and from 1851 to 1853 was chief justice of the court. In 1853 when a separate supreme court was organized, Hubbell failed to win the nomination for the post. He continued as circuit judge of the second district, but previous campaigns had won him enemies. In 1853 charges of misconduct were brought against him in the assembly, and he was brought to trial, with the senate sitting as a court of impeachment. Although acquitted in the trial, sufficient evidence was brought against him to cast a shadow over his judicial career. He resigned from the circuit court in 1856 and resumed his private law practice. During the Civil War he became a Union Republican, and was state assemblyman (1864). From 1871 to 1875 he served as U.S. attorney for the eastern district of Wisconsin. J. R. Berryman, ed., Bench and Bar of Wis. (2 vols., Chicago, 1898); Proc. State Hist. Soc. Wis., 1905 (1906); Milwaukee Sentinel, Dec. 9, 1876; WPA MS.

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[Source: Dictionary of Wisconsin biography]