| Salomon, Edward (Aug. 11, 1828 [?]-Apr. 21, 1909), lawyer, politician, governor, b. Stroebeck, Prussia. He attended the Univ. of Berlin, but being a revolutionary sympathizer, fled the country in 1849, migrated the U.S. and to Wisconsin, and settled in Manitowoc. In Manitowoc, Salomon was, in succession, a school teacher, county surveyor, and deputy circuit court clerk. In 1852 he moved to Milwaukee, read law, was admitted to the bar (1855), and set up a law practice with Winfield Smith. In 1860, Salomon bolted his Democratic party affiliations to support Abraham Lincoln for the presidency, and in 1861 was nominated by the Republicans as 'Union' candidate for lieutenant governor in the hope of gaining the German vote. Salomon won by a narrow margin, and in 1862, when Governor Lewis P. Harvey was drowned, became Wisconsin's first German-born governor. During the remainder of the term (Apr. 19, 1862-Jan. 4, 1864), Salomon moved vigorously, raising 14 new regiments, besides fulfilling the ranks of the old ones. He belligerently protected the state from impositions by the War Department, prosecuted the draft, and sent troops to arrest draft rioters. His actions aroused sufficient antagonism to prevent his renomination in 1863; he refused to run independently, and in 1864 resumed his law practice in Milwaukee. In 1869 he moved to New York City, where he continued his law practice for a number of years was legal representative for various important German interests. Retiring in 1894, he returned to Germany, where he lived in obscurity until his death." (State Historical Society of Wisconsin, Dictionary of Wisconsin Biography, 1960, p. 313-314.) |
