Alanson Sweet -- "Migrated from Owasco, N.Y. in 1835, to Milwaukee; was a member of the Milwaukee Union for the protection of settlers on the public lands against rapacious speculators, 1836; and a member of the Territorial council in 1836-38. He resided in Kansas for some time after this, but the closing years of his life were spent in Chicago, where he died April 18, 1891." (Reuben Gold Thwaites, Second Triennial Catalogue of the Portrait Gallery of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 1892.) "Sweet, Alanson (Mar. 12, 1804-Apr. 18, 1891), promoter, grain trader, politician, b. Owasco, N.Y. He moved to Milwaukee in 1835, established claim to a tract of land, and became a farmer. He was a member of the Milwaukee Claimants' Union for the protection of settlers against speculators (1836). A Democrat, Sweet was a member of the territorial upper house (1836-1838) and was Milwaukee alderman (1848-1849). He was prominently indentified with many early plankroad and railroad promotion projects, and was one of the outstanding pioneers in the Milwaukee grain trade. He left Milwaukee in the early 1860's, moved to Kansas, and eventually to Evanston, Ill. where he died." (State Historical Society of Wisconsin, Dictionary of Wisconsin Biography, 1960, p. 344.) Artist Samuel Marsden Brookes received $40 payment for this portrait of "Alanson Sweet...for His. Soc." in March 1856. (Samuel Marsden Brookes, Daybook, 1841-1861.) |