Stephen Steele Barlow (August 17, 1818 – October 5, 1900) was an American lawyer and Republican politician. He was the 10th Attorney General of Wisconsin and served four years in the Wisconsin Legislature. He also served several years as a district attorney and county judge.

Stephen S. Barlow
10th Attorney General of Wisconsin
In office
January 3, 1870 – January 5, 1874
GovernorLucius Fairchild
Cadwallader C. Washburn
Preceded byCharles R. Gill
Succeeded byA. Scott Sloan
Member of the Wisconsin Senate
from the 14th district
In office
January 6, 1868 – January 3, 1870
Preceded byArgalus Starks
Succeeded byBennett Strong
Member of the Wisconsin State Assembly
In office
January 7, 1867 – January 6, 1868
Preceded byRollin M. Strong
Succeeded byJohn Gillespie
ConstituencySauk 2nd district
In office
January 5, 1852 – January 3, 1853
Preceded byWyman Spooner
Succeeded byJoseph Seaver
ConstituencyWalworth 5th district
District Attorney of Sauk County, Wisconsin
In office
January 6, 1862 – January 1, 1866
Preceded byN. W. Wheeler
Succeeded bySmith S. Wilkinson
County Judge of Sauk County, Wisconsin
In office
January 4, 1858 – January 6, 1862
Preceded byE. G. Wheeler
Succeeded byJohn B. Quimby
District Attorney of Walworth County, Wisconsin
In office
January 3, 1853 – January 2, 1854
Preceded byUrban D. Meacham
Succeeded byAlfred S. Spooner
In office
January 1, 1844 – January 3, 1848
Preceded byExperience Estabrook
Succeeded byUrban D. Meacham
Personal details
Born(1818-08-17)August 17, 1818
Ballston Spa, New York, U.S.
DiedOctober 5, 1900(1900-10-05) (aged 82)
St. Paul, Minnesota, U.S.
Resting placeWalnut Hill Cemetery, Baraboo, Wisconsin
Political party
Spouse
Anna Maria Parsons
(died 1881)
Children
  • Mary E. (Freeman)
  • (b. 1846; died 1932)

Background

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Barlow was born on August 17, 1818, in Ballston Spa, New York,[1] and moved with his family at an early age to Genesee County, New York. He attended public schools and was graduated from Rochester Seminary in New York in 1837. He began reading the law in Albany, New York.

In Wisconsin

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Barlow came to Wisconsin about 1840, continued his legal studies, and settled at Delavan in Walworth County, where in 1841 he was admitted to the bar. He was elected as a Free Soiler member of the Assembly from Walworth county in 1851 for a one-year term, and in 1853 became that county's district attorney.

He moved to Sauk County in May 1854, settled in Delton (then called New Buffalo) in 1855, and was elected as a County Judge in 1857, for the term of four years.

Republican politician

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By the beginning of the 1860 presidential election campaign, he had become part of the Republican Party, declaring that "the spirit of abolition is the spirit of the Republican Party", and that the Republicans, considering slavery "morally and politically wrong", opposed its spread as the first step in its complete abolition.[2] He was elected District Attorney of Sauk County in 1862, and re-elected in 1864. he was elected to Sauk County's 2nd Assembly district (Towns of New Buffalo, Dellona, Winfield, La Valle, Woodland, Ironton, Reedsburg, Excelsior, Baraboo, Fairfield, Greenfield and Freedom) for 1867, succeeding fellow Republican Rollin Strong; then to the Wisconsin State Senate's 14th District from 1868 to 1869, to succeed Argalus Starks (a War Democrat then part of the Union Party). He was succeeded in the Assembly by John Gillespie. He was a Republican elector for Ulysses S Grant in 1868.

He was elected Wisconsin Attorney General in 1869 with 69,746 votes, against 60,510 for Democrat Silas U. Pinney.,[3] being succeeded in the Senate by fellow Republican Bennett Strong, and re-elected in 1871, with 78,326 votes against 68,807 for Edward S. Bragg, Democrat.[4][5]

After serving as Attorney General

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Except for a two-year sojourn in Chippewa Falls, Barlow lived in Delton and Baraboo until 1893, when he moved to the St. Paul, Minnesota, home of his son Henry P. Barlow.[5] He died there on October 5, 1900.[6]

Electoral history

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Wisconsin Attorney General (1869, 1871)

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Wisconsin Attorney General Election, 1869[7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
General Election, November 2, 1869
Republican Stephen S. Barlow 69,746 53.54% +1.89%
Democratic Silas U. Pinney 60,520 46.46%
Plurality 9,226 7.08% +3.78%
Total votes 130,266 100.0% -8.49%
Republican hold
Wisconsin Attorney General Election, 1871[8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
General Election, November 7, 1871
Republican Stephen S. Barlow (incumbent) 78,326 53.23% −0.31%
Democratic Edward S. Bragg 68,807 46.77%
Plurality 9,519 6.47% -0.61%
Total votes 147,133 100.0% +12.95%
Republican hold

References

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  1. ^ "Stephen Steele Barlow". Political Graveyard. Retrieved October 22, 2011.
  2. ^ McManus, Michael J. Political Abolitionism in Wisconsin, 1840–1861 Kent, Ohio: Kent State University Press, 1998; pp. 190, 238
  3. ^ "The Legislative Manual of the State of Wisconsin; Comprising Jefferson's Manual, the Rules, Forms and Laws for the Regulation of Business; also, Lists and Tables for Reference" Tenth Annual Edition. Madison: Atwood and Culver, State Printers, Journal Block, 1871; pp. 362–363. Digital.library.wisc.edu. Retrieved on January 22, 2016.
  4. ^ Turner, A. J., ed. "The Legislative Manual of the State of Wisconsin: Comprising the Constitutions of the United States and of the State of Wisconsin, Jefferson's Manual, the Rules, Forms and Laws for the Regulation of Business; also, Lists and Tables for Reference, etc." Twelfth Annual Edition. Madison: Atwood and Culver, Printers and Stereotypers, 1873; p. 430. Digital.library.wisc.edu. Retrieved on January 22, 2016.
  5. ^ a b Wisconsin Historical Society-Stephen Steele Barlow. Wisconsinhistory.org. Retrieved on January 22, 2016.
  6. ^ Proceedings of the State Bar Association of Wisconsin Madison: State Bar Association of Wisconsin, 1902; Vol. 4, p. 220]
  7. ^ "Wisconsin State Government and State Institutions" (PDF). The Legislative Manual of the State of Wisconsin (Report). State of Wisconsin. 1870. pp. 348–349. Retrieved December 14, 2021.
  8. ^ Turner, A. J., ed. (1872). "Official Directory" (PDF). The Legislative Manual of the State of Wisconsin (Report). State of Wisconsin. p. 434. Retrieved December 14, 2021.
Party political offices
Preceded by Republican nominee for Attorney General of Wisconsin
1869, 1871
Succeeded by
Wisconsin State Assembly
Preceded by Member of the Wisconsin State Assembly from the Walworth 5th district
January 5, 1852 – January 3, 1853
Succeeded by
Preceded by
Rollin M. Strong
Member of the Wisconsin State Assembly from the Sauk 2nd district
January 7, 1867 – January 6, 1868
Succeeded by
Wisconsin Senate
Preceded by Member of the Wisconsin Senate from the 14th district
January 6, 1868 – January 3, 1870
Succeeded by
Legal offices
Preceded by District Attorney of Walworth County, Wisconsin
January 1, 1844 – January 3, 1848
Succeeded by
Urban D. Meacham
Preceded by
Urban D. Meacham
District Attorney of Walworth County, Wisconsin
January 3, 1853 – January 2, 1854
Succeeded by
Alfred S. Spooner
Preceded by
E. G. Wheeler
County Judge of Sauk County, Wisconsin
January 4, 1858 – January 6, 1862
Succeeded by
Preceded by
Nelson W. Wheeler
District Attorney of Sauk County, Wisconsin
January 6, 1862 – January 1, 1866
Succeeded by
Preceded by Attorney General of Wisconsin
January 3, 1870 – January 5, 1874
Succeeded by