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Eleazer Wakeley

American lawyer, politician, and judge

The Honorable Eleazer Wakeley
Nebraska District Court Judge
In office 1883–1892
Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the Nebraska Territory
In office January 1857 – May 1861
Preceded by	James Bradley
Succeeded by	William F. Lockwood
Member of the Wisconsin Senate
In office January 1, 1853 – January 1, 1856
Preceded by	Alva Stewart
Succeeded by	Jesse C. Mills
Constituency	12th Senate district
In office January 1, 1852 – January 1, 1853
Preceded by	George Gale
Succeeded by	Alva Stewart
Constituency	14th Senate district
Member of the Wisconsin State Assembly from the Dane 5th district
In office January 1, 1867 – January 1, 1868
Preceded by	Benjamin F. Hopkins
Succeeded by	Levi B. Vilas
Member of the House of Representatives of the Wisconsin Territory for Walworth County
In office October 18, 1847 – March 13, 1848 Serving with George Walworth
Preceded by	Charles A. Bronson Palmer Gardiner
Succeeded by	Position Abolished
Personal details
Born	(1822-06-25)June 25, 1822 Homer, New York
Died	November 21, 1912(1912-11-21) (aged 90) Omaha, Nebraska
Resting place	Prospect Hill Cemetery Omaha, Nebraska
Political party	Democratic
Spouses	Sabina Sarah Comstock (died 1918)
Children	Arthur Cooper Wakeley (b. 1855; died 1928) Bird Chapman Wakeley (b. 1857; died 1911) Lucius Winchester Wakeley (b. 1859; died 1928) Lucy Wakeley (b. 1861; died 1917) William Comstock Wakeley (b. 1862; died 1894) Emily Doane (Crain) (b. 1871; died 1971)
Parents	Solmous Wakeley (father) Hannah (Thompson) Wakeley (mother)
Profession	lawyer, judge
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Branch/service	United States Volunteers Union Army
Years of service	1862–1863
Rank	Corporal, USV
Unit	145th Reg. Penn. Vol. Infantry
Battles/wars	American Civil War Battle of Fredericksburg

Eleazer Wakeley (June 25, 1822 – November 21, 1912) was an American lawyer, politician, judge, and pioneer of Wisconsin and Nebraska. He was a Nebraska District Court Judge, a justice of the Nebraska Territory's Supreme Court, and a delegate to Nebraska's constitutional convention. In Wisconsin, he served two terms in the Wisconsin State Senate and one in the Wisconsin State Assembly, he also served in the last sessions of the legislature of the Wisconsin Territory.

Born in Homer, New York, Wakeley and his family moved first to Pennsylvania and then to Elyria, Ohio, where he studied the law and was admitted to the Ohio bar. His father was Solmous Wakeley, who served in the Wisconsin Legislature. Wakeley moved to Wisconsin TerritorytoWhitewater, in Walworth County, where he served in the Wisconsin Territorial Legislature.

In 1857, Wakeley was appointed to the Nebraska Territorial Supreme Court serving until 1861. He served briefly in the American Civil War, volunteering with the 145th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment, but received a medical discharge after the Battle of Fredericksburg, only four months into his service. He returned to Wisconsin to practice law and, in 1863, ran for Wisconsin Attorney General, but lost.^[1][2]

Wakeley served in the Wisconsin State Senate 1851–1855 and the Wisconsin State Assembly 1866–1867.^[3]

In 1867, Wakeley and his family moved to Omaha, Nebraska. There he practiced law and served in the 1877 Nebraska Constitutional Convention. Wakeley was appointed Nebraska district court judge and was the first president of the Nebraska State Bar Association.^[4][5]

After he died in Omaha on November 21, 1912, he was buried at the Prospect Hill Cemetery.

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