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Philetus Sawyer

Philetus Sawyer
United States Senator from Wisconsin
In office March 4, 1881 – March 3, 1893
Preceded by	Angus Cameron
Succeeded by	John L. Mitchell
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Wisconsin
In office March 4, 1873 – March 3, 1875
Preceded by	Jeremiah McLain Rusk
Succeeded by	Alanson M. Kimball
Constituency	6th district
In office March 4, 1865 – March 3, 1873
Preceded by	Ezra Wheeler
Succeeded by	Charles Augustus Eldredge
Constituency	5th district
9th Mayor of Oshkosh, Wisconsin
In office April 1863 – April 1865
Preceded by	H. C. Jewell
Succeeded by	Carlton Foster
Member of the Wisconsin State Assembly from the Winnebago 1st district
In office January 7, 1861 – January 6, 1862
Preceded by	Gabriel Bouck
Succeeded by	William E. Hanson
In office January 5, 1857 – January 4, 1858
Preceded by	John Anunson
Succeeded by	Samuel M. Hay
Personal details
Born	(1816-09-22)September 22, 1816 Whiting, Vermont, U.S.
Died	March 29, 1900(1900-03-29) (aged 83) Oshkosh, Wisconsin, U.S.
Resting place	Riverside Cemetery, Oshkosh, Wisconsin
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Melvina M. Hadley ​ ​ (m. 1841; died 1888)​
Children	Edgar Philetus Sawyer (b. 1842; died 1927) Earl T. Sawyer (b. 1845; died 1848) Ella E. Sawyer (b. 1849; died 1851) Emma (White) (b. 1856; died 1896) Erna (Goodman) (b. 1859; died 1943)
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Philetus Sawyer (September 22, 1816 – March 29, 1900) was a United States senator from Wisconsin for twelve years (1881–1893). He also represented Wisconsin for ten years in the United States House of Representatives (1865–1875), and he was the 9th mayor of Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Sawyer County, Wisconsin, is named for him.^[1]

Philetus Sawyer was born in 1816 in Whiting, Vermont, and moved to Crown Point, New York, as an infant in 1817. He moved to Wisconsin in 1847 and worked in the lumber industry. Sawyer's early political career included serving in the Wisconsin State Assembly in 1857 and 1861, and as mayor of Oshkosh, Wisconsin, from 1863 to 1864. He ran for and was elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1864 and served for ten years from 1865 until 1875 being first elected to the 39th United States Congress. From 1865 till 1873 he was the representative of Wisconsin's 5th congressional district. However, for the 43rd Congress he redistricted and represented Wisconsin's 6th district. He did not run for reelection in 1874. Sawyer returned to Congress in 1881 as a U.S. Senator. He served two terms from 1881 to 1893 and did not seek a third. However, he became notorious for a charge made against him by Congressman Robert La Follette Sr. that he had attempted to bribe La Follette.^[2]

Sawyer died in 1900 in Oshkosh at age 83.^[3] He was interred at a family mausoleum at Riverside Cemetery in Oshkosh.^{[citation needed]}

• List of mayors of Oshkosh, Wisconsin

• United States Congress. "Philetus Sawyer (id: S000091)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.

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