Eleazer Wakeley
Honorific prefixThe Honorable
OfficeNebraska District Court Judge
Term start1883
Term end1892
Office 1Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the Nebraska Territory
Term start 1January 1857
Term end 1May 1861
Predecessor 1James Bradley
Successor 1William F. Lockwood
Office 2Member of the Wisconsin Senate
Constituency 212th Senate district
Term start 2January 1, 1853
Term end 2January 1, 1856
Predecessor 2Alva Stewart
Successor 2Jesse C. Mills
Constituency 314th Senate district
Term start 3January 1, 1852
Term end 3January 1, 1853
Predecessor 3George Gale
Successor 3Alva Stewart
State assembly 4Wisconsin
District 4Dane 5th
Term start 4January 1, 1867
Term end 4January 1, 1868
Predecessor 4Benjamin F. Hopkins
Successor 4Levi B. Vilas
Office 5Member of the House of Representatives of the Wisconsin Territory for Walworth County
Alongside 5George Walworth
Term start 5October 18, 1847
Term end 5March 13, 1848
Predecessor 5
  • Charles A. Bronson
  • Palmer Gardiner
Successor 5Position Abolished
Birth dateJune 25, 1822
Birth placeHomer, New York, U.S.
Death dateNovember 21, 1912 (aged 90)
Death placeOmaha, Nebraska, U.S.
Resting placeProspect Hill Cemetery
Omaha, Nebraska
Spouse
  • Sabina Sarah Comstock
  • (died 1918)
MotherHannah (Thompson) Wakeley
FatherSolmous Wakeley
PartyDemocratic
Professionlawyer, judge
AllegianceUnited States
BranchUnited States Volunteers
Union Army
Service years1862–1863
RankCorporal, USV
Unit145th Reg. Penn. Vol. Infantry
Battles

American Civil War

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.

Early years

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 Territory to Whitewater, in Walworth County, where he served in the Wisconsin Territorial Legislature.

Career

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]

Death

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

References

  1. ^ "Omaha Illustrated"
  2. ^ "The Political Graveyard: Index to Politicians: Wait to Walborn"
  3. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2006-12-09. Retrieved 2015-01-17.
  4. ^ http://casemaker.nebar.com/pdfs/nelawyer/1999/119901.pdf[dead link]
  5. ^ "Eleazer Wakeley Residence". Archived from the original on 2008-11-19. Retrieved 2010-01-25.