Samuel Beall

Samuel Wootton Beall
2nd Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin
In office January 7, 1850 – January 5, 1852
Governor	Nelson Dewey
Preceded by	John E. Holmes
Succeeded by	Timothy Burns
Personal details
Born	June 16, 1807 Montgomery County Maryland U.S.
Died	September 26, 1868 (aged 61) Helena Lewis and Clark County, Montana U.S.
Resting place	Forestvale Cemetery Helena, Lewis and Clark County, Montana
Citizenship	US
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Elizabeth Fenimore Cooper Beall
Children	Singleton Wooten Beall Mary Morris Beall Roger Beall Eliza Wootton Beall Ellen Agnes Beall Louis Upton Beall Frances Emma Cooper Beall
Alma mater	Union College
Profession	Lawyer Land Speculator Politician
Military service
Allegiance	United States of America
Service/branch	United States Army Union Army
Rank	lieutenant colonel
Unit	18th Wisconsin Infantry
Battles/wars	American Civil War Battle of Shiloh

Samuel Wootton Beall (June 16, 1807 – September 26, 1868) was an American land speculator and lawyer, who served as the second Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin, and as an officer in the American Civil War.

Early life

Born in Montgomery County, Maryland, Beall graduated from Union College in Schenectady, New York in 1827.

Career

Beall moved to what is now Green Bay, Wisconsin in 1835, where he made a fortune in land speculation, and was admitted to the bar and practiced law. In the 1840s he settled in Taycheedah.

Between 1832 and 1856, Beall loaned the Stockbridge and Munsee Indians' delegations to Washington, D.C. some $3,000 for their expenses while they pursued claims against the federal government. He was promised one third of whatever they recovered, but when they won their case, he claimed and recovered only his actual expenditures.^[1]

Beall served as a delegate to both the first and second Wisconsin Constitutional Conventions from Marquette County, one of only six men to do so (most members of the first convention declined to serve in the second).^[2]

Beall was a Democrat, and served as lieutenant governor for Nelson Dewey's second term as governor, from 1850 until 1852.^[3]

During the American Civil War, he was a lieutenant-colonel in the 18th Wisconsin Infantry and was wounded in the Battle of Shiloh. After recovering, he served as second-in-command of a prisoner of war camp in Elmira, New York, where the prisoners nicknamed him "old peg-leg" and accused him of a pattern of repeated cruelty and abuse.^[4]

Death

After briefly returning to Wisconsin after the war, Beall moved to Helena, Montana, where, on September 26, 1868, he was shot following an argument.^[5] He is interred at Forestvale Cemetery, Helena, Lewis and Clark County, Montana, USA.

Family life

Son of Lewis and Eliza Beall, in 1829, he married Elizabeth Fenimore Cooper, a niece of James Fenimore Cooper, and they had seven children, Singleton Wooton, Mary Morris, Roger, Frances Emma Cooper, Eliza Wootton, Ellen Agnes, and Louis Upton.^[6]

References

1. Viola, Herman J. Diplomats in Buckskins: A History of Indian Delegations in Washington City Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press, 1995; p. 57
2. Smith, William R. The History of Wisconsin. In Three Parts, Historical, Documentary and Descriptive. Compiled by Direction of the Legislature of the State. Madison: Beriah Brown, Printer, 1854. Part II. - Documentary. Vol. III; p. 302.
3. "Public Square at Rapids Was First County Seat". Manitowoc Herald-Times. June 11, 1924. p. 5. Retrieved March 9, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
4. Gray, Michael P. The Business of Captivity: Elmira and Its Civil War Prison Kent, Ohio: Kent State University Press, 2001; pp. 125-126
5. Samuel W. Beall, Wisconsin Historical Society
6. "Samuel Wooton Beall". 1997-2014 Ancestry.com. Retrieved 31 May 2014.

External links

• "Wisconsin Constitutional Officers; Lieutenant Governors" (PDF). State of Wisconsin Blue Book 2005–2006. Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau. July 2005. p. 31. Retrieved October 6, 2007.
• Find A Grave