Wilbur F. Sanders
| Wilbur Fisk Sanders | |
|---|---|
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Wilbur Fisk Sanders, Senator of Montana. He was the prosectuting lawyer for the Vigilantes against the "Road Agents" in Virginia City, Montana. | |
| United States Senator from Montana | |
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In office January 1, 1890 – March 3, 1893 | |
| Preceded by | None |
| Succeeded by | Lee Mantle |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Wilbur Fisk Sanders May 2, 1834 Leon, New York |
| Died |
July 7, 1905 (aged 71) Helena, Montana |
| Resting place | Forestvale Cemetery, Helena, Montana |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse(s) | Harriet P. Fenn |
| Children | James, Wilbur E., and Louis |
| Occupation | Lawyer, politician |
| Profession | Law |
| Military service | |
| Years of service | 1861-1862 |
| Rank | First Lieutenant |
| Unit | 64th Ohio Infantry |
| Battles/wars | Battle of Shiloh |
Wilbur Fisk Sanders (May 2, 1834 – July 7, 1905) was a United States Senator from Montana. A leading pioneer and a skilled lawyer, Sanders played a prominent role in the development of Montana Territory and the state's early political history.
Early life
Sanders was born in Leon, Cattaraugus County, New York to Ira and Freedom (Edgerton) Sanders. His father was a farmer originally from Rhode Island and his mother a native of Connecticut.[1] Being a devout Methodist, Ira Sanders named his first-born son after a hero of his faith, the founding president of Wesleyan University, Willbur Fisk (the name was often misspelled by his contemporaries using one "l" instead of two). Family stories tell of a precocious child displaying a keen intellect and studious character. Wilbur attended the common schools in New York, and afterward taught school himself.[2]
Following his mother's wishes, Sanders moved to Akron, Ohio in 1854, where he continued teaching and studied law under his uncle, Sidney Edgerton. Sanders' Uncle Sidney, 13 years his elder, exercised a profound impact on his life.[2] Also born in western New York, Edgerton had moved to Akron, Ohio ten years earlier rising to prominence under the tutelage of veteran Ohio politician and lawyer, Rufus P. Spalding.[3] Edgerton likewise took Sanders under his wing. Sanders gained admission to the bar in 1856, and he and Edgerton soon entered a law partnership.[4] Edgerton had become involved with the Free Soil Party in the 1840s, and, by the mid 1850s, about the time Sanders joined him in Akron, his political activities shifted to the fledgling Republican Party.[3] Sanders followed his uncle's political development.
On October 27, 1858, Sanders married Harriet P. Fenn, a native of Ohio. They had five children, but only three survived into adulthood: James, Wilbur E., and Louis.[5]
Civil war
During the Civil War, he recruited a company of infantry and an battery of artillery in the summer of 1861 and was commissioned a first lieutenant in the 64th Regiment, Ohio Infantry, of which he was made adjutant. Sanders served in the Battle of Shiloh and later in 1862, he assisted in the construction of defenses along the railroads south of Nashville. His family reports that he resigned from the army in August 1862 following an illness aggravated by a wound.[2] He returned to his family in Akron, Ohio.
Montana territory
He settled in that part of Idaho Territory, which later became Montana, where he engaged in the practice of law and also became interested in mining and stock raising. He was a young lawyer when he moved to Montana in 1863. He was there before courts were organized and, being one of the first permanent settlers, took a prominent part in bringing law and order to Montana. He was a prosecutor for the infamous Montana Vigilantes who took the law into their own hands after over one hundred men had been ambushed and murdered for their gold in Virginia City, Montana. In December 1863, Sanders' led the prosecution of George Ives as the murderer of Nicolas Tiebolt in Nevada City, Montana. Ives was convicted and hanged on December 21, 1863.[6] The George Ives trial initiated a period of vigilantism that eventually brought an end to thefts and murders by "road agents" in the Virginia City region. Sanders was one of the original five organizers of the Alder Gulch Vigilance Committee which was formed on December 23, 1863 in Virginia City, Montana.[7]
In 1873 Sanders became a member of the Territorial Legislature, and next was a United States Senator. Also he realized the importance of preserving early records and for thirty years, as the president of the Montana Historical Society, established in 1865, he accumulated newspapers and documents in his law office. Sanders was a founding member of the Society of Montana Pioneers and served as its secretary (1884) and president (1888). [8]
He became known as Colonel Sanders. He was a Republican candidate for election in 1864, 1867, 1880, and 1886 as a Delegate to Congress, and was a member of the Territorial house of representatives of Montana from 1873 to 1879.
Upon the admission of Montana as a State into the Union, he was elected as a Republican to the U.S. Senate and served from January 1, 1890, to March 3, 1893. While in the Senate, he was chairman of the Committee on Enrolled Bills (Fifty-second Congress.)
In the 1890s, Sanders represented the Chinese community in Butte, Montana against labor unions boycotting Chinese businesses.[9]
Sanders died in Helena, Montana, aged 71, and was interred in Forestvale Cemetery there. Sanders County, Montana is named in his honor.
Notes
- ↑ Sanders, Helen Fitzgerald (1913). A History of Montana (Vol. 2 ed.). Chicago and New York: The Lewis Publishing Company. p. 851. Retrieved 5 September 2014.
- 1 2 3 Sanders II, W. F.; Taylor, Robert T., eds. (1983). Biscuits and Badmen: The Sanders' Story in Their Own Words. Butte, Montana: Editorial Review Press. p. 3.
- 1 2 Thane Jr., James L. (Oct 1976). "An Ohio Abolitionist in the Far West: Sidney Edgerton and the Opening of Montana, 1863-1866". Pacific Northwest Quarterly 67 (4): 151. Retrieved 5 September 2014.
- ↑ Burlingame, Merrill G. (1998). "Sanders, Wilbur Fisk". In Lamar, Howard. The New Encyclopedia of the American West. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press. p. 1007.
- ↑ A.W. Bowen & Co. Progressive Men of the State of Montana. Chicago: A.W. Bowen & Co. pp. 35–36. Retrieved 31 August 2015.
- ↑ Dillon, Mark C. (2013). "The Murder of Nicolas Tiebolt and the Trial and Execution of George Ives". Montana Vigilantes 1863-1870 Gold, Guns and Gallows. Logan, UT: Utah State University Press. pp. 89–118. ISBN 9780874219197.
- ↑ Dillon, Mark C. (2013). "Formation of the Vigilance Committee". Montana Vigilantes 1863-1870 Gold, Guns and Gallows. Logan, UT: Utah State University Press. pp. 119–134. ISBN 9780874219197.
- ↑ Sanders, James U., ed. (1899). "State Society Officers". Society of Montana Pioneers-Constitution, Members, Officers with Portraits and Maps... (PDF). Montana Society of Pioneers. pp. xxi–xxvi.
- ↑ Brian Shovers. "Butte, Montana" Encyclopedia of Immigration and Migration in the American West. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, 2006. Credo Reference. Web. 3 September 2014
External links
- Wilbur F. Sanders at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress Retrieved on 2008-10-19
- Montana: The Magazine of Western History, Autumn 2005 by Aarstad, Rich
- Helena: Her Historic Homes, Vol. II By Jean Baucus
| United States Senate | ||
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| Preceded by None |
U.S. Senator (Class 1) from Montana 1890–1893 Served alongside: Thomas C. Power |
Succeeded by Lee Mantle |
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