Aldrich, Cyrus

Born: 1808-06-18 Smithfield, Rhode Island

Died: 1871-10-05 Minneapolis, Minnesota

Cyrus Aldrich attended common schools and worked as a sailor, boatman, farmer, contractor, and mail contractor before moving to Alton, Illinois in 1837. He served as a member of the Illinois House of Representatives in 1845-1847 and as register of deeds of Jo Daviess County in 1847-1849. He worked as receiver of the U.S. General Land Office at Dixon, Illinois in 1849-1853, before moving to Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1855 to work in the lumber industry. Aldrich served as a member of the Minnesota Constitutional Convention in 1857 and won election, as a Republican, to the U.S. House of Representatives, serving from 1859-1863. He earned appointment from President Abraham Lincoln in 1863 to serve as a commissioner to examine the claims for indemnity of sufferers from the Sioux War of 1862. Aldrich ran unsuccessfully for U.S. Senate in 1863 but returned to Minnesota to serve in the House of Representatives in 1865.

Biographical Directory of the American Congress, 1774-1961 (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1961), 464; Gravestone, Lakewood Cemetery, Minneapolis, MN.