Botkin, Alexander

Born: 1801-03-04 Kentucky

Died: 1857-03-05 Wisconsin

Alexander Botkin was a lawyer and territorial and state politician. Little is known of his early childhood and advance into adulthood. At an early age, he moved from his native state to Ohio, where in September 1835, he married Jane Roslin Sinclair, with whom he would have three sons. In 1836, Botkin and his wife moved to Illinois, settling in Alton, where he became a justice of the peace. He was among the peace officers who sought to quell riots coming in the aftermath of the murder of Elijah P. Lovejoy. In June 1841, Botkin and his family moved to Madison, Wisconsin Territory, where he became the assistant secretary of the Territory working under Territorial Secretary Alexander P. Field. Although he had no legal training, Botkin also became Field's law partner. Botkin also became embroiled in territorial and later state politics. An ardent admirer of Henry Clay, he became a leading member of the Whig Party in the Wisconsin Territory. In 1847 and 1848, he represented the counties of Dane, Green, and Sauk in the Legislative Assembly of the Territory. After Wisconsin became a state, Botkin moved into the Wisconsin Legislature. In 1849, voters from his district elected him to the Wisconsin State Senate. He remained in the Senate until 1851, and in 1852, he won election to the Wisconsin State Assembly. He died suddenly from complications after suffering a stroke.

Parker McCobb Reed, The Bench and Bar of Wisconsin (Milwaukee: P. M. Reed, 1882), 337-40; Gravestone, Forest Hill Cemetery, Madison, WI.