Tweedy, John H.

Born: 1814-11-09 Danbury, Connecticut

Died: 1891-11-12 Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Flourished: Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Tweedy moved to Milwaukee in 1836. A Yale graduate and lawyer, he earned an appointment as receiver of the Milwaukee and Rock River Canal Company in 1839. A Whig, Tweedy served in the territorial legislature from 1841 to 1842 and as a delegate to the state's first constitutional convention. He subsequently won election as a territorial representative to Congress, serving from 1847 to 1848. He ran in Wisconsin's first gubernatorial election but lost to Nelson Dewey. He then served as Milwaukee's postmaster and won election to the State Legislature in 1852. Following one term, he retired from politics. Tweedy nevertheless remained on the periphery of national politics - joining the Republican Party and supporting the Kansas free-soil movement.

Biographical Directory of the American Congress, 1774-1996 (Alexandria, VA: CQ Staff Directories, 1997), 1971; "Survey of Historical Activities: The Society and the State," The Wisconsin Magazine of History (1918-1919), 2:115-116.