Powers Moulton

Powers G. Moulton (August 9, 1829 – December 21, 1904) was an American farmer and Republican politician. He was a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly, representing La Crosse County during the 1870 and 1871 sessions.

Powers Moulton
Member of the Wisconsin State Assembly
from the La Crosse 2nd district
In office
January 3, 1870 – January 1, 1872
Preceded byNathan P. Waller
Succeeded byGideon Hixon (whole county)
Personal details
Born(1829-08-09)August 9, 1829
Trenton, New York, U.S.
DiedDecember 21, 1904(1904-12-21) (aged 75)
Onalaska, Wisconsin, U.S.
Resting placeOnalaska City Cemetery, Onalaska, Wisconsin
Political partyRepublican
OccupationFarmer
Military service
Branch/serviceUnited States Volunteers
Union Army
Years of service1864–1865
RankCorporal, USV
Unit1st Reg. Wis. Heavy Artillery
Battles/warsAmerican Civil War

Biography

Powers Moulton was born August 9, 1829, in Trenton, New York.[1] He received a common school education in New York before moving west with his parents in 1846. They settled in Lake County, Illinois, where they were some of the earliest settlers at Waukegan.[2] Through his father, he became involved in the Democratic Party in Illinois, but he and his father would later split with the party over slavery. They both became staunch Republicans after that party was established in the 1850s.

Some time in the late 1850s, Powers Moulton moved north into Wisconsin, and settled at the town of Onalaska, in La Crosse County. Shortly after his arrival, he was elected as a town assessor for 1859 and was re-elected in 1860. He was subsequently elected justice of the peace in 1862, and town treasurer in 1863.[3]

In 1864, he volunteered for service in the Union Army during the fourth year of the American Civil War. He was enrolled as a private in the 1st Wisconsin Heavy Artillery Regiment and was later promoted to corporal.[4] He served with the regiment in Virginia until the end of the war.[1]

Upon his return, he was again elected justice of the peace in 1868 and 1871.[3] During this time, he was also elected to two terms in the Wisconsin State Assembly, running on the Republican Party ticket. He served in the 1870 and 1871 sessions, representing La Crosse County's 2nd Assembly district, which then comprised the northern half of the county.[1] His district was abolished in the 1871 redistricting act, and La Crosse resident Gideon Hixon was chosen as the Republican nominee for the county's sole Assembly district in 1871.[5]

After leaving the Assembly, he was elected town chairman in 1874, and served another term as justice of the peace in 1881.[3]

Powers Moulton died at his home in Onalaska, on December 21, 1904.[6] He was buried at Onalaska City Cemetery.

Personal life and family

Powers Moulton was one of six children born to Josiah Powers and his wife Chloe (née Greene). Chloe was a sister of Judge Powers Greene, a veteran of the War of 1812, and one of the pioneer settlers of South Bend, Indiana. Josiah Powers often used the title "colonel" due to a commission in the New York militia granted by Governor William L. Marcy in the 1830s.[7]

The Moultons were direct descendants of Robert Moulton, a shipbuilder who emigrated to the Massachusetts Bay Colony from England in 1629.[7]

Powers Moulton married Citana J. Hall of Vermont. They had ten children who all grew to maturity.[7]

Electoral history

Wisconsin Assembly (1869, 1870)
Wisconsin Assembly, Juneau District Election, 1869[8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
General Election, November 2, 1869
Republican Powers Moulton 670 71.50%
Democratic Sever Anderson 267 28.50%
Plurality 403 43.01%
Total votes 937 100.0%
Republican hold
Wisconsin Assembly, Juneau District Election, 1870[1]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
General Election, November 8, 1870
Republican Powers Moulton (incumbent) 454 61.52% -9.99%
Democratic William Hartley 284 38.48%
Plurality 170 23.04% -19.97%
Total votes 738 100.0% -21.24%
Republican hold

References
  1. "Official Directory". The Legislative Manual of the State of Wisconsin (Report). State of Wisconsin. 1871. p. 379. Retrieved July 23, 2022.
  2. "Illinois State News". Nashville Journal. August 27, 1880. p. 2. Retrieved July 23, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. Butterfield, Consul Willshire (1881). History of La Crosse County, Wisconsin. Western Historical Co. pp. 717–719. Retrieved July 23, 2022.
  4. "First Regiment Heavy Artillery". Roster of Wisconsin Volunteers, War of the Rebellion, 1861–1865. Vol. 1. Office of the Adjutant General of Wisconsin. 1886. p. 285. Retrieved July 23, 2022.
  5. "Official Directory". The Legislative Manual of the State of Wisconsin (Report). State of Wisconsin. 1872. p. 450. Retrieved July 23, 2022.
  6. "Hr. P. G. Moulton..." Nord Stern (in German). December 23, 1904. Retrieved July 22, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. Moulton, Henry William (1906). Moulton, Claribel (ed.). Moulton Annals. Edward A. Claypool. pp. 414–415. Retrieved July 23, 2022.
  8. "Official Directory". The Legislative Manual of the State of Wisconsin (Report). State of Wisconsin. 1870. p. 365. Retrieved July 23, 2022.
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