Morton Smith WILKINSON, Congress, MN (1819-1894)

WILKINSON, Morton Smith, a Senator and a Representative from Minnesota; born in Skaneateles, Onondaga County, N.Y., January 22, 1819; attended the common schools; moved to Illinois in 1837 and was employed in railroad work two years; returned to Skaneateles in 1840; studied law; admitted to the bar in 1842 and commenced practice in Eaton Rapids, Mich., in 1843; moved to Stillwater, Washington County, Minn., in 1847; elected to the first legislature of Minnesota Territory in 1849; register of deeds of Ramsey County 1851-1853; moved to Mankato in 1858; member of the board of commissioners to prepare a code of laws for the Territory of Minnesota in 1858; elected as a Republican to the United States Senate and served from March 4, 1859, to March 3, 1865; unsuccessful candidate for reelection; chairman, Committee on Revolutionary Claims (Thirty-eighth Congress); elected as a Republican to the Forty-first Congress (March 4, 1869-March 3, 1871); unsuccessful candidate for renomination in 1870; moved to Wells, Faribault County; member of the State senate 1874-1877; prosecuting attorney of Faribault County 1880-1884; resumed the practice of his profession; died in Wells, Minn., February 4, 1894; interment in Glenwood Cemetery, Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present