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Term: Babcock, Joseph Weeks 1850 - 1909

Definition:

businessman, politician, Congressman, b. Swanton, Vt. In 1855 his family moved to Butler County, Iowa; he attended school there, at Cedar Falls, and for a brief time at Cornell College. He began his business career in his father's lumberyard in Iowa, and in 1881 moved to Necedah. He amassed a fortune during the 17 years he was manager and secretary for the Necedah Lumber Co., one of the largest in the Northwest. He served as president of the village of Necedah, and was a member of the state assembly (1889-1892) holding the position of chairman of the committee on corporations. In 1892 he was elected to Congress on the Republican ticket from the 3rd Wisconsin district, and served until 1907. During those years he was a member of the Committee on the District of Columbia and for 12 years its chairman, a member (and chairman 1899-1907) of the House Ways and Means Committee, and a member of the national Republican congressional campaign committee (chairman 1894-1904). Beginning in 1894, he gained prominence by successfully managing six consecutive national Republican campaigns. In 1900 he was instrumental in securing Robert M. La Follette's (q.v.) election as governor of Wisconsin, but in 1902 he broke with La Follette, who four years later helped bring about Babcock's defeat for re-election. Dict. Amer. Biog.; Milwaukee Sentinel, Apr. 27, 1909; Vermonter, 7 (1902).

The Wisconsin Historical Society has manuscripts related to this topic. See the catalog description of the Joseph Weeks Babcock Papers  for details.

View newspaper clippings at Wisconsin Local History and Biography Articles.