soldier, architect, b. Montrose, Pa. He learned the building trade with his father in Pennsylvania, and constructed several buildings there before moving to Chicago in 1854. In 1855 he moved his office to Madison, Wis., and in 1857 was appointed architect of the Central State Hospital for the Insane at Mendota. During the Civil War, Shipman served in the 1st Wisconsin Volunteer Cavalry as 1st lieutenant in Co. G (1861-1862), as captain in Co. E (1862-1864), was wounded, but returned to the service as major (1865). During the final stages of the war, he collected Confederate archives and building plans in Georgia, and was mustered out of the service in Aug., 1865, with the brevet rank of colonel, U.S. Volunteers. Returning to Madison in 1865, he completed work on the Mendota hospital, designed the dome and rotunda of the state capitol, was the architect for the Madison post office, the Dane County court house, and the First National Bank. Shipman also designed numerous other public buildings in Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa, and Missouri. After 1870 he maintained his offices in Chicago. He was for many years a curator of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin. Milwaukee Sentinel, Nov. 13, 1905; Trans. Wis. Acad. Sci 15 (1907), pp. 927-931.Learn More
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[Source: Dictionary of Wisconsin biography]
