lead miner, farmer, politician, b. Franklin, Ky. He moved to Wisconsin in 1836, settling at Shullsburg where he engaged in lead mining and farming and later became a mine operator. A Democrat, he was state assemblyman (1852, 1854-4855, 1857-1858, 1877), and state senator (1863-1864, 1867-- 1868). He played an important role in local politics during the heyday of the Democratic party in Wisconsin and in the legislature consistently supported the interests of the lead-mining region. With the waning power of lead mining and the Democratic party after the Civil War, Earnest retired to a farm in Lafayette County and devoted the remainder of his life to raising thoroughbred livestock. Wis. Legis. Manual (1877); Comniem. Biog. Record of the Cos. of Rock . . . (Chicago, 1901); Hist. of Lafayette Co. (Chicago, 1881); Shullsburg Pick and Gad, June 14, 1900.Learn More
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[Source: Dictionary of Wisconsin biography]
