reformer, temperance leader, politician, b. Leicester, Mass. He moved at an early age to Philadelphia, where in 1838 he founded the Union Anti-slavery Society and later was an organizer of the Liberty Party in Pennsylvania. In 1846 he moved to Wisconsin, settling in Geneva, and later moved to La Crosse (1852) and Trempealeau. He was state assemblyman from Geneva (1849) and from Trempealeau (1857), and was state treasurer (1858-1866). In 1882 he was the unsuccessful Prohibition candidate for Congress, and in 1884 was again unsuccessful in his bid for the governorship. Hastings held numerous local offices in Wisconsin but was most widely known for his championship of abolition and prohibition. He spoke in favor of prohibition in all parts of the U.S., as well as in England, Australia, and New Zealand. He was for many years a contributor to prohibition and anti-slavery newspapers, and served in executive capacities with the Sons of Temperance, Independent Order of Good Templars, and the National Temperance Society and Publication House. He maintained his Wisconsin residence until his death. He died at the home of his daughter in Evanston, Ill. Dict. Amer. Biog.; Proc. State Hist. Soc. Wis., 1903 (1904); Natl. Cyclopaedia Amer. Biog., 10 (1909); S. D. Hastings Papers.

The Wisconsin Historical Society has manuscripts related to this topic. See the catalog description of the Samuel Dexter Hastings for details.

View newspaper clippings at Wisconsin Local History and Biography Articles.

Learn More

Dictionary of Wisconsin History

Explore more than 1,600 people, places and events in Wisconsin history.

[Source: Dictionary of Wisconsin biography]