lawyer, soldier, judge, Congressman, b. Rome, N.Y. He attended Springfield Academy and Granville College in Ohio. At Granville he met Lyman C. Draper (q.v.), whom he later influenced to come to Wisconsin. After attempting frontier farming and politics in Mississippi, he moved to Chicago in 1844, and to Horicon in 1847. A delegate to the constitutional convention of 1847-1848, in 1848 he was elected circuit judge on the Democratic ticket, holding office until 1858. Elected to Congress in 1858, he served one term, urging conciliation of the North-South differences. At the outbreak of the Civil War he was commissioned major of the 5th Wisconsin Volunteers, and in 1862, colonel of the 24th Wisconsin Infantry. Larrabee was active in several campaigns, and performed distinguished service, but illness forced him to resign his commission in 1863. Seeking to regain his health and political fortune, he went to California in 1864. He moved frequently in the western states, practicing law, and publishing and farming intermittently in Oregon, Washington Territory, and California. Dict. Amer. Biog.; L. C. Draper Papers; WPA MS.

The Wisconsin Historical Society has manuscripts related to this topic. See the catalog description of the Larrabee Family Papers for details.

View a biographical sketch of Larrabee at Wisconsin Historical Collections.

View newspaper clippings at Wisconsin Local History and Biography Articles.

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[Source: Dictionary of Wisconsin biography]