Richard Dewhurst was an American lawyer, judge, banker and lumberman from Neillsville, Wisconsin who served in the Wisconsin State Assembly for four single discontinuous terms over four different decades under four different political party labels ; and was defeated twice when running for election on the ticket of a fifth party, the Democratic.
Public office and employment; first term in the Assembly; marriage and move; Civil War
By 1854 he was teaching school in Platteville, and in 1856 was admitted to the bar of Wisconsin at White Oak Springs, before moving on to Weston in May of that year. In 1856 he was elected Clark County's county judge, and register of deeds. In 1858, he was first elected a member of the Assembly for a one-year term in the Legislature's 12th session as a member of the newly organized Republican Party, succeeding fellow Republican Lucius Cannon in the district encompassing Chippewa, Clark, Dunn and Pierce counties. He was succeeded by William P. Bartlett. On March 29, 1859 he married Maria S. Curtis, who had been born in Ohio on April 9, 1840. After marriage the Dewhursts came to Neillsville, settling on the bank of the creek below the mill. The nearest markets were then at Sparta and La Crosse, and the roads merely trails through the wilderness. They built a frame house, and there they began domestic life. Dewhurst engaged in logging, a widespread occupation in that region in those days. It was later remembered that there were still many American Indians in the area who often came to the Dewhurst home looking for handouts, and "were always given something." During the American Civil War Dewhurst served in a Wisconsin regiment and served as a deputy U. S. assessor in 1863-4.
He was elected again to the Assembly in 1874 as a candidate of the Liberal Reform Party, a short-lived coalition of Democrats, reform and Liberal Republicans, and Grangers formed in 1873. He was the Reform nominee both for the 32nd Senate District, losing 2097 to 2354 to Republican Robert C. Field; and for his old Assembly district, defeating Republican James Hewett 1210 to 1179. With the Reform coalition starting to break down, Dewhurst was not a candidate for re-election in 1875, and was succeeded by Republican Hugh B. Mills. In 1875, he became countyschool superintendent; and upon the death of incumbent William Hutchinson he filled Hutchinson's unexpired term as county treasurer. In 1877 he once again became county judge, serving until 1879. During this period he built a colonial home in Neillsville, and a block on the town's Main Street bearing his name. In 1874 Dewhurst travelled to Oregon, Washington and California, and in the late 1870s toured Scotland, Ireland, his native England and the French Exposition. He ran for the Assembly again in 1884 as a Democrat, losing to Republican James O'Neill with 1515 votes to O'Neill's 1831. He was elected as a member of the assembly for the fourth and final time in 1886 as an independent candidate, receiving 1,601 votes, against 1,019 votes for Republican T. J. La Flesh and 200 for Prohibitionist George A. Austin. This time, he was assigned to the committee on town and county organizations. He ran for re-election as a Democrat, and was defeated by Republican Merritt Clarke Ring.
