26th Wisconsin Legislature

The Twenty-Sixth Wisconsin Legislature convened from to in regular session.
Senators representing odd-numbered districts were newly elected for this session and were serving the first year of a two-year term. Assembly members were elected to a one-year term. Assembly members and odd-numbered senators were elected in the general election of November 5, 1872. Senators representing even-numbered districts were serving the second year of their two-year term, having been elected in the general election held on November 7, 1871.
The governor of Wisconsin during this entire term was Republican Cadwallader C. Washburn, of La Crosse County, serving the second year of a two-year term, having won election in the 1871 Wisconsin gubernatorial election.

Major events

January 22, 1873: Timothy O. Howe re-elected as United States Senator by the Wisconsin Legislature in Joint Session.
February 11, 1873: King Amadeo I of Spain was deposed and the First Spanish Republic was proclaimed.
March 4, 1873: Second inauguration of President Ulysses S. Grant.
March 23, 1873: Wisconsin Lieutenant Governor Milton Pettit died in office.
May 7, 1873: Salmon P. Chase, Chief Justice of the United States, died of a stroke at New York City.
September 18, 1873: The New York stock market crashed, leading to the Panic of 1873 and the Long Depression.
September 24, 1873: Wisconsin Democrats convened in Milwaukee with Grangers and Liberal Republicans to form the short-lived Reform Party, and nominated William Robert Taylor as their candidate for Governor.
November 5, 1873: William Robert Taylor elected Governor of Wisconsin.
December 23, 1873: The Woman's Christian Temperance Union was founded at Hillsboro, Ohio.

Major legislation

March 14, 1873: An Act to provide for finishing the state capitol, protecting the same against fire, for the improvement of the capitol park, and appropriating money to pay for the same, .
March 17, 1873: An Act to provide for the collection of certain statistics with a view of more fully equalizing the state taxes, .
March 17, 1873: An Act to prevent the careless use of firearms, .
March 18, 1873: An Act to provide for annexing and excluding territory to and from cities, towns and villages, and to unite cities, towns and villages, .
March 18, 1873: Joint Resolution ratifying proposed constitutional amendment prohibiting counties, towns, villages, etc., from becoming indebted for any purpose to an amount exceeding five percent of the value of taxable property, .

Sessions

1st Regular session: January 8, 1873March 20, 1873

Leaders

Senate leadership

President of the Senate: Milton Pettit
President pro tempore: Henry L. Eaton

Assembly leadership

Speaker of the Assembly: Henry D. Barron

Members

Members of the Senate

Members of the Senate for the Twenty-Sixth Wisconsin Legislature:

Dist.	Counties	Senator	Residence	Party
01	Sheboygan		Cascade	Dem.
02	Brown, Door, Kewaunee		Green Bay	Dem.
03	Milwaukee		Milwaukee	Dem.
04	Monroe & Vernon		Viroqua	Rep.
05	Racine		Racine	Rep.
06	Milwaukee		Milwaukee	Dem.
07	Dane		Madison	Rep.
08	Kenosha & Walworth		Spring Prairie	Rep.
09	Iowa		Mineral Point	Rep.
10	Waukesha		Waukesha	Rep.
11	Lafayette		Gratiot	Rep.
12	Green		Monticello	Rep.
13	Dodge		Beaver Dam	Dem.
14	Sauk		Sauk City	Rep.
15	Manitowoc		Manitowoc	Dem.
16	Grant		Lancaster	Rep.
17	Rock		Beloit	Rep.
18			Fond du Lac	Rep.
19	Winnebago		Oshkosh	Rep.
20			Marshfield	Dem.
21	Marathon, Oconto, Shawano, Waupaca,		Shawano	Rep.
22	Calumet & Southern Outagamie		Appleton	Dem.
23	Jefferson		Milford	Dem.
24	Ashland, Barron, Bayfield, Burnett, Douglas, Pierce, Polk,		Hudson	Rep.
25	Green Lake, Marquette, & Waushara		Wautoma	Rep.
26	Dane		Middleton	Lib. R.
27	Columbia		Courtland	Rep.
28	Crawford & Richland		Lone Rock	Rep.
29	Adams, Juneau, Portage,		Grand Rapids	Rep.
30	Chippewa, Dunn,,			Rep.
31	La Crosse		La Crosse	Rep.
32	Buffalo, Clark, Jackson,		Modena	Lib. R.
33	Ozaukee & Washington		Addison	Dem.

Members of the Assembly

Members of the Assembly for the Twenty-Sixth Wisconsin Legislature:

Employees

Senate employees

Chief Clerk: J. H. Waggoner
* Assistant Clerk: Sid. A. Foster
** Bookkeeper: T. S. Ansley
* Engrossing Clerk: Charles A. Booth
* Enrolling Clerk: Frank Abbott
* Transcribing Clerk: S. H. Vedder
Sergeant-at-Arms: A. Emonson
* Assistant Sergeant-at-Arms: Stephen Coburn
Postmaster: P. H. Parsons
* Assistant Postmaster: W. D. Harshaw
Doorkeeper: Hugh Longstaff
* Assistant Doorkeeper: Walter Cook
* Assistant Doorkeeper: W. F. Bingham
* Assistant Doorkeeper: W. F. Hals
* Assistant Doorkeeper: John Z. Rittman
* Gallery Doorkeeper: G. Jones
* Gallery Doorkeeper: S. S. Miller
* Night Watch: Frank J. Wood
Governor's Attendant: Ossian M. Pettit
Clerk's Messenger: Charles A. Irish
Messengers:
* Adolph Hastreiter
* Arthur Johnson
* Freddie Richards
* Willie Bintliff
* Eddie McCurdy
* Johnnie Veeder
* Charlie Fellows
* Frank Bolting
* Freddie Davis

Assembly employees

Chief Clerk: Ephraim W. Young
* Assistant Clerk: Fred A. Dennett
** Bookkeeper: Roger C. Spooner
* Engrossing Clerk: Mrs. R. A. Vilas
* Enrolling Clerk: Amos Hitchcock
* Transcribing Clerk: Faunie Russell
Sergeant-at-Arms: O. C. Bissell
* 1st Assistant Sergeant-at-Arms: W. H. Bell
* 2nd Assistant Sergeant-at-Arms: Richard Pritchard
Postmaster: M. Herrick
* 1st Assistant Postmaster: W. W. Baker
* 2nd Assistant Postmaster: Charles Volner
Doorkeepers:
* John Gale
* George W. Baker
* S. G. Parkhurst
* W. W. Phelps
Night Watch: Fred Bright
Firemen:
* Charles Sellers
* Z. B. Russell
Gallery Attendants:
* John Bowen
* H. J. Stordock
Committee Room Attendants:
* George W. Williams
* M. S. Bowler
* Ethan Griffith
* George Slingsby
* Eugene J. Cole
Washroom Attendant: O. M. Oleson
Porter: H. O. Hermonson
Speaker's Messenger: Willie Holmes
Chief Clerk's Messenger: Frank R. Norton
Sergeant-at-Arms' Messenger: Eddie B. Weeks
Messengers:
* Charles Murphy
* Frank Porter
* Henry Cutler
* Ed. Hubbell
* Edwin Roweliff
* Cassius Paine
* John Lannan
* Willie Rudd
* Charles Wootton
* Julian French
* Charles Rothe
* Mike Comford
* John Oleson
* Fred Hawley