Coles Bashford
| Coles Bashford | |
|---|---|
 |
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| 5th Governor of Wisconsin | |
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In office March 25, 1856 – January 4, 1858 |
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| Lieutenant | Arthur MacArthur, Sr. |
| Preceded by | Arthur MacArthur, Sr. |
| Succeeded by | Alexander Randall |
| Delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives from Arizona Territory | |
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In office March 4, 1867 – March 3, 1869 |
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| Preceded by | John Noble Goodwin |
| Succeeded by | Richard Cunningham McCormick |
| 3rd Secretary of Arizona Territory | |
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In office April 14, 1869 – January 8, 1876 |
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| Nominated by | Ulysses S. Grant |
| Preceded by | James P. T. Carter |
| Succeeded by | John Philo Hoyt |
| Member of the Wisconsin State Assembly | |
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In office 1855 |
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| Personal details | |
| Born |
January 24, 1816 Cold Spring, New York |
| Died | April 25, 1878 (aged 62) Prescott, Arizona Territory |
| Nationality | American |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse(s) | Frances Ann Forman |
Coles Bashford (January 24, 1816 – April 25, 1878) was an American lawyer and politician who became the fifth Governor of Wisconsin. His one term as governor ended in a bribery scandal that forced him to leave the state, but he was later instrumental in the government of the newly formed Arizona Territory.
Bashford was born near Cold Spring in Putnam County, New York. He attended the Genesee Wesleyan Seminary in Lima, where he studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1842. He served as the district attorney of Wayne County from 1847 until he resigned in 1850 and moved to Oshkosh, Wisconsin. He served in the Wisconsin State Senate in 1853 and 1854 as a Whig. After the Whigs split on the issue of slavery, Bashford became one of the founding candidates of the Republican Party.
Bashford ran for governor as a Republican in 1855 and was at first declared the loser to the Democrat incumbent, William A. Barstow, by a mere 157 votes. However, Bashford claimed the result was fraudulent, and it was later discovered that Barstow's win was due to forged election returns coming from nonexistent precincts in the sparsely populated northern part of the state, in addition to other irregularities such as two separate canvassing boards claiming legitimacy in Waupaca County. With rival militia units converging on the state capital in Madison, Bashford was sworn in quietly in the chambers of the Wisconsin Supreme Court by Chief Justice Whiton on January 7, 1856. On the same day, Barstow was publicly inaugurated with full ceremony. The Wisconsin attorney general filed quo warranto proceedings in the Wisconsin Supreme Court to remove Barstow, who threatened that he would not "give up his office alive." After challenging the court's jurisdiction without success and noting that the tide of public opinion had turned against him, Barstow declined to contest the fraud allegations and sent his resignation to the legislature on March 21, 1856, leaving the lieutenant governor, Arthur MacArthur, as acting governor. On March 24, the court unanimously awarded the governorship to Bashford by a count of 1,009 votes. The following day, as Madison was crowded with onlookers, Bashford entered the Capitol with the court's judgment in hand, in the company of a sheriff and a throng of followers, and announced to MacArthur that he had come to claim his office. Upon Bashford's threat that force would be used if necessary, MacArthur and his supporters quickly left. Despite initial opposition by the Democrats in the State Assembly, both houses of the Wisconsin State Legislature soon recognized Bashford as the new governor.
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