Coles Bashford

Coles Bashford (1816 - 1878) was an American lawyer and politician who became the fifth Governor of Wisconsin, and one of the founders of the U.S. Republican Party. His one term as governor ended in a bribery scandal that ended in him fleeing Wisconsin, 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, representing Winnebago County. 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 Democratic 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 non-existent 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 capitol in Madison, Bashford was sworn in quietly in the chambers of the Wisconsin Supreme Court, by Chief Justice Edward 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 declared 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.