John Coit Spooner
John Coit Spooner (January 6, 1843 – June 11, 1919) was a politician and lawyer from Wisconsin. He served in the United States Senate from 1885 to 1891 and from 1897 to 1907. A Republican, by the 1890s, he was one of the "Big Four" key Republicans who largely controlled the major decisions of the Senate, along with Orville H. Platt of Connecticut, William B. Allison of Iowa, and Nelson W. Aldrich of Rhode Island.
John Coit Spooner
William F. Vilas
Revel K. Fay
January 6, 1843
Lawrenceburg, Indiana, U.S.
June 11, 1919 (aged 76)
New York City, U.S.
4, including Philip
Philip L. Spooner Jr. (brother)
1864–1866
Military service[edit]
During the Civil War, he enlisted in the Union Army as a private assigned to Company D, 40th Wisconsin Infantry, a three-month unit.[2] After Spooner's 100 days of service were complete, he returned home and recruited a company from his college classmates, Company A, 50th Wisconsin Infantry, which he commanded as a captain.[3] At the close of the war, Spooner received a brevet promotion to major.[7]
Start of career[edit]
After the war, Spooner served as private secretary to Wisconsin Governor Lucius Fairchild,[8] and then the governor's military secretary with the rank of colonel[9] He later served as quartermaster general of the Wisconsin Militia with the rank of brigadier general.[10] He studied law with his father from 1865 to 1867, and he was admitted to the bar in 1867.[9]
After becoming a lawyer, Spooner was appointed assistant attorney general of Wisconsin and he served from 1869 to 1870.[9] In 1869, Spooner received the honorary degree of Master of Arts from the University of Wisconsin.[11][12] Spooner moved to Hudson in 1870, and practiced law there from 1870 to 1884.[7] He established himself in the field of railroad and corporation law, and served as counsel for the West Wisconsin Railway and Chicago, St. Paul and Minneapolis Railway.[9]
Spooner was a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly in 1872.[3] He was a member of the University of Wisconsin Board of Regents from 1882 to 1886.[3]
Later life[edit]
After his retirement from the Senate, he practiced law in New York City.[22][23] In 1910, Spooner and Joseph P. Cotton formed the firm of Spooner & Cotton, where Spooner practiced until his death.[22][23]
Awards and honors[edit]
The town of Spooner, Wisconsin was named in his honor. Spooner received the honorary degree of LL.D. from the University of Wisconsin in 1894.[11] He also received honorary LL.D. degrees from Yale University in 1908[26] and Columbia University (1909).[27]
Family[edit]
In 1868, Spooner married Annie Main of Madison.[14] They were the parents of four children, three of whom lived to adulthood[14]—Charles Philip Spooner (1869–1947), Willet Main Spooner (1871–1928), John C. Spooner (1877–1881), and Philip Loring Spooner (1879–1945).[24]