Bushnell began his political career as a Republican, winning his elections as district attorney and member of the Assembly on the Republican ticket. He switched to the Democratic Party in the mid 1870s due to his disdain for the political machine running the Republican Party of Wisconsin. He was elected mayor and member of Congress on the Democratic ticket.
Early life
Born in Hartford, Ohio, Bushnell attended the public schools of Hartford, and attended Oberlin and Hiram colleges in Ohio and studied law.[1] He moved to Grant County, Wisconsin, in 1854 and read law in the office of attorney Stephen O. Paine, in Platteville. He taught school to help with his expenses, and, in December 1857, he was admitted to the Wisconsin Bar at Lancaster, Wisconsin. He established his own legal practice in Platteville, which he maintained for the next four years.[1]
In 1860, he was elected district attorney of Grant County, taking office in January 1861. However, he served only a few months in the position; after the outbreak of the American Civil War, Bushnell resigned his office to volunteer for service with the Union Army.[1]
He returned to Wisconsin in 1864 to resume the practice of law, but relocated from Platteville to Lancaster.[1] Shortly after returning to Wisconsin, his successor as Grant County district attorney, Joseph Trotter Mills, resigned after being elected to the Wisconsin circuit court judgeship. Governor James T. Lewis appointed Bushnell to fill out the remainder of Mills' term as district attorney, expiring in January 1865.[3]
He resumed his interest in politics with the Republican Party of Wisconsin, and, in 1871, he was elected to the Wisconsin State Assembly for Grant County's 2nd Assembly district, defeating James Wilson Seaton.[3] He served on the Assembly Committee on the Judiciary and the Joint Committee on Charitable and Penal Institutions.[3] After Lancaster was incorporated as a city in 1878, Bushnell was elected as its first mayor.
Despite his history in the Republican party, in 1876 he endorsed and campaigned for Democrat Samuel J. Tilden for President, due to his exasperation over the spending of the post-war years, and his contempt for the Republican political machine.[4][5] He subsequently became attached to the Democratic Party. When Democrat Grover Cleveland became President in 1885, Bushnell was appointed United States Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin, and ultimately served until a successor was appointed by President Benjamin Harrison, in 1890.
The 1891 congressional redistricting significantly affected Bushnell, putting him in the same district as fellow incumbent Democrat Charles Barwig. The party chose to renominate Barwig instead of Bushnell in the 1892 election, and Bushnell left office in March 1893.[8]
Later years
He resumed the practice of law in Madison, and worked as counsel and treasurer for the Wisconsin Life Insurance Company.[1] He stood for office one final time, running for Wisconsin Supreme Court in 1906, but was defeated by attorney William H. Timlin in a four-way race.[9]
He contracted pneumonia while attending his sister's funeral in Platteville, and died at his home in Madison on March 29, 1909. He was interred at Hillside Cemetery, in Lancaster.[10]
Personal life and family
Allen Bushnell was the son of Dr. George W. Bushnell and his wife Sarah (née Bates). He was first married to Laura F. Burr and had three children with her before her death in 1873, though only one daughter survived infancy. He subsequently married a cousin of Laura Burr, Mary P. Sherman, in 1875. With Mary Sherman, he had at least three more children, though only one son, Alfred, survived childhood.[1]
Electoral history
Wisconsin Assembly (1871)
Wisconsin Assembly, Grant 2nd District Election, 1871[3]
