Karelius Nelson (1868-1937)

From the Sisseton Weekly Standard, October 23, 1914.

  From North Dakota, we journey to that state's southern neighbor to highlight the life of Karelius Nelson, a Swedish native who was elected to three terms in the South Dakota House of Representatives. Following his resettlement in the United States, Nelson resided in Minnesota, where he farmed, and later engaged in railroad work. After migrating to Roberts County, South Dakota he entered into the grain elevator business and before his legislative service was elected as Roberts County clerk of courts. The son of Nils and Karin Nelson, Karelius Nelson was born in Varmland, Sweden on May 2, 1868. 

  Nelson's formative years were spent in Sweden, where he attended public school. He later took a special course in mathematics. At age eighteen he left Sweden for a new life in the United States, and first settled in Minnesota. For the next several years he worked at farming and on the railroads, and in 1892 removed to Roberts County, South Dakota. Here he established a farm, which, by the turn of the 19th century consisted of "three hundred acres of fine land." Nelson returned to Minnesota in October 1894 to marry Maria Sophia Erickson (1863--1941), to who he was wed for forty-three years. The couple would have seven children, Cora (1895-1987), Mamie Edith (1897-1988), Carl Arthur (1898-1962), Ruth Mabel (1900-2001), Agnes (1902-1929), Karin (1905-1921), and Nels Gottfred (1909-2000).

  For the majority of his life, Nelson followed farming in Roberts County and entered the business sector of his community with his time as secretary of the White Rock Telephone Company. He also entered the grainery business, being the secretary of the Farmer's Elevator Company in Rosholt. He was active in the Lutheran Church and entered local politics when he was elected as a township supervisor. He later won terms as a school clerk and justice of the peace, and in 1914 entered into the race for Roberts County clerk of courts. He proved successful at the polls and was elected that November, and went on to win a second term in 1916.

From the 1919 South Dakota Legislative Manual.

    In 1918 Karelius Nelson announced his candidacy for the South Dakota House of Representatives, and in November was elected. Taking his seat at the start of the 1919-21 term, he was named to the committees on Appropriations, Dairy Products, and Statistics. In November 1920 Nelson won a second term, and from 1921-23 served on the same four committees from the previous session.

  Following his second term, Nelson was affiliated with the Rosholt Community Bank as a director, and in 1930 won a third term in the statehouse. Little else is known of Nelson's life after the completion of his term in 1933, except notice of his death on February 15, 1937, in Breckinridge, Minnesota. Nelson was survived by his wife Maria, who, following her death in 1941, was interred alongside him at the St. Joseph Cemetery in Rosholt, South Dakota.

From the South Dakota State Manual, 1931.

Thorstein Hartvig Haugen Thoreson (1885-1956)

From the Bismarck Tribune, September 23, 1933.

  An important name in North Dakota politics in the first half of the 20th century, the plentifully named Thorstein Hartvig Haugen Thoresen was a native of Norway who, following immigration to the United States, found distinction through public service in his adopted state of North Dakota. A former state's attorney, state tax commissioner, and candidate for attorney general and governor, Thoresen would serve one term as Lieutenant Governor and for four years was the mayor of Grand Forks. In the twilight of his career, Thoreson re-emerged on the political stage, announcing his candidacy for U.S. Senator from North Dakota in the 1950 Republican primary.

  While largely consigned to history's dustbin in the decades since his death, Thoresen's political career extended over four decades and was frequently featured in editions of the Bismarck Tribune, amongst other state newspapers. His life began in humble circumstances in Horten, Vestfold, Norway on December 9, 1885, one of nine children born to Thor Henrik (1843-1894) and Maren (Pedersdotter) Thoresen (1841-1904). He removed to the United States with his family while still a child and settled in Stoney Creek township in Grant County, Minnesota. His early education was obtained at St. Olaf's Academy in Northfield, Minnesota. He graduated in 1909, and in the following year relocated to Dunn County, North Dakota, where he farmed and taught school for a time. 

  Wanting to pursue a career in law, Thoresen enrolled at the University of North Dakota Law School in 1911. He continued there until the death of a brother necessitated his leaving school, and afterward took over management of his brother's farm in Ottertail County. He reentered the University of North Dakota in 1914 and graduated in the class of 1916. Thoresen had earlier married in Grant County, Minnesota on July 31, 1912, to Inga Mendine Vigen (1888-1951), to who he was wed for nearly forty years. The couple's union produced seven children, Cynthia Miranda (1913-1999), Theresa (born ca. 1915), Hans Vigen (1916-1979), Aurelia Mendine (1918-2003), Valborg A. (1922-2007), Thordis (1923-2012), and Shirley Lamoine (1924-1989). 

  Establishing his law practice in Dunn County, Thoresen quickly became active in the affairs of his community, being a member of the board of education and a trustee of the Normanna Lutheran Church. In 1916 he helped to found a 16 piece band in Dunn Center, of which he served as president. In the year following he was elected as treasurer of the Dunn County Bar Association, and in 1918 made his first move into politics when he announced his candidacy for state's attorney for Dunn County. He was elected that November and served two terms, 1919-1923.

From the Bismarck Tribune, February 26, 1925.

  By 1924 Thoreson had aspired to higher office, and at the Nonpartisan League convention held that February he received the nomination for state attorney general. Like other league candidates that year, Thoresen took to the campaign trail, giving addresses throughout the state touting the party's platform. On May 21, 1924, he delivered what was called the Nonpartisan League keynote address at McClusky, North Dakota, declaring "Let us clean our government of graft and corruption." In an address chronicled in the Bismarck Tribune, Thoresen further related that:

"Come join us in our fight for Democracy...Let businessmen, laborers, farmers and professional men join hands in this fight. It is a fight where all good citizens belong. Let us put this program over and demonstrate once and for all that we are going to rid ourselves of the shackles of industrial slavery which is sinking down thousands, yes millions, of good Americans every year."

  Throughout the year Thoresen continued to address large crowds, including a joint address with U.S. Senator Lynn Frazier at the Bismarck Auditorium that June. Opposing Thoreson that year was Republican nominee George Shafer (1888-1948), a former state's attorney for McKenzie County. On November 4 it was Shafer who emerged the winner, besting Thoreson by a vote of 95,638 to 70,022. Despite his defeat, Thoresen's name was later bolstered for state tax commissioner in the early part of 1925, and after being offered the post by Governor Arthur Sorlie, accepted.

From the Bismarck Tribune, July 1, 1929.

  Following conformation, Thoreson threw himself into his duties, and his four-year tenure in that post saw him acknowledged as "an indefatigable worker for the interests of the state." Thoresen and his staff were responsible for "the assessment of all state property, the collection of the state income tax and the state inheritance tax, in addition to the state, county, and local taxes." Upon his retirement from office in 1929, Thoreson reflected on his tenure, remarking:

"The first task I met, and the first thing that I saw needed, was to arouse the people generally and the officials of the state to get equality of assessment. There must be equality between taxpayers...The people are beginning to realize there is such as thing as far treatment between individuals. My idea was, and still is, that all taxpayers must pay, and that they will pay more willingly if they know all are paying alike. The work of the tax commission has doubled since I took office, probably because we have been too willing to work."

  While still the incumbent commissioner in February 1928, Thoreson attended the Nonpartisan League state convention, where his name was put forward for governor. He quickly led in the vote count, and after the third round of balloting, won the party's endorsement. Early in his candidacy Thoresen gained a firm backer in another oddly named political figure, state treasurer Chessmur Arlen Fisher, who was profiled here in September 2019. As both were serving in state government at the same time, the men grew to be friends and following Thoresen's nomination Fisher accompanied him to a campaign banquet in Lunds Valley, where both were guests of honor. Thoresen also made his first address there since winning nomination two months prior. 

  In June 1928, Thoresen (again accompanied by Fisher) joined with then-Governor Arthur Sorlie in a massive rally held in Rice Lake. Attended by over 6,000 people, Thoresen and Fisher spoke on "reviewing the state industries", and were both endorsed by Governor Sorlie, a fellow Nonpartisan League politician. Thoresen's gubernatorial opponent in that year's primary was George Shafer, the same man who had bested him four years previously for attorney general. Both candidates continued to stump the state through the next few weeks and on election day (June 27) it was Shafer who again won out, polling 9,000 more votes than Thoreson. Shafer went on to win the governorship in the general election and won a second term in 1930.

A Thoresen for Governor advertisement from the Bismarck Tribune, June 21, 1928.

   After Shafer was elected governor, Thoresen continued with his duties as state tax commissioner until his resignation in July 1929. He was succeeded by Shafer-appointee Iver Acker, and following his resignation continued residence in Bismarck, where he practiced law. In 1930 he and his family removed to Grand Forks, and in that year was briefly considered as a gubernatorial candidate, but withdrew his name from nomination during the February Nonpartisan League (NPL) convention. 

  Although not an elected official, Thoresen remained active in the affairs of the NPL, and in a June 1930 party address assailed the Shafer administration's handling of state finances. In 1932 Thoresen again announced a gubernatorial bid, beginning his candidacy that February in Grand Forks. Taking the Shafer administration and the legislature to task over wasteful spending, Thoresen remarked that "through legislation, the masses have been taxed for the benefit of the few and this brought on the depression." Unlike his 1928 candidacy, Thoresen's campaign didn't extend past March, when the NPL nominating convention chose William Langer as its gubernatorial nominee. Langer subsequently won the governorship that November.

  Not one to let a loss get the best of him, Thoresen launched a fourth gubernatorial bid in 1934. With William Langer in the hot seat due to alleged illegal campaign contributions, the camp of anti-Langer NPL delegates formally endorsed Thoreson for governor that March. He would hit the campaign trail once again in preparation for the June primary, and on election day lost out to Langer in a very lopsided contest, polling 47,380 votes to Langer's 113,027. Langer was subsequently removed from office a few weeks later by an act of the state supreme court, this extending from the financial impropriety that had dogged him throughout the campaign.

The Thoresen family, from the 1934 Bismarck Tribune.

    Thorstein H.H. Thoresen's political fortunes improved with his 1936 candidacy for Lieutenant Governor of North Dakota. That March he received the NPL endorsement for the nomination and that June won the primary. In November, Thoresen emerged the victor, beating Democratic nominee P.H. Costello by over 11,000 votes. Thoresen served from 1937-39 under Governor William Langer, who had been returned to the governor's chair in 1936, having been acquitted of the charges against him.

  Thoresen's political career continued on the upswing after his term as lieutenant governor concluded. Having returned to his law practice in Grand Forks, he successfully ran for mayor of that city in April 1940, defeating Democrat Ralph Lynch by a margin of 432 votes. His mayoralty extended until 1944, and during term served as both vice president (1942) and president (1943) of the Grand Forks County Bar Association. 

  In 1950 Thoresen made a final attempt at elective office when he entered the Republican primary race for U.S. Senator from North Dakota. Hoping to oust one-term incumbent Milton R. Young (1897-1983), Thoresen was dealt a 58,653 vote loss margin in the June primary. Young would go to win in the general election and was returned to the senate on four more occasions, retiring in 1981 after three decades of service.

  Following his senatorial defeat, Thoreson removed back to Bismarck and in 1951 suffered the death of his wife of nearly 40 years, Inga. He would remarry the following year to Elizabeth B. Earl, a native of Minneapolis. Thoresen continued prominence in his region during the final years of his life, being a member of the legislative department in the Office of Price Stabilization (1951-52), and in 1952 was appointed as an assistant attorney general for North Dakota. He continued residence in Bismarck until his death at a city hospital on April 16, 1956, at age 70. He was survived by his second wife and all of his children and was interred at the Memorial Park Cemetery in Grand Forks.

From the Bismarck Tribune, April 17, 1956.

Gaius Sibley Wooledge (1880-1966)

From the Ward County Independent, November 3, 1910.

  Remarked as one of the "most brilliant young lawyers in the state" at the time of his candidacy for Ward County judge, Gaius Sibley Wooledge was a native of Wisconsin who found prominence at the North Dakota state bar. Settling in that state in the early 1900s, Wooledge would be a candidate for Ward County judge and state's attorney but lost out at the polls. Following an unsuccessful run for state attorney general in 1916 and 1918, Wooledge's political fortunes changed, as he was elected as a delegate to the Republican National Conventions of 1920 and 1932, and in 1922 became chairman of the North Dakota State Democratic Committee.

  The son of Braman Henry (1848-1887) and Emma (Dillon) Wooledge (1856-1937), Gaius Sibley "Gay" Wooledge was born in Neenah, Wisconsin on July 22, 1880. A student in the public schools of Antigo and Madison in that state, he continued to study at the University of Wisconsin, where he earned his B.A. degree in 1904. He later attended that university's law school and undertook private study before being admitted to the state bar in 1905.

  After being licensed to practice Wooledge left Wisconsin for North Dakota and established himself in the town of Anamoose. He resided there until 1907 when he removed his practice to Kenmare in Ward County. He was a member of the firm Murphy and Wooledge and first entered public life in the late 1900s with his time as city attorney for Kenmare. His full dates of service remain unknown, though it is known that he was "deposed from office" by Kenmare mayor E.C. Tolley in 1909.

  Success came quickly to Wooledge at the state bar, and by October 1910 had become a rising figure in local Democratic circles. This would lead to his being chosen to introduce the great William Jennings Bryan during the latter's visit to Minot, North Dakota on October 27th, where he gave an address before 3,000 people. 1910 proved to be a busy year for Wooledge, as he had announced his candidacy for Ward County Judge earlier in the year. After winning the Democratic primary that July, Wooledge faced off against incumbent judge Nehemiah Davis, who'd first been elected in 1904. That November Wooledge placed second in the vote count, with Judge Davis continuing to serve until 1912. 

  A year following his defeat Wooledge left Kenmare for Minot, where he partnered with state representative Arthur Thompson in the law firm of Thompson and Wooledge. In June 1912 Wooledge married in Minot to Alice Metheny (1880-1940), a resident of Brookings, South Dakota. The couple subsequently honeymooned in the twin cities, and took "a trip down the great lakes." The couple were wed until Alice's death and had one son, Read Matheny Wooledge (1913-1934).

  In 1914 Wooledge re-entered politics when he announced his candidacy for president of the Minot city commission. One of three candidates vying for the office, Wooledge polled third, with victory going to local lumber merchant Chris H. Rudd. Undeterred by the loss, Wooledge announced his candidacy for State's Attorney for Ward County later that year. Notices touting his candidacy appeared in several editions of the Ward County Independent in the fall of 1914, where Wooledge outlined his platform including curtailing unnecessary expenses in the state's attorney office. These expenditures included the salary of an assistant state attorney, the abolition of special prosecutors, and "no private practice at County's expense." He would go on to remark:

"Lastly, the states attorney should take care of all county business before any private business. He should stay on the job the year round and at all times remember that he has been hired and paid by the taxpayers of this county to take care of the county business, promptly and efficiently, and yet with little expense as possible."

From the Ward County Independent, October 2, 1914.

  As with his two previous candidacies, Wooledge went down to defeat that November, being defeated by incumbent Republican Ragnvald A. Nestos (1877-1942), 1,784 votes to 1,172. Nestos' later political career saw him enter the Republican primary for U.S. Senator, and from 1921-25 served as Governor of North Dakota. 

  Two years after his run for state's attorney Wooledge set his sights on a lofty goal, the attorney generalship of North Dakota. After winning the June Democratic primary, he opposed Republican candidate William Langer (1886-1959). That November Wooledge lost out in a lopsided contest, polling 21,113 votes to Langer's 79,783, with Langer carrying every county in the state. Wooledge was dealt another loss to Langer in 1918 when he was again a candidate for attorney general, garnering 31,973 votes to 55,339.  William Langer's political career continued to soar following his two terms office, serving terms as Governor of North Dakota and from 1941-59 represented that state in the U.S. Senate.

  Following these losses, Wooledge continued with his law practice in Minot, and in 1917 entered into a four-year term as Minot city attorney. He would partner with former Minot mayor Daniel Greenleaf in the firm of Greenleaf and Wooledge, specializing in "Corporation, Real Estate, and Banking Law." From 1918-21 Wooledge held the additional role of legal representative for North Dakota under Alien Property Custodian A. Mitchell Palmer, who would later be named as U.S. Attorney General under President Wilson.

  Wooledge's political fortunes improved in 1920 when he was elected as chairman of the North Dakota delegation to the Democratic National Convention in San Francisco, where James M. Cox was nominated for the presidency. Wooledge would announce his candidacy for the state supreme court in the spring of 1922, and following his defeat for that office achieved a measure of consolation that September when he was elected as chairman of the North Dakota Democratic Executive Committee. 

  Two years into his tenure Wooledge clashed with committee secretary Henry Holt, and in February 1922 was ousted from the chairmanship at a meeting of state committee members. Following his removal, James Campbell was designated the new state chairman. Crying foul and calling the vote invalid, Wooledge saw the North Dakota democrats split into two camps, a pro-Campbell group and a pro-Wooledge group. These camps continued their split through the early part of that year, with newspaper reports designating both Wooledge and Campbell as chairman. On April 29, 1924, both camps attended the state democratic convention, where party harmony prevailed, with Wooledge (with the consent of James Campbell) calling the convention to order and naming the credentials committee. He would designate Campbell as chair of that committee, and continued as democratic state chairman into the latter part of 1924.

From the Ward County Independent, June 27, 1922.

  After leaving the chairmanship, Wooledge continued to be politically active, serving as an alternate delegate to the Democratic National Convention of 1932, and in that year was named temporary chairman of the North Dakota Democratic Convention held in New Rockford. He continued membership on the state democratic committee and held the post of Ward County democratic committee chairman well into the 1950s. Wooledge died at his home in Minot on July 31, 1966, shortly after his 86th birthday. His wife and son predeceased him, and all were interred at the Riverside Cemetery in Fargo, North Dakota.

Joris Odin Wigen (1883-1958), Joris Odin Wigen Jr. (1917-1987)

From "Prairie Pioneers: A History of Adams County", 1975.

   A transplant to North Dakota from Minnesota, Joris Odin Wigen was for over forty years a figure of distinction in Adams County, first settling there in the mid-1910s. An attorney, banker, and civic leader, Wigen would be elected to terms as Mayor of Hettinger, state representative, state's attorney, and achieved his highest degree of political prominence when he was appointed as a state district court judge. Following retirement, he and his wife removed to Phoenix, Arizona, where he lost his life in a car accident in 1958. The son of Norwegian natives George and Anna (Eggan) Wigen, Joris Odin Wigen was born in Mower County, Minnesota on August 9, 1883.

  Wigen's formative years were spent in the county of his birth, where he attended rural schools. He enrolled at the Lutheran College at Jewell, Iowa, and continued his studies at the Redwing Seminary in Redwing, Minnesota. Wanting to pursue a career in law, he entered the University of Minnesota and earned his law degree in 1910. Admitted to the North Dakota bar in December 1910, he would remove to Bucyrus, North Dakota to establish his law practice, and briefly returned to Minnesota to marry on May 31, 1911, to Gea Sether (1884-1985). The couple were wed for nearly fifty years and had four children, Ada Dakota Mae (1912-2009), Sadie (1914-1977), Gea Evelyn (1915-2009), and Joris Odin Jr. (1917-1987).

  Within a few years of relocating to Bucyrus Joris Wigen had entered into the town's financial sector, purchasing the Bucyrus State Bank. He would serve as its president until 1917, and by July of the following year had moved to Hettinger, North Dakota, where he became affiliated with the Adams County State Bank. He made his first move into local politics in the 1920s, serving on the Hettinger city council for several years and from 1918-32 was treasurer of the Hettinger School Board.

A youthful Joris O. Wigen, from the 1911 University of Minnesota "Gopher" yearbook.

  Joris O. Wigen continued his political ascent in 1928 when he was elected to the North Dakota House of Representatives. He would serve two terms (1929-33), and during his last term held the additional role of mayor of Hettinger, his term extending from 1931-34. While serving as a legislator and as mayor, Wigen occupied a third post, that of collector of closed banks from 1931-1939.

  Wigen's long residency in Hettinger saw him attain further distinction as a civic leader, being a member of the Hettinger Civic Association from 1924-30, and president of the Chamber of Commerce and Lions Club. Wigen was active in local patriotic drives and in 1940 was director for the Finnish Relief Drive. During WWII he was a booster in "war finance activities", for which he earned two medals, and for thirty-five years served as treasurer for the Hettinger Lutheran Church. On the business front, Wigen was manager of the Adams County Abstract Company from 1937-44 and "was universally recognized as an avid golf enthusiast."  

   In the early 1940s, Wigen returned to politics with his service as state's attorney for Adams County and was the incumbent in that post when he was appointed by Governor Fred Aandahl as a judge for North Dakota's 6th judicial district in July 1946. He would win a full six-year term of his own on that court in 1948 and was reelected in 1954. He served until his retirement on New Years Day 1958, and soon after resettled in Phoenix, Arizona with his wife.

  Just months after his removal to Arizona, Wigen and his wife were involved in a two-car accident in Phoenix on their return from an evening church service. While Gea Wigen and the persons in the other vehicle survived with minor injuries, Wigen himself was fatally injured in the crash, dying on March 26, 1958. Following funeral arrangements, he was returned to North Dakota for burial at the Hauges Cemetery in Jackson County. Gea Wigen survived her husband by nearly thirty years and celebrated her 100th birthday in September 1984. She died on November 23rd of the following year, aged 101, and was interred at the same cemetery as her husband.

From the Arizona Republic, March 27, 1958.

From the 1981 North Dakota Blue Book.

  Public service continued in the Wigen family with Joris O. Wigen's youngest child and namesake, Joris Odin Wigen Jr. A resident of North Dakota for nearly his entire life, "Bud" Wigen served as a pilot during the Second World War and later established himself in the insurance business in Bismarck. In 1968 he was elected as North Dakota State Insurance Commissioner, an office he'd be reelected to on two further occasions. 

  Born on May 5, 1917, in Hettinger, Bud Wigen attended the public schools of that city and in 1939 graduated from St. Olaf's College in Northfield, Minnesota. A veteran of the U.S. Air Force, Wigen served in Europe during WWII as a pilot, and married on July 4, 1943, to Phyllis Vevle (1920-1997). The couple were wed for over forty years and had three children, Richard, Joan, and Ann. 

  After his return from service Wigen was affiliated with an insurance company as an adjuster, and later operated an insurance company of his own in Bismarck for eleven years. The succeeding years saw him active in several civic organizations in Bismarck, including the Kiwanis Club(serving as its secretary), the Chamber of Commerce Executive Committee, and was secretary of the Missouri Slope Lutheran Home. 

  In 1968 Wigen announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination for North Dakota State Insurance Commissioner and was elected that November. He would be elected to another four-year term in 1972, and in 1976 was defeated by Democrat Byron Knutson. Knutson, in turn, would be defeated by a returning Wigen in November 1980 and would serve from 1981 until 1985, being succeeded by Earl Pomeroy.

  Following his last term as commissioner Wigen and his wife removed to Sun City, Arizona, where he died on May 2, 1987, three days shy of his 70th birthday. He was later returned to North Dakota for interment at the Sunset Memorial Gardens in Bismarck.

From the Mouse River Journal, October 22, 1980.

Visscher Vere Barnes (1851-1924)

From the Leaves of Healing, May 1902.

  The career of Visscher Vere Barnes is examined today, and it is indeed a career filled with colorful characters. A resident of Wisconsin, the Dakotas, and Illinois, Barnes was a native New Yorker who taught school in Wisconsin prior to his resettlement in the Dakota Territory. After establishing roots in that region, Barnes was elected as Probate Judge of Kingsbury County and later won a term in the territorial legislature. He continued his political career after relocating to Illinois in the late 1890s, being an unsuccessful candidate for Congress and Governor on the Prohibition Party ticket. Barnes's life took a curious turn in the early 1900s when he removed to Zion City, Illinois, a fundamentalist community established by Scottish-born faith healer and evangelist John Alexander Dowie. Barnes would be named by Dowie as Solicitor General of the Zion Law Department and later was selected as Judge of the Court of Arbitration of Zion City. 

  Born in Greenbush, Rensselaer County, New York on February 11, 1852, Visscher Vere Barnes was the son of Samuel (1827-1887) and Katherine Vere (Hole) Barnes (1827-1900). The Barnes family removed to Deerfield, Illinois when their son was three, and during his youth he attended the Kenosha, Wisconsin high school. Barnes continued study at the Oshkosh State Normal School and briefly enrolled at Oberlin College in Ohio. Barnes began a teaching career in 1871 as an assistant at the Kenosha High School. From 1873-75 he was principal at the New Lisbon High and Public School and during this same period was a mathematics professor at the LaCrosse Business College. Focusing his attention on law studies in the mid-1870s, Barnes read law under U.S. Senator Angus Cameron of Wisconsin for three years and was admitted to the bar around 1879. Visscher Vere Barnes married in Juneau County, Wisconsin in January 1876 to Mary LaBelle Evans. The couple were wed until Mary's death in 1895 and had two children, Mary Vere (born 1879) and Evans Paul (born 1883). 

  In 1879 Barnes and his wife removed to the Dakota Territory where he would establish a law practice. Settling in DeSmet in Kingsbury County, Barnes quickly advanced to the front rank in that community, serving as DeSmet city attorney for a time. In 1880 he entered into his first term as county judge of probate. He served in that capacity until 1883, and in 1880, 1882, 1884 was a delegate to the Dakota Territorial Republican Convention from that county. In the early 1880s, he would be appointed as a U.S. Commissioner for the Dakota Territory and continued his political rise in 1884 with his election to the Territorial House of Representatives. Taking his seat at the start of the 1885-86 session, Barnes chaired the committees on Elections and Printing and held seats on the committees on the Federal Relations, Judiciary, Railroads, and Rules. Period documents on Barnes's life also denote him as a member of the provisional senate (or council) in 1886, but this appears to be incorrect. While he was a candidate for that body in 1885, he is not listed as an elected council member in either 1886 or 1887 (see editions of the North Dakota State Blue Book.)

   Visscher Vere Barnes left the Dakota Territory in 1886 to further his law studies at Yale University in Connecticut. He would graduate in 1887, and in May of that year had been a candidate for the Townsend Oration Prize. Following his graduation, Barnes and his family removed to Yankton, South Dakota Territory where he was a member of the local school board from 1887-88. Barnes's residency here saw him become a leader in the temperance movement. A steadfast Prohibition advocate, Barnes was appointed to the territory Prohibition Central Committee in March 1889 and that July chaired a prohibition convention held in Huron that lobbied for a prohibition clause to be added to the state constitution. After the Dakotas were admitted as states in November 1889, both would adopt prohibition clauses in their constitutions, though South Dakota would repeal it in 1897.

   In 1895 V.V. Barnes and his family left South Dakota and removed to Lake County, Illinois. He established a law practice in Chicago and in September of that year lost his wife of nearly twenty years, Mary. Two years later Barnes remarried to Anna M. Chamberlain (birthdate unknown) who survived him upon his death in 1924.

  Like in the Dakota Territory, Barnes made a quick move into politics in the "Land of Lincoln". He would serve on the board of trustees for the village of Lake Bluff from 1896-97 and later had a short stint as village attorney. In 1897 he was an unsuccessful candidate on the Prohibition ticket for state's attorney for Lake County, and in the following year set his sights on a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. Again the candidate of the prohibitionists, Barnes hoped to represent Illinois's 7th Congressional district and was one of five candidates that year. On election day that November Barnes polled just 309 votes, with victory going to incumbent Republican George Edmund Foss, who garnered over 30,000 votes. 

A Barnes for Illinois Governor button from the campaign of 1900.

From the Sycamore, Illinois True Republican, August 22, 1900.

 Undeterred by defeat, Barnes remained true to his temperance beliefs and in 1900 was a delegate to the National Prohibition Convention in Chicago. In August of that year, the Illinois prohibitionists nominated Barnes for Governor and after accepting the nomination hit the stump. Throughout the campaign season Barnes delivered addresses touting his party's platform, and on August 16 gave an oration at the Colchester Miner's Friendly Aide Society. In this address, Barnes made light of President McKinley's stance on temperance, remarking "From the standpoint of the prohibitionist the action of the president on the canteen is wrong and cannot be indorsed." Barnes further related that:

"We must not lose sight of the fact that the sovereignty resides with the people and not with the governor and president. To the people let us charge the political evils of the time and on them place the primarily the responsibility. If the license of the liquor traffic calling for the young women as well as the young men of the country for the sake of votes and money is not wrong, then nothing is wrong."

 When voters went to the polls on November 6, 1900, 15,643 citizens cast their vote for Visscher Vere Barnes. Though his candidacy fared better than it had two years previous, he was still dealt a loss, polling third in a field of seven candidates, with victory going to Republican candidate Richard Yates Jr. While Barnes's gubernatorial dreams may have been dashed, a curious figure would soon enter his life. That man was John Alexander Dowie (1847-1907).

John Alexander Dowie (left) and Wilbur Glenn Voliva. Leaders of Zion City.

   Depending on one's point of view, John Alexander Dowie can be viewed as a leader in utopian ideals or a humbug and charlatan. Born in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1847, John Alexander Dowie was the son of a preacher. Early in his life he removed with his family to Australia and was admitted as a Congregationalist minister in 1872. He held pastorates in New South Wales, and after leaving the Congregationalist fold, began a career as an independent evangelist. His eccentricities having become more pronounced by the early 1880s, Dowie relocated to Melbourne, where he claimed powers as a faith healer and subsequently spent time in jail for "organizing unauthorized processions" with his followers.

  By 1888 Dowie had immigrated to the United States, and after settling in San Francisco, began a career as a supposed faith healer, founding the International Divine Healing Association. Dowie attracted a number of followers, who, while promised to be freed from their ills, were also expected to provide payment to Dowie's association for his services. Dowie subsequently encountered hostility to his work, and prior to leaving California was successfully sued by two female followers that he had bilked.

  Dowie continued his career in Chicago, arriving there in 1890. During the World's Columbian Exposition in 1893, he constructed a wooden tabernacle near the entranceway. Dowie's actions in Chicago drew more followers to his teachings and in 1894 he founded the Zion Tabernacle Church. Two years later the International Divine Healing Association was reborn as the Christian Catholic Church in Zion, and after drawing the ire of Chicago authorities, Dowie looked elsewhere for a place to further his work.

  In 1899, Dowie founded the Zion Land and Investment Association and purchased land and real estate forty miles from Chicago, where he planned to remove with his followers. Here he established Zion City in 1900, a theocratic society that would be governed "by the will of God." Despite this proclamation, every building and piece of property in the city was personally owed by Dowie. The peculiarity of Zion didn't end with Dowie's monopoly on the city infrastructure, however. His followers had to adhere to a strict set of rules, amongst which were the banning of smoking, swearing, and alcohol. Saloons and gambling establishments met with Dowie's veto, as well as drug stores, theaters, fraternal groups, and medical practices. Dowie's eccentricities also led him to ban the consumption of pork. In addition to those rules, every Zion citizen was "required to tithe 10 percent of their income" to Dowie.

  Within a year of Zion City's establishment, Dowie (now titled "Grand Overseer") could boast of over 5,000 followers, a wide range of business activities, and a newsletter entitled Leaves of Healing. With Zion City becoming a well-known entity in Illinois, one of the men attracted to Dowie's proclaimed utopia was Visscher Vere Barnes. By early 1902 he had become a firm friend of Dowie and in March of that year, Barnes and his wife were "received into fellowship" in the Christian Catholic Apostolic Church (as it became known in 1903.) Dowie would designate Barnes as Solicitor General of the Zion Law Department, and one month later he was elected as Zion City attorney. In addition to that office's duties, Barnes received the title "Judge of Arbitration in Zion City." 

  As in years past, Barnes had quickly achieved distinction in public office, with the Leaves of Healing remarking:

"During the very few months in which Judge Barnes has been engaged in these duties his ability and high character have won for him the confidence of the many people with whom he has come into business and personal relations. His advice and counsel were especially invaluable in the launching of the Theocratic Party, in the election of the first mayor, officers, and aldermen in the City of Zion, and in the first steps of the complete organization of the municipal government."

Visscher V. Barnes, from the Northwestern Christian Advocate.

  In the year following his election as Zion City attorney, Barnes was elected as judge of the Zion City court, being the first municipal judge in the city's history. He resigned as city attorney and continued to be a loyal advocate for Dowie's message even after the latter's disastrous trip to New York City in 1903. In a bid to spread his message and gain more followers, Dowie and a "crusading army" of 3,000 church members chartered several special train cars to take them to New York, where they would preach their gospel. The trip proved to be a catastrophe with many Dowieites being shouted down during their street-corner sermons, and Dowie himself was jeered and hooted from Madison Square Garden during an address.

  After returning to Zion City Dowie's fortunes continued to unravel, as the junket to New York cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. Upon an order from Dowie, all Zion churchgoers were required to deposit their money in Dowie's personal bank. Allegations of financial impropriety were leveled at Dowie and in 1905 he suffered a stroke. With Zion City teetering on the brink of economic despair, Illinois federal judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis intervened and appointed a receiver (John C. Hately) to oversee the city's finances in 1906.

  Dowie's power was further depleted when he gave power of attorney to his trusted second-in-command, Wilbur Glenn Voliva (1870-1942). Voliva, though given temporary power, usurped Dowie while the latter was visiting Mexico,  and after Dowie's return, a court battle over Zion's leadership ensued. During this fracas, Visscher Vere Barnes remained in Zion with Voliva, and though directed by Dowie to terminate Voliva's power of attorney, Barnes refused, noting that he "would not act on your instructions." As court proceedings loomed, the Bureau County Tribune detailed that Barnes would:

"Stand by Voliva at every stage of the litigation that must ensue unless the threats of exposing the skeletons in Dowie's family closet have their effect."

From the Bureau County Tribune, April 6, 1906.

  While court proceedings and mudslinging between rival factions carried on into the latter part of 1906 and 1907, leadership of Zion was no longer in doubt when John Alexander Dowie died in 1907. Visscher Barnes is recorded as having reconciled with Dowie in his last weeks and was at his bedside when he died on March 9, 1907, at age 60. Barnes is noted as having broken with the Zion leadership after Wilbur Glenn Voliva became General Overseer, but continued his residency in the city, where he practiced law. Voliva's leadership of Zion City extended until his death in 1942, a long period marked by bizarre behavior and eccentricities. A firm adherent to the flat earth theory, Voliva became known as the "King of the Flat Earthers", going as far as to take out ads in Chicago and Milwaukee newspapers offering up a $5,000 prize to anyone that provided proof that the world wasn't flat. He continued in the Dowie mold by banning oysters, whistling on Sunday, and found tan-colored shoes particularly repugnant. Voliva involved himself in further quackery with his supposed secret of living to 120, a diet consisting of buttermilk and brazil nuts. 

  After a long career that took him from humble origins in New York to Wisconsin, to the Dakota Territory, and finally Illinois, Visscher Vere Barnes died at a Waukegan, Illinois hospital on September 25, 1924, a few days after being admitted for a "major operation." He was survived by his wife Annie and two children and was removed to Wisconsin for burial at the Green Ridge Cemetery in Kenosha. 

From the Kenosha News, September 27, 1924.

***While the life of Visscher Vere Barnes is of particular note, and one that I couldn't wait to chronicle here, the lives of his contemporaries John Alexander Dowie and Wilbur Glenn Voliva are worth extensive mention. Biographical information and character assessments of both men are to be found in many places online. The following works may be of interest to you should you decide to explore their lives further.

• Great American  Eccentrics (1984), by Carl Sifakis. Contains biographies of both Dowie and Voliva.
• John Alexander Dowie and Zion City, Illinois--Stephanie Wolfe (via publications.newberry.org)
• John Alexander Dowie and the Christian Catholic Apostolic Church in Zion (1906), by Rolvix Harlan.
• Atlas Obscura's overview of Dowie's life by Matthew Algeo (2017)
• Wilbur Voliva and Zion biography via www.cantab.net