Frederic E. Risser, Madison attorney and state legislator, was born January 15, 1900, in the Town of Buffalo, Buffalo County, of German-Scandinavian parentage. After graduation in 1917 from Winona (Minnesota) High School, Risser earned a B.A. in 1923 and LL.B. in 1925 from the University of Wisconsin. He taught history at Beaver Dam High School for one year, 1923-1924, and lectured on business law at Madison College between 1925 and 1930. In 1926 Risser joined the Madison law practice of his father-in-law, Ernest N. Warner, and continued as a practicing attorney throughout his life.
Between 1927 and 1949 Risser's main activities were of a political nature, and he held a variety of local and statewide political offices. In 1927 and 1928 Risser was clerk of the Town of Madison and between 1930 and 1942 he served as Town of Madison school treasurer. He was elected Dane County district attorney in 1928 as a liberal Republican, and was reelected in 1930 and 1932. As a Progressive Republican, Risser also participated in the efforts of the La Follettes to establish a statewide and national Progressive Party. Elected to the State Senate from the 26th District (Dane County) in 1936, Risser served until 1948, when he was narrowly defeated by Democrat Gaylord Nelson. Risser sat on a number of legislative committees during his tenure in the Legislature; these included: Joint Committee of Finance (1936 session), Judiciary (1940 session), and Education and Public Welfare (1942-1946 sessions).
After his defeat in 1948, Risser returned to active practice as an attorney, in partnership with John Shiels. The law firm acted as counsel for the Town of Madison during the period 1942-March 1958, when Risser resigned his position. In later years his son Frederic A., Democratic state assemblyman and later state senator, joined him in a law partnership.
Frederic E. Risser remained active in community affairs and maintained an interest in politics until his death. He was a life member of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin and the Law School Alumni Association, and chairman in 1968-1969 of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin's Long-Range Historic Sites Planning Committee. Risser, also, was a member and officer of the Lincoln Fellowship from 1962-1971.
Risser was married to Elizabeth Warner, daughter of Ernest N. Warner; they had two sons, Frederic A. and Andrew. Frederic E. Risser died September 1, 1971.
Ernest N. Warner, a Madison attorney and state legislator, was born north of Madison in 1868. He received his B.A. and LL.B. degrees from the University of Wisconsin, in 1889 and 1892, respectively, after teaching country school prior to graduation. Warner practiced law in Madison from 1891 until his death.
He was a law examiner in the office of the state attorney general, 1899-1903, and was elected to the Assembly from the 1st District (Dane County) for one term in 1905; there he served on the Judiciary Committee. Warner also served as the floor leader for the La Follette group in the Assembly. He is known as the author of the 1905 Civil Service Act.
Although Warner's other political ventures were unsuccessful -- he ran for Congress in 1918 and for junior Judge of the Superior Court of Wisconsin in 1922 and was defeated both times -- he remained active in community organizations and in church activities. Warner was a director of the State Bank in Madison and of the Windsor State Bank; and president of Northwestern Securities Co. He was also a member of the Madison City Plan Commission and president of the Madison Park and Pleasure Drive Association (1912-1930); in recognition of his work in these areas, Madison's Warner Park was named after him in 1958. Warner served for two terms on the Congregational National Council and also as director of the Wisconsin Congregational Conference.
Ernest N. Warner was married to Lillian Baker, who died in 1924; they had three children, Elizabeth (Mrs. Frederic E. Risser), John and Ernest. Warner died in an automobile accident in 1930 while returning to Madison from a church conference.
