Title: Jason Downer Papers
Inclusive Dates: 1853-1883

Creator:

• Downer, Jason, 1813-1883

Call Number: Milwaukee Mss O

Quantity: 5.2 c.f. (13 archives boxes)

Repository:

Housed at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Libraries’ Archives Department / Milwaukee Area Research Center; owned by the Wisconsin Historical Society, Division of Library, Archives, and Museum Collections

Archival Locations:

COLLECTION MAY BE STORED OFF-SITE: see catalog entry to request materials and for additional information.

UW-Milwaukee Libraries, Archives / Milwaukee Area Research Ctr. (Map)

Abstract:

Papers of Downer, a Milwaukee lawyer who was a justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court, 1864-1867; including incoming correspondence, letterbooks, records of legal cases, and personal bills and receipts. Much of the correspondence relates to Downer's law practice, to business investments in New York, to land investments in Wisconsin, and to his interest in education. Many letters from J. L. Townsend, John P. Haire, and other teachers and administrators of the Wisconsin Female College at Fox Lake concern Downer's active trusteeship of that institution, a forerunner of Milwaukee-Downer College. References to Downer's service on the Supreme Court occur in a few letters, including one from Governor Lucius Fairchild in 1867. A series of letters written by Standish Rood, 1874-1875, touch upon mining conditions in Utah and a newspaper business in Salt Lake City. Also included are two letterbooks, 1869-1874, kept by Simeon Small, another Milwaukee attorney.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-mil0000o

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Jason Downer was born at Sharon, Vermont, September 9, 1813. He remained at the family home helping with the farming until he was nineteen years old, and then entered Kimball Union Academy at Plainfield, New Hampshire. He entered Dartmouth College in 1834, and graduated in 1838. He then moved to Louisville, Kentucky where he studied law and it was there that he was admitted to practice. In 1842 he moved to Milwaukee, then a struggling young town, where he settled permanently, his fortune and profession growing with the town.

Upon his removal to Milwaukee he became one of the original proprietors of the Milwaukee Sentinel, Milwaukee's first daily newspaper, holding the editorial chair for about six months. After turning over the editorial position to Rufus King, he began the practice of law. He proved to be very successful in this field, and in November, 1864, he was appointed by the governor as an associate justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court, to finish out the term of a justice who had resigned. He was elected to this position without opposition in April, 1865 for the full six year term, but resigned in 1867. He returned to his private law practice where he continued until his death, never holding another public office.

In 1866, Judge Downer was elected to the presidency of the Board of Trustees of the Wisconsin Female College at Fox Lake. He continued in this capacity, giving freely of his time and money, until he died seventeen years later. Judge Downer made the college his residuary legatee in his will, and the name of the school was changed to Downer College to honor his generosity. Downer College later merged with the Milwaukee Female Seminary and is known today as the Milwaukee-Downer College.

Judge Downer died September 1, 1883, just days short of his 70th birthday, an eminent lawyer and jurist and a respected citizen of the city of Milwaukee.

The Jason Downer Papers cover the period from 1853 to 1883. The papers are in four groups: Correspondence, 1853-1883; Legal Papers; Financial Records; and Miscellany. The unbound correspondence has been arranged chronologically, followed by letterbooks in a second chronological series. Both business and personal letters are included in the Correspondence, the personal letters being primarily from members of his family and frequently referring to business matters.

The Legal Papers are also quite extensive, including office copies of documents prepared for legal cases, deeds, wills, leases, and other legal documents. The legal cases have been arranged alphabetically according to the case name. The Financial Records in the collection are made up of bills, receipted bills, cancelled checks, and books of check stubs. They have been filed by document type and then chronologically. Miscellany includes a history of the Catholic Church and other items.

Acquisition Information

Presented by Hugh Jones, Milwaukee, Wis., Sept. 26, 1955.

Processing Information

Processed by AM, February 10, 1965.

	Series: Correspondence
Box   1	1856-1869
Box   2	1870-1875
Box   3	1876-1879
Box   4	1880-1883
	Letterbooks
Box   11 Volume   4	1853-1860
Box   11 Volume   5	1861-1882
Box   12 Volume   7	, 1869-1872 (Simeon Small)
Box   12 Volume   6	, 1873-1874 (Simeon Small)
	Series: Legal Papers	⇧
	Legal Cases
Box   5 Folder   1	List, undated
Box   11 Volume   2	Record, 1858-1883
Box   5 Folder   2	Hiram Barber vs. Byron Kilbourn
Box   5 Folder   2	Bowman vs. Dibble et al.
Box   5 Folder   2	Jane Bran vs. Jason Downer
Box   5 Folder   2	Breul vs. MoVicker
Box   5 Folder   2	Cameron et al. vs. Noonan et al.
Box   5 Folder   2	Connell et al. vs. Aldrich et al.
Box   5 Folder   2	John Cord vs. George Southwell, Jr.
Box   5 Folder   2	Pitt Cravatte vs. Albert Bovie et al.
Box   5 Folder   2	Jason Downer vs. Benjamin Bagnall et al.
Box   5 Folder   2	Jason Downer vs. Joseph A. Beardsly et al.
Box   5 Folder   2	Jason Downer vs. G. W. Clown
Box   5 Folder   2	Jason Downer vs. Dennis Cody and Robert Richmond
Box   5 Folder   2	Jason Downer vs. James Emery et al.
Box   5 Folder   2	Jason Downer vs. John Fohn, Paul A. Weil et al.
Box   5 Folder   2	Jason Downer vs. Jane Mc Nab
Box   5 Folder   2	Jason Downer vs. Josiah A. Noonan and Peter NcNab
Box   5 Folder   2	Jason Downer vs. James Ryan et al.
Box   5 Folder   2	Jason Downer vs. Lester Sefton
Box   5 Folder   2	Jason Downer vs. John Trunk et al.
Box   5 Folder   2	Estate of Martha Downer
Box   5 Folder   3	Silas S. Fallas vs. Pierce et al.
Box   5 Folder   3	David Ferguson vs. Simeon N. Small et al.
Box   5 Folder   3	Flanders vs. Brigham et al.
Box   5 Folder   3	Gilbert vs. Town of Liberty
Box   5 Folder   3	Gove vs. White
Box   5 Folder   3	Isaac A. Hasbrouck vs. City of Milwaukee
Box   5 Folder   3	J. P. Haire vs. Wisconsin Female College
Box   5 Folder   3	Cyrus J. Hawley et al. vs. Abram W. Whittemore et al.
Box   5 Folder   3	Hindekifier vs. Wise
Box   5 Folder   3	Thomas Hitchcock vs. Levi Merrick
Box   5 Folder   3	Otis B. Hopkins vs. Winthrop W. Gilman
Box   5 Folder   3	Samuel How et al. vs. Milwaukee, Prairie du Chien Railway Co. et al.
Box   5 Folder   3	Estate of Arunah Huntington
Box   5 Folder   4	Justus Kirby vs. Standish Rood
Box   5 Folder   4	James Kneeland vs. City of Milwaukee
Box   5 Folder   4	Knox vs. Cleveland
Box   5 Folder   4	Larkin vs. Noonan et al.
Box   5 Folder   4	Lerick vs. The Badger Silver Mining Co.
Box   5 Folder   4	Lynch vs. Gilmore
Box   5 Folder   4	Martin vs. Berliner and Bruno
Box   5 Folder   5	McNab vs. Noonan, 1868-1872
Box   5 Folder   6	McNab vs. Noonan, Downer, et al., 1872
Box   5 Folder   7	Louis Meyer vs. the Milwaukee and Prairie du Chien Railway Co. and Alexander Mitchell
Box   5 Folder   7	Milwaukee Gas and Light Co. vs. Schooner and Gamecock
Box   5 Folder   7	Minick vs. Whit
Box   5 Folder   7	Nash and Chapin vs. Towne and Washburn
Box   5 Folder   8	Nauertz vs. The Milwaukee and Madison Railway Co.
Box   5 Folder   9	Noonan vs. Bradley
Box   5 Folder   9	Noonan vs. Orton, 1871-1873
Box   6 Folder   1	Noonan vs. Orton and McNab, 1872
Box   6 Folder   1	Noonan and McNab vs. Orton and Kinney
Box   6 Folder   2	Noonan and McNab Bankruptcy, 1870-1872
Box   6 Folder   3	Noonan and McNab vs. Orton, 1870-1872
Box   6 Folder   4	Noonan and McNab vs. Orton, 1868-1873
Box   6 Folder   5	Orton vs. McArthur
Box   6 Folder   5	Orton vs. Noonan, 1872-1874
Box   6 Folder   6	Orton vs. Noonan and Downer, 1870-1874
Box   6 Folder   7-8	Orton vs. Noonan and McNab, 1868-1872
Box   6 Folder   4	Platte vs. Gilman and Deuster
Box   7 Folder   1	Julia M. G. Rood vs. James A. Pirie et al.
Box   7 Folder   3-4	Estate of Sidney L. Rood, 1845-1874, 1877-1883
Box   7 Folder   1	Seamans vs. Swain
Box   7 Folder   1	Shepard vs. Milwaukee Gas and Light Co.
Box   7 Folder   1	Smith vs. City of Milwaukee
Box   7 Folder   1	State Bank of Wisconsin vs. Davis and Peckham
Box   7 Folder   1	Joseph Stephenson vs. Town of Liberty
Box   7 Folder   1	Alanson Sweet vs. Alexander Mitchell et al.
Box   7 Folder   7-8	Estate of Elizabeth D. Small, 187-1882
Box   7 Folder   1	Squire A. Taylor vs. Otis H. Waldo
Box   7 Folder   1	Tenny vs. the State Bank et al.
Box   7 Folder   1	Van Pelt vs. Kimball
Box   7 Folder   1	Wallschlager vs. Town of Liberty
Box   7 Folder   5-6	Watson et al. vs. the Milwaukee and Madison Railway Co., 1880-1882
Box   7 Folder   2	Wauwatosa (Town) vs. Gungon
Box   7 Folder   2	Wheeler vs. Aldrich, Medberry and Sewart
Box   7 Folder   2	Wilson vs. Noonan
Box   7 Folder   2	Wisconsin (State) vs. Board of Supervisors of Milwaukee County
Box   7 Folder   2	Wisconsin (State) vs. Hopkins
Box   7 Folder   2	Wisconsin (State) vs. Milwaukee Gaslight Co.
Box   7 Folder   2	Wisconsin (State) vs. Orton
	Legal Papers
Box   8 Folder   6	1862-1870
Box   8 Folder   7	Deeds, 1835-1856
Box   8 Folder   8	Deeds and Mortgages, 1854-1873
Box   8 Folder   9	Wills and Life Insurance Policies, 1869-1875
Box   13 Folder   1	Miscellaneous, 1872-1898
	Series: Financial Records	⇧
	Bills and Receipts
Box   8	1851-1866
Box   9	1867-1883
Box   10 Folder   2-3	Cancelled Checks, 1863-1883
Box   10 Folder   4-5	Check Stubs, 1864-1882
	Bank Account Books
Box   13 Volume   8	1864-1874
Box   13 Volume   9	1872-1878
Box   13 Volume   10	1879-1882
	Cashbooks
Box   13 Volume   11	1858-1860
Box   13 Volume   12	1877-1882
Box   13 Volume   11	Miller and Cushman Receipts, 1848-1849
	Series: Miscellany	⇧
Box   10 Folder   1	Address Book, undated
Box   11 Volume   3	Book Memorandum, “The History of the Catholic Church”, undated
Box   11 Volume   1	Record of Newspaper Articles, 1862-1875