Edward Stuyvesant BRAGG, Congress, WI (1827-1912)

BRAGG, Edward Stuyvesant, a Representative from Wisconsin; born in Unadilla, Otsego County, N.Y., February 20, 1827; attended the district schools, the local academy, and Geneva (later Hobart) College at Geneva, N.Y.; studied law; was admitted to the bar in 1848 and commenced practice in Unadilla; moved to Fond du Lac, Wis., in 1850 and continued the practice of law; elected district attorney in 1853; delegate to the Democratic National Convention at Charleston in 1860; entered the Union Army as a captain in the Sixth Regiment, Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, July 16, 1861; major September 17, 1861; lieutenant colonel June 21, 1862; colonel March 24, 1863; brigadier general of Volunteers June 25, 1864; mustered out of the service October 9, 1865; appointed postmaster of Fond du Lac by President Johnson in 1866; member of the State senate in 1868 and 1869; delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1872, 1880, and 1896; unsuccessful candidate for election to the United States Senate in 1874; elected as a Democrat to the Forty-fifth, Forty-sixth, and Forty-seventh Congresses (March 4, 1877-March 3, 1883); chairman, Committee on Expenditures in the Department of Justice (Forty-fifth Congress), Committee on War Claims (Forty-sixth Congress); was not a candidate for renomination in 1882; elected to the Forty-ninth Congress (March 4, 1885-March 3, 1887); chairman, Committee on Military Affairs (Forty-ninth Congress); was not a candidate for renomination in 1886; resumed the practice of law in Fond du Lac, Wis.; appointed Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Mexico January 16, 1888, and served from March 5, 1888, to May 27, 1889; appointed consul general at Habana, Cuba, May 19, 1902, and assumed charge June 30, 1902; appointed consul general at Hong Kong, China, September 15, 1902, and assumed his duties March 1, 1903; resigned, effective May 1, 1906; died in Fond du Lac, Wis., June 20, 1912; interment in the Rienzi Cemetery.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present