- Government - Janesville Sesquicentennial
-
- A. Hyatt Smith was first mayor
- At the time A. Hyatt SMITH was elected Janesville's
first mayor in 1853, he was called in one
- account "probably the foremost citizen" of the
community.
- SMITH arrived here in 1842 from New York, where he
had worked so hard at his law practice
- the six years previous he had become run down. His physicians
recommended a change of scenery, and he decided to move to Wisconsin,
which he had visited previously.
- Born in 1814, SMITH began studying law at age 14 and
was admitted to the New York Bar at
- age 21. He worked for a large and lucrative practice, but
his hectic pace took its toll.
- Soon after moving here, SMITH invested in real estate
and in companies to improve the
- community's water power. A Democrat, SMITH was elected
to the state's first constitutional convention, and the following
year was appointed the territory's attorney general by Gov. William
Dodge, a post he held until Wisconsin became a state in 1848.
- He then was appointed U.S. attorney by President James Polk
and served until Polk was suc-
- ceeded by Zachary Tyler in 1849.
- SMITH was elected to a one-year term as mayor in the
city's first election April 1, 1853, and
- served another term in 1857. He also served many years as
a regent with the state university.
- SMITH and other businessmen developed homes and businesses
west of the river, including the
- old FORD mill at the west side of what now is the Centerway
Dam. SMITH reportedly purchased land west of the river
for as little as $12 an acre. He also owned much land in Chicago
and was estimated at one time to be worth more than $1 million.
- His good fortune didn't last, however. In 1847 SMITH
organized a company to build a plank
- road from Milwaukee to Janesville and invested thousands
of dollars in the project during the next six years. But he reportedly
made many enemies as a result of the project and eventually sold
out at a huge loss.
- That was just the beginning of SMITH's troubles. The
Hyatt House, a large hotel he built in the
- city, burned in 1867, as did his mill in 1871. He then moved
to Chicago and opened a law office. That also burned in the Great
Chicago Fire of 1871 and along with it all his valuable papers,
which he had stored there.
- Records indicate SMITH "kept his spirits and
continued in the practice of law at Janesville until
- almost the time of this death" in October, 1892, at
age 78.
- SMITH, who along with his wife Ann raised five children,
was said to have been an energetic
- man "of clean moral character, and in his declining
years was hale, hearty and cheerful."
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