{{Short description|American politician (1831–1907)}} {{Use American English|date=March 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}} <!-- This article was automatically created by User:polbot from http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=W000627. The prose may be stilted, and there may be grammatical and Wikification errors. Please improve in any way you see fit. --> {{Infobox officeholder |honorific_prefix = |name = John Winans |honorific_suffix = |image = John Winans.png |alt = |order = 25th |title = Mayor of Janesville, Wisconsin | term_start = April 1885 | term_end = April 1889 | predecessor = Alexander Richardson | successor = James W. St. John |state1 = Wisconsin |district1 = {{ushr|Wisconsin|1|1st}} | term_start1 = March 4, 1883 | term_end1 = March 3, 1885 | predecessor1 = Charles G. Williams | successor1 = Lucien B. Caswell |state_assembly2 = Wisconsin |district2 = Rock 2nd | term_start2 = January 5, 1891 | term_end2 = January 2, 1893 | predecessor2 = Cyrus Miner | successor2 = Paul M. Green | term_start3 = January 3, 1887 | term_end3 = January 7, 1889 | predecessor3 = Pliny Norcross | successor3 = Cyrus Miner | term_start4 = January 2, 1882 | term_end4 = January 1, 1883 | predecessor4 = Franklin S. Lawrence | successor4 = William B. Britton |state_assembly5 = Wisconsin |district5 = Rock 5th | term_start5 = January 5, 1874 | term_end5 = January 4, 1875 | predecessor5 = Henry A. Patterson | successor5 = Hiram Merrill |party = {{unbulleted list | Democratic | Reform (1873-1874) }} |birth_date = {{birth date|1831|9|27}} |birth_place = Vernon, New Jersey, U.S. |death_date = {{death date and age|1907|1|17|1831|9|27}} |death_place = Janesville, Wisconsin, U.S. |resting_place = Oak Hill Cemetery, Janesville |spouse = {{unbulleted list | {{marriage|Margaret Cochran||1878|end=died}} | {{marriage|Emma F. Wood||1881|end=died}} | {{marriage|Fannie Maria Copeland|1882|1907}} }} |children = none |mother = Catherine (Simonson) Winans |father = William R. Winans |profession = lawyer }} '''John Winans''' (September 27, 1831{{spaced ndash}}January 17, 1907) was an American lawyer and Democratic politician from Janesville, Wisconsin. He served one term in the U.S. House of Representatives, representing Wisconsin's 1st congressional district during the 48th Congress (1883&ndash;1885). He then served as the 25th mayor of Janesville, from 1885 to 1889. Earlier, he represented Janesville and central Rock County for six years in Wisconsin State Assembly.

== Background == Winans was born in Vernon Township, New Jersey, and was educated in public and private schools. His first cousin Ross Winans was an important pioneer in railroad engineering in Baltimore, and Ross's children Thomas and William Winans built the first rail system in Russia and became extraordinary wealthy.

He studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1855. He came to Wisconsin in 1857 and settled in Janesville, where he practiced his profession. He served as member of the city council of Janesville in 1861, and as city attorney several times. He served as delegate to the 1864 Democratic National Convention, and in 1868 was the Democratic nominee for Congress from Wisconsin's 2nd congressional district, against incumbent Republican Benjamin F. Hopkins.

== Legislature == thumb|left Winans was first elected to the State Assembly from Rock County's 5th Assembly district (the City of Janesville) in 1873 as a member of the short-lived Reform Party, a coalition of Democrats, reform and Liberal Republicans, and Grangers formed in 1873, which secured the election for two years of William Robert Taylor as Governor of Wisconsin.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/dictionary/index.asp?action=view&term_id=2700&keyword=taylor |title=William Robert Taylor, Wisconsin Historical Society |access-date=2012-12-13 |archive-date=2018-10-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181001142716/https://www.wisconsinhistory.org/dictionary/index.asp?action=view&term_id=2700&keyword=taylor |url-status=dead }}</ref> He received 741 votes to 633 for Republican incumbent Henry A. Patterson, and was assigned to the standing committee on the judiciary, of which he was elected chairman.<ref>[http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/WI.WIBlueBk1874 Turner, A. J., ed. ''The legislative manual of the state of Wisconsin: comprising the constitutions of the United States and of the state of Wisconsin, Jefferson's manual, forms and laws for the regulation of business; also, lists and tables for reference, etc.'' Thirteenth Annual Edition. Madison: Atwood and Culver, Printers and Stereotypers, 1874; pp. 352, 467, 476, 479]</ref> He ran for re-election in 1874 under the "Democratic Reform" label (the Reform coalition had begun to dissolve, and Taylor would lose his 1875 bid for re-election), but was unseated by Republican Hiram Merrill, who drew 799 votes to 694 for Winans. Winans served as a colonel on the staff of Governor Taylor in 1874 and 1875.<ref>[http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/WI.WIBlueBk1875 Bashford, R. M., ed. ''The legislative manual of the state of Wisconsin: comprising the constitutions of the United States and of the state of Wisconsin, Jefferson's manual, forms and laws for the regulation of business; also, lists and tables for reference, etc.'' Fourteenth Annual Edition. Madison: Atwood and Culver, Printers and Stereotypers, 1875; pp. 202, 245, 333]</ref>

He returned to the practice of law, and was elected to the Assembly again as a Democrat in 1881 from the new 2nd Rock County district (the City of Janesville, plus the Towns of Janesville and Rock) with 806 votes to 618 for Republican Oscar F. Nowlan and 109 for Prohibitionist G. W. Lawrence (Republican incumbent Franklin Lawrence was not a candidate for re-election; it is unknown whether the two Lawrences were related). He returned to the judiciary committee, and was also assigned to the committee on bills on the third reading. Winans was also selected by the Wisconsin Supreme Court in 1882 as one of the Commissioners to represent them in planning the expansion of the Wisconsin State Capitol Building.<ref>[http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/WI.WIBlueBk1882 Heg, J. E., ed. ''The blue book of the state of Wisconsin 1882'' Madison, 1882; pp. 389, 558, 569, 572]</ref>

== Congress == Winans was elected as an independent Democrat to the Forty-eighth Congress (March 4, 1883 – March 3, 1885) representing Wisconsin's 1st congressional district, unseating five-term Republican incumbent Charles G. Williams, with 12,307 votes to 11,853 for Williams, 2207 for Prohibitionist C. M. Blackman, and 10 for former State Senator William L. Utley, who had served in the legislature as a Free Soiler and a Republican, but was now a Greenback.<ref>[http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/WI.WIBlueBk1883 Heg, J. E., ed. ''The blue book of the state of Wisconsin 1883'' Madison, 1883; pp. 466-67]</ref>

He was not a candidate for renomination in 1884, since he was running for mayor of Janesville. He was succeeded in Congress by Republican Lucien Caswell.

== After Congress == He was elected mayor of Janesville in April 1885 for a two-year term, over Republican Charles Valentine. He was elected to the Assembly as a Democrat again in 1886, after being defeated in a run for the United States Senate by incumbent Republican Philetus Sawyer, who won the votes of 82 legislators, to 37 for Winans and six for Populist John Cochrane. For the Assembly, he received 1,132 votes to 1,047 for Republican Oscar Nowland (Republican incumbent Pliny Norcross was not a candidate) and 91 for Prohibitionist James Harris. When the Assembly session opened, he was the Democratic candidate for Speaker, losing to Republican Thomas B. Mills in what turned out to be a six-man race. He once more returned to the judiciary committee, and to the committee on bills on the third reading.<ref>[http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/WI.WIBlueBk1887 Timme, Ernst G., ed. ''The blue book of the state of Wisconsin 1887'' Madison, 1887; pp. 378, 473, 479, 500, 507]</ref> He was not a candidate for re-election in 1888, and was succeeded by Republican Cyrus Miner.

He was elected to the Assembly (as a Democrat) for the final time in 1890; the 2nd district no longer included the Town of Rock, but did include those of Center and Harmony. He received 1487 votes to 1308 for Nowland and 67 for Prohibitionist C. W. Cook. He again became chair of the judiciary committee; and was also on the joint committees on charitable and penal institutions, and on apportionment (serving as Assembly co-chair of the latter committee).<ref>[http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/WI.WIBlueBk1891 Cunningham, Thomas J., ed. ''The blue book of the state of Wisconsin 1891'' Madison, 1891; pp. 311, 562-63, 601]</ref> After the redistricting of 1891, most of his district was put in the new 3rd Rock County Assembly district; Winans did not run for re-election, and was succeeded by fellow Democrat Agesilaus Wilson.<ref>[http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/WI.WIBlueBk1893 Cunningham, Thomas J., ed. ''The blue book of the state of Wisconsin 1893'' Madison, 1893; p. 651]</ref>

== Out of office again == He ran for Assembly again in 1896, but was defeated by William G. Wheeler, who had apprenticed in his law offices as a young man.

He continue to engage in the practice of law in Janesville, until his death on January 17, 1907. He was interred in Oak Hill Cemetery.

==Electoral history== ===U.S. House, Wisconsin's 2nd district (1868)=== {{Election box begin | title=Wisconsin's 2nd Congressional District Election, 1868 }} | colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;"| '''General Election, November 3, 1868''' {{Election box winning candidate with party link| |party = Republican Party (United States) |candidate = Benjamin F. Hopkins (incumbent) |votes = 18,333 |percentage = 46.66% |change = -2.38pp }} {{Election box candidate with party link| |party = Democratic Party (United States) |candidate = John Winans |votes = 12,659 |percentage = 44.94% |change = }} {{Election box plurality |votes = 5,674 |percentage = 18.31% |change = -4.76pp }} {{Election box total |votes = 30,992 |percentage = 100.0% |change = +34.97% }} {{Election box hold with party link no swing| |winner = Republican Party (United States) }} {{Election box end}}

===Wisconsin Assembly (1873, 1881)===

{{Election box begin | title=Wisconsin Assembly, Rock 5th District Election, 1873<ref name="bb1874">{{cite report|chapter-url= http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/WI.WIBlueBk1874 |title= The legislative manual of the state of Wisconsin |publisher= State of Wisconsin |editor-last= Turner |editor-first= A. J. |year= 1874 |access-date= December 8, 2019 |chapter= Official directory |page=467 }}</ref>}} | colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;"| '''General Election, November 4, 1873''' {{Election box winning candidate with party link| |party = Democratic Party (United States) |candidate = John Winans |votes = 741 |percentage = 53.93% |change = +13.08% }} {{Election box candidate with party link| |party = Republican Party (United States) |candidate = Henry A. Patterson |votes = 633 |percentage = 46.07% |change = }} {{Election box total |votes = 1,374 |percentage = 100.0% |change = -7.22% }} {{Election box gain with party link no swing| |winner = Democratic Party (United States) |loser = Republican Party (United States) }} {{Election box end}}

{{Election box begin | title=Wisconsin Assembly, Rock 2nd District Election, 1881<ref name="bb1882">{{cite report|chapter-url= http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/WI.WIBlueBk1882 |title= The Blue Book of the state of Wisconsin |publisher= State of Wisconsin |editor-last= Heg |editor-first= J. E. |year= 1882 |access-date= December 8, 2019 |chapter= Biographical sketches |page=558 }}</ref>}} | colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;"| '''General Election, November 8, 1881''' {{Election box winning candidate with party link| |party = Democratic Party (United States) |candidate = John Winans |votes = 896 |percentage = 53.24% |change = +15.12% }} {{Election box candidate with party link| |party = Republican Party (United States) |candidate = O. F. Nowlan |votes = 618 |percentage = 36.72% |change = -25.16% }} {{Election box candidate with party link| |party = Prohibition Party (United States) |candidate = G. W. Lawrence |votes = 169 |percentage = 10.04% |change = }} {{Election box total |votes = 1,683 |percentage = 100.0% |change = -25.13% }} {{Election box gain with party link no swing| |winner = Democratic Party (United States) |loser = Republican Party (United States) }} {{Election box end}}

===U.S. House, Wisconsin's 1st district (1882) === {{Election box begin | title=Wisconsin's 1st Congressional District Election, 1882<ref name="bb1883">{{cite report|chapter-url= http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/WI.WIBlueBk1883 |title= The Blue Book of the state of Wisconsin |publisher= State of Wisconsin |editor-last= Heg |editor-first= J. E. |year= 1882 |access-date= December 8, 2019 |chapter= Biographical sketches |pages=466–467 }}</ref>}} | colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;"| '''General Election, November 7, 1882''' {{Election box winning candidate with party link| |party = Democratic Party (United States) |candidate = John Winans |votes = 12,307 |percentage = 46.66% |change = +8.40pp }} {{Election box candidate with party link| |party = Republican Party (United States) |candidate = Charles G. Williams (incumbent) |votes = 11,853 |percentage = 44.94% |change = -16.80pp }} {{Election box candidate with party link| |party = Prohibition Party (United States) |candidate = C. M. Blackman |votes = 2,207 |percentage = 8.37% |change = }} {{Election box candidate with party link| |party = Greenback Party |candidate = William L. Utley |votes = 10 |percentage = 0.04% |change = }} {{Election box plurality |votes = 454 |percentage = 1.72% |change = -21.76pp }} {{Election box total |votes = 26,377 |percentage = 100.0% |change = -14.35% }} {{Election box gain with party link no swing| |winner = Democratic Party (United States) |loser = Republican Party (United States) }} {{Election box end}}

===Wisconsin Assembly (1886, 1890, 1896)===

{{Election box begin | title=Wisconsin Assembly, Rock 2nd District Election, 1886<ref name="bb1887">{{cite report|chapter-url= http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/WI.WIBlueBk1887 |title= The Blue Book of the state of Wisconsin |publisher= State of Wisconsin |editor-last= Timme |editor-first= Ernst G. |year= 1887 |access-date= December 8, 2019 |chapter= Part VIII. Biographical |page=507 }}</ref>}} | colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;"| '''General Election, November 2, 1886''' {{Election box winning candidate with party link| |party = Democratic Party (United States) |candidate = John Winans |votes = 1,132 |percentage = 49.87% |change = +5.97% }} {{Election box candidate with party link| |party = Republican Party (United States) |candidate = Oscar F. Nowlan |votes = 1,047 |percentage = 46.12% |change = -9.98% }} {{Election box candidate with party link| |party = Prohibition Party (United States) |candidate = G. W. Lawrence |votes = 91 |percentage = 4.01% |change = }} {{Election box total |votes = 2,270 |percentage = 100.0% |change = -16.61% }} {{Election box gain with party link no swing| |winner = Democratic Party (United States) |loser = Republican Party (United States) }} {{Election box end}}

{{Election box begin | title=Wisconsin Assembly, Rock 2nd District Election, 1890<ref name="bb1891">{{cite report|chapter-url= http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/WI.WIBlueBk1891 |title= The Blue Book of the state of Wisconsin |publisher= State of Wisconsin |editor-last= Cunningham|editor-first= Thomas J. |year= 1891 |access-date= December 8, 2019 |chapter= Part VIII. Biographical |page=601 }}</ref>}} | colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;"| '''General Election, November 4, 1890''' {{Election box winning candidate with party link| |party = Democratic Party (United States) |candidate = John Winans |votes = 1,487 |percentage = 51.96% |change = +6.42% }} {{Election box candidate with party link| |party = Republican Party (United States) |candidate = Oscar F. Nowlan |votes = 1,308 |percentage = 45.70% |change = -6.70% }} {{Election box candidate with party link| |party = Prohibition Party (United States) |candidate = C. W. Cook |votes = 67 |percentage = 2.34% |change = }} {{Election box total |votes = 2,862 |percentage = 100.0% |change = -7.71% }} {{Election box gain with party link no swing| |winner = Democratic Party (United States) |loser = Republican Party (United States) }} {{Election box end}} {{Election box begin | title=Wisconsin Assembly, Rock 1st District Election, 1896<ref name="bb1899">{{cite report|chapter-url= http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/WI.WIBlueBk1899 |title= The Blue Book of the state of Wisconsin |publisher= State of Wisconsin |editor-last= Froehlich |editor-first= Wm. H.|year= 1899 |access-date= December 8, 2019 |chapter= Part VIII. Biographical |pages=784–785 }}</ref>}} | colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;"| '''General Election, November 3, 1896''' {{Election box winning candidate with party link| |party = Republican Party (United States) |candidate = William G. Wheeler |votes = 2,235 |percentage = 59.86% |change = }} {{Election box candidate with party link| |party = Democratic Party (United States) |candidate = John Winans |votes = 1,499 |percentage = 40.14% |change = }} {{Election box total |votes = 3,734 |percentage = 100.0% |change = }} {{Election box hold with party link no swing| |winner = Republican Party (United States) }} {{Election box end}}

==Sources== {{CongBio|W000627}}

== References == {{reflist}}

{{s-start}} {{s-par|us-wi-hs}} {{s-bef|before = Henry A. Patterson }} {{s-ttl|title = {{nowrap|Member of the Wisconsin State Assembly}} {{nowrap|from the Rock 5th district}} |years= January 5, 1874{{spnd}}January 4, 1875 }} {{s-aft|after = Hiram Merrill }} {{s-bef|before = Franklin S. Lawrence }} {{s-ttl|title = {{nowrap|Member of the Wisconsin State Assembly}} {{nowrap|from the Rock 2nd district}} |years= January 2, 1882{{spnd}}January 1, 1883 }} {{s-aft|after = William B. Britton }} {{s-bef|before = Pliny Norcross }} {{s-ttl|title = {{nowrap|Member of the Wisconsin State Assembly}} {{nowrap|from the Rock 2nd district}} |years= January 3, 1887{{spnd}}January 7, 1889 }} {{s-aft|after = Cyrus Miner }} {{s-bef|before = Cyrus Miner }} {{s-ttl|title = {{nowrap|Member of the Wisconsin State Assembly}} {{nowrap|from the Rock 2nd district}} |years= January 5, 1891{{spnd}}January 2, 1893}} {{s-aft|after = Paul M. Green }} {{s-par|us-hs}} {{US House succession box | state=Wisconsin | district=1 | before=Charles Grandison Williams | after=Lucien B. Caswell | years=March 4, 1883{{spaced ndash}}March 3, 1885}} {{s-off}} {{s-bef|before = Alexander Richardson }} {{s-ttl|title = Mayor of Janesville, Wisconsin |years= April 1885{{spnd}}April 1889 }} {{s-aft|after = James W. St. John }} {{S-end}} {{USCongRep-start|congresses=48th United States Congresses|state=Wisconsin}} {{USCongRep/WI/48}} {{USCongRep-end}} {{United States representatives from Wisconsin}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Winans, John}} Category:1831 births Category:1907 deaths Category:People from Vernon Township, New Jersey Category:Mayors of Janesville, Wisconsin Category:Wisconsin city council members Category:Democratic Party members of the Wisconsin State Assembly Category:Democratic Party United States representatives from Wisconsion Category:Wisconsin Reformers (19th century) Category:Lawyers from Sussex County, New Jersey Category:Wisconsin lawyers Category:19th-century American lawyers Category:19th-century mayors of places in Wisconsin Category:19th-century members of the Wisconsin Legislature Category:19th-century United States representatives Category:Burials at Oak Hill Cemetery (Janesville, Wisconsin)