Otis Colwell

{{Short description|American merchant and politician (born c. 1797)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=May 2025}} {{infobox officeholder | name = Otis Colwell | state = Wisconsin | state_assembly = Wisconsin | district = Racine 4th | term_start = January 1, 1849 | term_end = January 7, 1850 | predecessor = Julius L. Gilbert | successor = Samuel Hale Jr. | party = Free Soil Party | birth_date = {{circa|1797}} | birth_place = Massachusetts, U.S. | death_date = 1861 or later }} '''Otis Colwell''' ({{circa|1797}} – 1861 or later) was an American merchant and politician in the early years of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. He was a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly for the 1849 session, representing the village of Southport (now part of the city of Kenosha) and southeast Racine County (now eastern Kenosha County).<ref>{{cite report|url= https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/misc/lrb/blue_book/2007_2008 |title= State of Wisconsin 2007-2008 Blue Book |publisher= State of Wisconsin |year= 2007 |author= Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau |editor-last1= Barish |editor-first1= Lawrence S. |editor-last2= Lemanski |editor-first2= Lynn |chapter-url= https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/misc/lrb/blue_book/2007_2008/300_feature.pdf |chapter= Feature Article: Those Who Served - Wisconsin Legislators 1848-2007 |page= 130 |isbn= 978-0-9752820-2-1 |accessdate= June 1, 2021 }}</ref>

== Background == Colwell was born in Massachusetts approximately 1797 (in January 1849 he was 52 years of age). He came to Wisconsin Territory in 1844, and operated a store in Southport.

== Politics and legislature == In 1848 he was elected to the second session of the Wisconsin legislature from the district consisting of the Towns of Pike, Pleasant Prairie, and Southport,<ref>"State Legislature:In Assembly" ''Wisconsin Express'' January 16, 1849; p. 1, col. 3</ref> succeeding Julius L. Gilbert, a Democrat. At that time he is described as being 52 years old, as a native of Massachusetts, and a merchant.<ref>"List of Members of the Assembly of the State of Wisconsin Convened at Madison January 10, 1849" ''Wisconsin Express'' January 30, 1849; p. 4, col. 4</ref> He was succeeded in the 1850 session by Samuel Hale, at that time a Democrat, but who would later join the Free Soil Party himself.

In 1852 he was one of two elected justices of the peace for what was now named the City of Kenosha.

== Later life == A house built for Colwell in 1853 is still standing, at what is now 6215 7th Avenue in the City of Kenosha.<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.wisconsinhistory.org/Records/Property/HI9508 |title= Property Record - 6215 7TH AVE |website= Wisconsin Historical Society |accessdate= June 2, 2021 }}</ref>

Colwell spent a brief period (part of 1861) as Head Keeper of the Kenosha Light lighthouse in Kenosha Harbor; he was the second of three men to be Head Keeper in that year.<ref>[http://www.kenoshahistorycenter.org/restoration.pdf "In the Footsteps of the Keepers" Kenosha History Center, n.d.; p. 2]</ref>

== References == {{reflist}}

{{s-start}} {{s-par|us-wi-hs}} {{s-bef|before = Julius L. Gilbert }} {{s-ttl|title = {{nowrap|Member of the Wisconsin State Assembly}} {{nowrap|from the Racine 4th district}} |years= January 1, 1849{{spaced ndash}}January 7, 1850 }} {{s-aft|after = Samuel Hale Jr. }} {{s-end}} {{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Colwell, Otis}} Category:1790s births Category:Politicians from Kenosha, Wisconsin Category:Merchants from Massachusetts Category:Wisconsin Free Soilers Category:Year of birth missing Category:Year of death missing Category:American justices of the peace Category:Democratic Party members of the Wisconsin State Assembly Category:19th-century American merchants Category:19th-century members of the Wisconsin State Assembly Category:Merchants from Wisconsin