Daniel Hadley Sumner

Daniel Hadley Sumner (September 15, 1837 – May 29, 1903) was a U.S. Representative from Wisconsin and a lawyer, local official, and newspaper publisher whose career spanned Michigan and Wisconsin in the latter half of the nineteenth century. He was born in Malone, Franklin County, New York, on September 15, 1837. In 1843 he moved with his parents to Michigan, where the family settled in Richland, a rural community in Kalamazoo County. Growing up in this frontier region of the Old Northwest, Sumner spent his youth in Richland, where he received his early education.

Sumner attended the common schools of Richland and pursued further studies at Prairie Seminary, an educational institution in that community. After completing his preparatory education, he studied law, undertaking the legal training then customary in the mid-nineteenth century, which combined formal study with practical apprenticeship. By the late 1860s he had completed his legal studies and was prepared to enter the profession.

In 1868 Sumner was admitted to the bar and commenced the practice of law in Kalamazoo, Michigan, a growing commercial and legal center in southwestern Michigan. That same year he moved west to Oconomowoc, in Waukesha County, Wisconsin, where he continued to practice law. In addition to his legal work, he became involved in local journalism as the publisher of the La Belle Mirror, a newspaper serving the Oconomowoc area. His dual roles as attorney and publisher helped establish his public profile in his new state.

Sumner relocated again within Wisconsin in 1870, moving to Waukesha, the county seat of Waukesha County, where he continued the practice of law. In Waukesha he expanded his public service beyond the courtroom. He served as superintendent of schools for the town, reflecting an interest in local educational affairs during a period of institutional development in Wisconsin’s public school system. He also served as a member of the county board of supervisors, participating in the administration of county government and local policy. His legal experience and growing reputation led to his election as district attorney of Waukesha County, a position he held in 1876 and 1877, during which he was responsible for prosecuting criminal cases and representing the county in legal matters.

Building on his local and county service, Sumner entered national politics as a member of the Democratic Party. He was elected as a Democrat to the Forty-eighth Congress, representing Wisconsin’s 2nd congressional district. His term in the U.S. House of Representatives extended from March 4, 1883, to March 3, 1885. During this single term in Congress, he served at a time when issues of economic policy, veterans’ affairs, and civil service reform were prominent in national debate. Sumner chose not to be a candidate for renomination in 1884 and thus returned to private life at the close of his term.

After leaving Congress, Sumner resumed the practice of law in Waukesha, continuing his professional activities in the community where he had long resided. He remained in Waukesha for the rest of his life, maintaining his standing as a local attorney and former public official. Daniel Hadley Sumner died in Waukesha, Wisconsin, on May 29, 1903. He was interred in Prairie Home Cemetery in Waukesha, where his grave marks the resting place of a lawyer, educator, local official, and one-term member of the United States House of Representatives from Wisconsin.