Gabriel Bouck

Gabriel Bouck (December 16, 1828 – February 21, 1904) was an American lawyer, Democratic politician, Union Army officer, and Wisconsin pioneer who represented Wisconsin in the United States House of Representatives for two terms. He also served as Wisconsin’s 6th Attorney General and was the 24th speaker of the Wisconsin State Assembly. His public career spanned the antebellum period, the American Civil War, and the era of Reconstruction and industrial expansion, during which he played a prominent role in Wisconsin’s legal, military, and political life.

Bouck was born in Fultonham, Schoharie County, New York, the fourth of eight children of William C. Bouck and Catherine Lawyer. He grew up at Bouck’s Island, a family property long associated with his father’s prominence in New York politics. His siblings were James Madison; Joseph William, born October 27, 1809; Christian, born May 14, 1818; Charles, born September 9, 1829; Catherine, born July 11, 1820, who married Erskine Danforth; Caroline, who married Dr. Volney Danforth; and Anna, born December 29, 1814, who married Lyman Sanford. Public service was deeply rooted in the family: his father, William C. Bouck, was elected Governor of New York in 1842, and his uncle, Joseph Bouck, represented New York in the 22nd United States Congress from 1831 to 1833. This political environment helped shape Gabriel Bouck’s early interest in law and government.

Bouck received a solid preparatory education at Schoharie Academy and The Albany Academy, institutions that prepared many young men for professional careers. In 1847 he graduated from Union College in Schenectady, New York, earning Phi Beta Kappa honors and membership in the Kappa Alpha Society, reflecting both academic distinction and engagement in collegiate life. After college he studied law in Binghamton, New York, in the offices of Daniel S. Dickinson, a prominent Democratic lawyer and statesman. In 1848, amid the westward movement of many young professionals, Bouck moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he was admitted to the bar. The following year, in 1849, he settled in Oshkosh, in Winnebago County, Wisconsin, to establish his law practice. By the time of the 1860 Census he was listed as a resident of Oshkosh’s third ward, firmly identified with the growing Fox River Valley region.

Bouck quickly became active in Wisconsin politics as a loyal member of the Democratic Party. He was elected on the Democratic ticket as Attorney General of Wisconsin, serving from 1858 to 1860 as the state’s 6th Attorney General. In that capacity he was responsible for representing the state’s legal interests during a period of rising sectional tension in the nation. He also won election to the Wisconsin State Assembly, serving a term in 1860. His legislative service was interrupted by the Civil War, but he later returned to the Assembly in 1874, when he was chosen as the 24th speaker, reflecting the confidence of his colleagues in his leadership and parliamentary skills. Bouck also participated in national party affairs as a delegate to the Democratic National Conventions of 1868 and 1872, contributing to the formation of the party’s postwar platforms.

With the outbreak of the American Civil War in 1861, Bouck entered military service on the Union side. In the first month of the war he helped raise Company E of the 2nd Wisconsin Infantry Regiment from volunteers in Oshkosh and was chosen captain of that company. The 2nd Wisconsin became part of the famed Iron Brigade in the Army of the Potomac, noted for its hard fighting and heavy casualties in the Eastern Theater. After about a year with the 2nd Wisconsin, Bouck accepted promotion to colonel of the 18th Wisconsin Infantry on April 29, 1862, succeeding Colonel James S. Alban, who had been killed at the Battle of Shiloh. Although he initially accepted the appointment with some reluctance when it was offered by Governor Alexander Randall, he was strongly encouraged to do so by fellow Wisconsin officer Edward S. Bragg. As colonel, Bouck led the 18th Wisconsin through two years of campaigning in the Western Theater, serving in the Army of the Tennessee under Generals Ulysses S. Grant and William Tecumseh Sherman. He resigned his commission on January 4, 1864, and returned to Oshkosh. After the war he remained active in veterans’ and military affairs, founding two posts of the Grand Army of the Republic (G.A.R.) and organizing the 2nd Company of the Wisconsin National Guard on March 25, 1876, serving as its captain.

Bouck’s congressional career grew out of his established reputation in state politics and his Civil War record. As a member of the Democratic Party representing Wisconsin, he contributed to the legislative process during two terms in office. His first attempt to win a seat in the United States House of Representatives, in 1874, ended in defeat. In 1876, however, he was elected to Congress from Wisconsin’s 6th congressional district, receiving 20,623 votes to 17,847 for his Republican opponent, Alanson M. Kimball. He served in the 45th United States Congress and was reelected to the 46th Congress, participating in the democratic process during a significant period in American history marked by the end of Reconstruction and the nation’s rapid economic development. His greatest political ambition was to be elected Governor of Wisconsin, mirroring the office his father had held in New York, but this goal eluded him. In 1880 he was defeated for reelection to the 47th Congress by Republican Richard Guenther, bringing his federal legislative service to a close.

Following his departure from Congress, Bouck resumed his law practice in Oshkosh, where he remained a leading figure at the local bar. For many years he was head of the firm Bouck & Hilton, Attorneys at Law, continuing his long association with the legal and civic life of Winnebago County. In his later years his health declined, and he spent the last four months of his life confined to his room at the Athearn Hotel in Oshkosh. He died there on Sunday morning, February 21, 1904, at 2:45 a.m., at the age of 76. According to contemporary obituaries, his death was attributed to general debility due to old age. His funeral was held at the Masonic Temple of Oshkosh Lodge No. 27, reflecting his standing in the community, and he was buried in Oshkosh, closing a life that had linked New York political traditions with the development of Wisconsin’s legal, military, and political institutions.