Levi Baker Vilas
Levi B. Vilas | |
|---|---|
| 4th Mayor of Madison, Wisconsin | |
| In office April 1861 – April 1862 | |
| Preceded by | George Baldwin Smith |
| Succeeded by | William T. Leitch |
| Member of the Wisconsin State Assembly from the Dane 2nd district | |
| In office January 6, 1873 – January 5, 1874 | |
| Preceded by | John D. Gurnee |
| Succeeded by | Philo Dunning |
| Member of the Wisconsin State Assembly from the Dane 5th district | |
| In office January 6, 1868 – January 4, 1869 | |
| Preceded by | Eleazer Wakeley |
| Succeeded by | George Baldwin Smith |
| In office January 1, 1855 – January 7, 1856 | |
| Preceded by | Harlow S. Orton |
| Succeeded by | Augustus A. Bird |
| Member of the Vermont Senate from the Orange County district | |
| In office October 9, 1845 – October 14, 1847 Serving with Horace Fified & Reuben Page | |
| Preceded by | Ebenezer Bass & Lorin Griswold |
| Succeeded by | Henry Keyes, Jefferson P. Kidder, & William Sweatt |
| Member of the Vermont House of Representatives | |
| In office October 8, 1840 – October 10, 1844 | |
| Constituency | Orange County |
| In office October 13, 1836 – October 1838 | |
| Constituency | Franklin County |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Levi Baker Vilas February 25, 1811 Lamoille County, Vermont |
| Died | February 6, 1879 (aged 67) Madison, Wisconsin |
| Cause of death | Pneumonia |
| Resting place | Forest Hill Cemetery, Madison, Wisconsin |
| Political party |
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| Spouse |
Esther Green Smilie (m. 1834) |
| Children |
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| Parents |
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| Profession | Lawyer, banker, politician |
Levi Baker Vilas (February 25, 1811 – February 6, 1879) was an American lawyer, banker, Democratic politician, and Wisconsin pioneer. He was the 4th mayor of Madison, Wisconsin, and represented central Dane County for three terms in the Wisconsin State Assembly (1855, 1868, & 1873). He was a major investor in the early development of the city of Madison, and was one of the founders of the company that became Madison Gas and Electric.
Before moving to Wisconsin, he was one of the leading Democrats in the state of Vermont during the 1830s and 1840s, serving two years in the Vermont Senate and six years in the Vermont House of Representatives, and serving as a candidate for U.S. House of Representatives in 1844 and U.S. Senate in 1848.
He was the father of William Freeman Vilas, who served as a U.S. senator from Wisconsin and became the 33rd United States Postmaster General and 17th U.S. Secretary of the Interior.