William Freeman Vilas

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William Freeman Vilas
33rd United States Postmaster General
In office March 6, 1885 – January 6, 1888
Preceded by	Frank Hatton
Succeeded by	Donald M. Dickinson
17th United States Secretary of the Interior
In office January 16, 1888 – March 6, 1889
Preceded by	Lucius Q.C. Lamar
Succeeded by	John Willock Noble
Born	July 9, 1840 (1840-07-09) Chelsea, Vermont, U.S.
Died	August 28, 1908 (aged 68) Madison, Wisconsin, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Anna M. Vilas
Profession	Politician, Lawyer

William Freeman Vilas (July 9, 1840 – August 28, 1908) was a member of the Democratic Party who served in the United States Senate for the state of Wisconsin from 1891 to 1897. He was a prominent Bourbon Democrat.

Vilas was born in Chelsea, Vermont, and moved to Madison, Wisconsin, with his family in 1851. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1858, and from the University at Albany Law School in 1860. He enlisted in the Union Army during the Civil War and was a captain in the 23rd Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry and later served as the lieutenant colonel of that regiment.

Following the war, Vilas was a Professor of Law at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and a regent of the University from 1880 to 1885 and 1898 to 1905. Vilas served as a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly in 1885, until he was appointed the Postmaster General between 1885 and 1888, and as Secretary of the Interior from 1888 to 1889, both under President Grover Cleveland.

After leaving the cabinet, he led Wisconsin Germans in the protest against the Bennett Law of 1889 which required schools to only use the English language. He served in the U.S. Senate from 1891 to 1897, being defeated for renomination.

He is interred at the Forest Hill Cemetery in Madison, Wisconsin.

[edit] See also

• Henry Vilas Zoo

[edit] References

• William Freeman Vilas at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress Retrieved on 2008-02-15

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