Levi Hubbell

American lawyer, judge, and politician

Succeeded byGerry Whiting Hazelton2nd Chief Justice of the Wisconsin Supreme CourtIn office
June 18, 1851 – January 2, 1852Preceded byAlexander W. StowSucceeded byEdward V. WhitonJustice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court

ex officio

In office
August 28, 1848 – June 1, 1853Wisconsin Circuit Court Judge for the 2nd CircuitIn office
August 28, 1848 – September 9, 1856Preceded byPosition EstablishedSucceeded byAlexander RandallMember of the Wisconsin State Assembly
from the Milwaukee 1st districtIn office
January 1, 1864 – January 1, 1865Preceded byJohn SharpsteinSucceeded byJackson HadleyMember of the New York State Assembly
from the Tompkins 1st districtIn office
January 1, 1841 – January 1, 1842Preceded byWilliam Henry BogartSucceeded byCharles Humphrey Personal detailsBorn(1808-04-15)April 15, 1808
Ballston Spa, New YorkDiedDecember 8, 1876(1876-12-08) (aged 68)
Milwaukee, WisconsinResting placeForest Home Cemetery
Milwaukee, WisconsinNationalityAmericanPolitical party

Republican
National Union (1864)
Whig (before 1855)

Spouses

Susan Linn (DeWitt) Hubbell
(m. 1836; died 1849)
Mary Morris (Beall) Hubbell
(m. 1852; died 1866)

Children

Simeon DeWitt Hubbell
^{(b. 1837; died 1915)}
Richard Walter Hubbell
^{(b. 1840; died 1910)}
Singleton Beall Hubbell
^{(b. 1855; died 1884)}
Mary Morris Cooper Hubbell
^{(b. 1858; died 1879)}

Parents

Abijah Hubbell (father)
Clarissa (Fitch) Hubbell (mother)

Alma mater Union CollegeOccupationlawyer, judgeMilitary serviceServiceNew York MilitiaYears of service1833–1836RankMajor GeneralCommandsAdjutant General of New York

Levi Hubbell (April 15, 1808 – December 8, 1876) was an American lawyer, judge, and politician. He was the first Wisconsin state official to be impeached by the Wisconsin State Assembly in his role as Wisconsin circuit court judge for the 2nd circuit. He was also Chief Justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court prior to the 1852 law which organized a separate Supreme Court, and he later became the first United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin. He served one term each in the Wisconsin State Assembly and New York State Assembly.^[1]

Biography

Born in Ballston, New York, Hubbell graduated from Union College in 1827 and was admitted to the New York Bar. He practiced law with his brother at Canandaigua, New York.^[2]

Hubbell was appointed adjutant general of the New York Militia from 1833 to 1836^[3] by Governor William Marcy and served in the New York Assembly in 1841 as a Whig.

In 1844, Hubbell moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin Territory where he practiced law at Finch & Lynde. When Wisconsin was admitted to the union on May 29, 1848, he ran as an independent Democrat in the second district, which then included both Milwaukee and Dane counties and was elected as one of the Wisconsin Circuit Court judges, which at that time constituted the Wisconsin Supreme Court.^[2] Hubbell became chief justice of the supreme court after Alexander W. Stow left office. In 1853, however, when a new separate Supreme Court was being organized,^[4] Hubbell lost the nomination for a seat on the new court.

Hubbell remained a circuit court judge, but was impeached and acquitted by the Wisconsin State Legislature on charges of corruption. He soon resigned in 1856, but in 1863, he was elected to the Wisconsin State Assembly.

In 1871, he was appointed United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, but was forced to resign in 1875 because of accusations of corruption.^[5]^[6]^[7]

Hubbell died in Milwaukee on December 8, 1876.^[8] He was buried at Forest Home Cemetery in Milwaukee.

He was married twice. He had two sons with his first wife, Susan Linn DeWitt of Albany, and a son, Dr. Singleton Beall Hubbell, M.D., and a daughter with the second wife, Miss Beall.^[9]

References

^ The Political Graveyard.com lists three Levi Hubbells; they are the same man
^ ^a ^b Winslow, John Bradley, 1851-1920. (1907). Story of a great court : being a sketch history of the Supreme Court of Wisconsin, its judges and their times from the admission of the state to the death of Chief Justice Ryan. Chicago : T. H. Flood & company. p. 16.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
^ Wisconsin Historical Society
^ An Act to provide for the organization of a separate Supreme Court, and for the election of justices thereof (PDF) (Act 395). 5th Wisconsin Legislature. 1852. pp. 601–604. Retrieved December 18, 2019.
^ Wisconsin Court System. Levi Hubbell (1808-1876).
^ Levi Hubbell, Wisconsin Historical Society
^ Members of the Wisconsin State Legislature 1848-1999
^ History of the Hubbell Family
^ Hubbell, Walter (1915). History of the Hubbell family : containing genealogical records of the ancestors and descendents of Richard Hubbell from A.D. 1086 to A.D. 1915. Hubbell. OCLC 698023440.