David Newland | |
|---|---|
| 8th Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of theWisconsin Territory | |
| In office December 7, 1840 – December 5, 1842 | |
| Preceded by | Nelson Dewey |
| Succeeded by | Albert Gallatin Ellis |
| Member of the Council of theWisconsin Territory fromMilwaukee andWashington counties | |
| In office December 5, 1842 – January 6, 1845 Serving with Hans Crocker, Lemuel White | |
| Preceded by | Don A. J. Upham andJohn H. Tweedy |
| Succeeded by | Adam E. Ray,James Kneeland, andJacob H. Kimball |
| Representative to the Legislative Assembly of theWisconsin Territory fromIowa County | |
| In office December 7, 1840 – December 5, 1842 Serving with Francis J. Dunn (1840-1841),Ephraim F. Ogden (1840-1842),Daniel M. Parkison (1840-1842),Thomas Jenkins (1841-1842) | |
| Member of theNorth Carolina Senate from theBurke County district | |
| In office November 15, 1830 – November 21, 1831 | |
| Preceded by | Merritt Burgin |
| Succeeded by | Mark Brittain |
| Member of theNorth Carolina House of Representatives from theBurke County district | |
| In office December 25, 1826 – November 15, 1830 Serving with Edwin Poor (1826),David Neill (1827),Mark Brittain (1828),Joseph Neill (1829) | |
| Preceded by | Peter Balle andEdwin Poor |
| Succeeded by | Alney Burgin andElias A. Hooper |
| Personal details | |
| Born | David Newland c. 1799 (1799) |
| Died | December 19, 1857(1857-12-19) (aged 57–58) Washington, D.C., US |
| Cause of death | Drowning |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouses |
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| Children |
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| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  United States |
| Branch/service |  North CarolinaMilitia |
| Rank | Brigadier General |
David Newland (c. 1799 – December 19, 1857) was anAmerican politician inNorth Carolina andWisconsin. He wasSpeaker of the 3rd Legislative Assembly of theWisconsin Territory. Earlier in his life he served as a member of theNorth Carolina Senate andHouse of Commons, and was involved in a disputed 1835 congressional election inNorth Carolina againstJames Graham.
Born inBurke County, North Carolina, Newland and his brothers ran amail coach business using horse-drawn wagons with state contracts.
Newland became involved in politics and was elected to theNorth Carolina House of Commons in 1826, representing Burke County. He would be re-elected for 1827, 1828, and 1829. In 1830, he was Burke County's representative in theNorth Carolina Senate, and, in 1831, he was elected to theNorth Carolina Council of State.[1][2] He was appointed aColonel in theNorth Carolina Militia sometime before 1830, and was made a Brigadier General in late 1832. Newland was a supporter ofAndrew Jackson in his bid for the presidency in1828 and remained aligned with Democratic politics.[3][4]
In1833, Newland made his first bid for election to Congress. He ran inNorth Carolina's 12th congressional district as an anti-nullificationJacksonian Democrat. He came in third place, behind the incumbent pro-nullification DemocratSamuel Price Carson andNational Republican James Graham, who won the seat.[5]
His second attempt at election to Congress, in1835, resulted in a controversy that was appealed to the House of Representatives. James Graham was running for re-election and had declared himself forMartin Van Buren for the presidency in 1836. Newland ran in support of Tennessee SenatorHugh Lawson White. The initial results appeared to show Graham with a narrow seven-vote margin of victory, but Newland presented evidence that ballots had been left out of the count because they had been placed in the wrong ballot box. Newland petitioned theUnited States House of Representatives to resolve the dispute. TheHouse Committee on Elections, with a Democratic Majority, found in Newland's favor that the misplaced ballots should be added to his total, giving him an apparent victory by 12 votes. However, the issue languished in the House with months of debate. Ultimately, the House voted 114 to 87 that Graham was not elected, however the vote in favor of seating Newland failed 99 to 100 and the seat was declared vacant in March 1836.[6][7]
A special election was subsequently held in August 1836. By this time, Van Buren was the nominee of the Democrats, and Newland declared himself a supporter. This time Graham won handily, defeating Newland by 1,600 votes.[8]
In 1837, after the inauguration of Van Buren as President, he appointed Newland asurveyor of public lands in theWisconsin Territory.[9] Newland moved to Wisconsin and settled nearBlue River, in what was then part ofIowa County. At the time, Iowa County encompassed all the land in Wisconsin south of theWisconsin River and west of the river's major bend.
Newland again became involved with politics and, in June 1840, he was on theDemocratic slate of candidates for the Legislative Assembly.[10] He was elected to represent Iowa County for the Third Legislative Assembly (1840–1842).[11] At the first session, he was chosen as Speaker of the House of Representatives and elected on the first ballot. He served in that capacity for both sessions of the Third Assembly.
At the conclusion of the Third Assembly, Newland relocated toMilwaukee, where he was elected to the Fourth Assembly as a member of the Territorial Council (upper chamber). He was a candidate to be a delegate to Wisconsin's first constitutional convention in 1846, but was not elected.[12]
After Wisconsin achieved statehood, Newland went to work inSheboygan County, and resided atGreenbush. He served on the board of directors of the Sheboygan and Fond du Lac Plank Road Company and,[13] in 1853, was appointed harbor agent atSheboygan.[14]
Finding himself in difficult financial circumstances, Newland traveled toWashington, D.C., in 1857, in an attempt to obtain an appointment from the new President,James Buchanan. After a few months there without success, on the morning of December 20, 1857, Newland's body was discovered in thecanal near 9th Street. His death was ruled an accidentaldrowning by a Washington, D.C., jury,[15] but it was widely reported assuicide.[2][16][17]
Newland married Cynthia Ann McDonald and had at least two children. Their son, David, died in infancy. Their daughter, Kate, married Jacob Sproat, and, after his death, married John Dawer.[18]
Cynthia Newland was a maternal aunt of famous sculptorVinnie Ream. After Newland's death, she remarried with Joseph L. Speer of Kansas.[18]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| General Election, August 1833 | |||||
| Anti-Jacksonian | James Graham | 3,272 | 41.65% | ||
| Jacksonian | Samuel Price Carson (incumbent) | 2,401 | 30.56% | ||
| Jacksonian | David Newland | 2,183 | 27.79% | ||
| Plurality | 871 | 11.09% | |||
| Total votes | 7,856 | 100.0% | |||
| Anti-Jacksoniangain fromJacksonian | |||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| General Election, August 1835 | |||||
| Anti-Jacksonian | James Graham (incumbent) | 3,733 | 50.05% | ||
| Jacksonian | David Newland | 3,726 | 49.95% | ||
| Plurality | 7 | 0.09% | |||
| Total votes | 7,459 | 100.0% | |||
| Void election result | |||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| General Election, August 1836 | |||||
| Whig | James Graham | 4,086 | 62.32% | ||
| Democratic | David Newland | 2,471 | 37.68% | ||
| Plurality | 1,615 | 24.63% | |||
| Total votes | 6,557 | 100.0% | |||
| Whiggain from Vacant | |||||