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12th Minnesota Legislature
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1870 legislative session
February 2026
January 2025
Twelfth Minnesota Legislature
File:1stMNstatecapitol-1860.jpg
200px
Minnesota Legislature
United States
Minnesota
1870 01 04
1871 01 02
11th Minnesota Legislature
13th Minnesota Legislature
www.leg.state.mn.us/
Minnesota State Senate
22 Senators
Republican Party
Lieutenant Governor
William H. Yale
Minnesota House of Representatives
47 Representatives
Republican Party
Speaker
John L. Merriam
The twelfth Minnesota Legislature first convened on January 4, 1870. The 11 members of the Minnesota Senate who represented even-numbered districts were chosen in the General Election of November 3, 1868, while the 11 members of the Minnesota Senate who represented odd-numbered districts, and the 47 members of the Minnesota House of Representatives, were chosen in the General Election of November 2, 1869.
Sessions
The legislature met in a regular session from January 4, 1870 to March 4, 1870. There were no special sessions of the 12th Minnesota Legislature.http://www.leg.state.mn.us/lrl/histleg/sessions.aspx Sessions of the Minnesota State Legislature and the Minnesota Territorial Legislature, 1849-present. Minnesota Legislative Reference Library 5 November 2017
Party summary
Senate
Party 1869-11-18 Legislatur für 1870 http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84031595/1869-11-18/ed-1/seq-6/ German Minnesota Staats-Zeitung Saint Paul 2017-11-08 (Shading indicates majority caucus) Total Vacant Dem. Ind. Rep. End of previous Legislature 6 0 16 22 0 Begin 8 0 14 22 0 Latest voting share 8 22 0 0 22 0 14 22 0 Beginning of the next Legislature 8 2 12 22 0
House of Representatives
Party (Shading indicates majority caucus) Total Vacant Dem. Ind. Rep. End of previous Legislature 9 0 38 47 0 Begin 18 0 29 47 0 Latest voting share 18 47 0 0 47 0 29 47 0 Beginning of the next Legislature 12 2 33 47 0
Leadership
Senate
Lieutenant Governor
William H. Yale (R-Winona)http://www.leg.state.mn.us/lrl/histleg/spres.aspx President and President Pro Tempore of the Minnesota Senate, 1849-present Minnesota Legislative Reference Library 5 November 2017
House of Representatives
Speaker of the House
John L. Merriam (R-Saint Paul)http://www.leg.state.mn.us/lrl/histleg/speakers.aspx Speakers of the Minnesota House of Representatives, 1849-present Minnesota Legislative Reference Library 5 November 2017
Members
Senate
Name District City Party Batchelder, George Washington 08 Faribault Republican Baxter, Luther Loren 21 Chaska Democratic Becker, George Loomis 01 Saint Paul Democratic Buck, Cornelius F. 11 Winona Democratic Buell, David L. 13 Caledonia Democratic Castle, James Nathan 02 Stillwater Democratic Chewning, Reuben J. 07 Farmington Democratic Crooker, Josiah B. 16 Owatonna Republican Henry, William 18 Belle Plaine Democratic Hill, Charles 09 Pine Island Republican Jackson, W. S. 10 Wabasha Republican King, Dana E. 06 Greenleaf Republican Latimer, Jacob A. 20 Winnebago City Republican Leonard, Joseph A. 12 Rochester Republican Lochren, William 04 Saint Anthony Democratic Lord, Samuel 15 Mantorville Republican Pettit, Curtis H. 05 Minneapolis Republican Pfaender, William 19 New Ulm Republican Smith, Benjamin F. 17 Castle Garden Republican Smith, Edson R. 22 Le Sueur Republican Sprague, Benjamin D. 14 Rushford Republican Waite, Henry Chester 03 Saint Cloud Republican
House of Representatives
Name District City Party Abbott, B. 06 Harrison Republican Barton, William 14 Lenora Republican Bratrud, Ole C. 14 Preston Republican Brown, Hosmer A.The newspaper Minnesota Staats-Zeitung listed a Democrat by the name of L. E. Pierce as having won the 1869 election in the 15th district, alongside George Mansfield Cameron. However, Legislators Past & Present and the Journal of the House of Representatives of the Twelfth Session of the Legislature of the State of Minnesota both list Brown as having been seated when the 12th Legislature convened.https://www.leg.state.mn.us/legdb/fulldetail?ID=11444 Brown, Hosmer A. "H.A." Legislators Past & Present Minnesota Legislative Reference Library 8 November 2017 "brown_seated" "nb" 15 Mower City Republican John Bullen John Bullen Jr. 11 Elba Democratic Cameron, Sr., George Mansfield 15 Austin Democratic Canfield, S. G. 14 Canfield Democratic Close, William 08 Dodge City Republican Cool, John M. 11 Saint Charles Democratic Couplin, William L. 19 Saint Peter Republican Crandall, R. 17 Shelbyville Republican Cullen, J. K. 21 Watertown Democratic Densmore, Sr., Orin 09 Red Wing Republican Drought, Henry 08 Dundas Republican Faber, Paul 01 Saint Paul Democratic Flannegan, John H. 07 Hastings Democratic Fowler, Andrew J. 10 Lake City Democratic Fridley, Abram McCormick 04 Becker Democratic Gage, John 10 Minneiska Republican Gilman, John M. 01 Saint Paul Democratic Graham, S. W. 12 Eyota Republican Hall, Albert R. 05 Dayton Republican Jones, William 07 Hastings Democratic Larson, B. S. 12 Byron Republican Lowell, William 02 Marine Republican MacDonald, John Louis 18 Shakopee Democratic Meagher, John F. 17 Mankato Democratic Merriam, John L. 01 Saint Paul Republican Miller, John 09 Wastedo Republican Norris, James S. 02 Cottage Grove Democratic Pfaar, John A. 22 Le Sueur Democratic Potter, William E. 13 La Crescent Republican Pound, Joseph H. 05 Richfield Democratic Reed, Axel Hayford 06 Glencoe Republican Rice, E. A. 05 Minneapolis Republican Ruliffson, H. W. 16 Cooleyville Republican Scanlan, M. 14 Lanesboro Democratic Shanks, Michael E.L. 20 Fairmont Republican Slocum, Giles 09 Cannon Falls Republican Stewart, Charles N. 12 Stewartville Republican Swift, P. H. 19 Beaver Falls Republican Thorson, Isaac 03 Gilchrist Republican Vance, Nathan 13 Money Creek Republican Waterman, Chauncey N. 11 Winona Republican Wedge, Albert Clark 16 Albert Lea Republican Wilson, John L. 03 Saint Cloud Democratic Young, William C. 16 Waseca Republican
Notes
References
Minnesota Legislators Past & Present - Session Search Results (Session 12, Senate)
Minnesota Legislators Past & Present - Session Search Results (Session 12, House)
Journal of the Senate of the Twelfth Session of the Legislature of the State of Minnesota
Journal of the House of Representatives of the Twelfth Session of the Legislature of the State of Minnesota
Twelfth Minnesota Legislature Eleventh Minnesota Legislature Thirteenth Minnesota Legislature 1870
12th
Category:1870 in Minnesota
Category:1870 U.S. legislative sessions