14 Facts About Moses Wisner

Moses Wisner was the 12th governor of Michigan, a Colonel during the Civil War, and an active supporter of the anti-slavery movement.

Moses Wisner's father was Moses Wisner, a Colonel during the War of 1812, while his brother, George Washington Wisner, was one of the early founders of The Sun newspaper.

Moses Wisner received an education in the common schools while working on his parents' farm.

Moses Wisner studied law while working at the law firm of his brother, George W Wisner, and Rufus Hosmer.

Moses Wisner was appointed prosecuting attorney for Lapeer County in 1843 by Governor William Woodbridge.

Moses Wisner moved back to Pontiac to join a law firm there.

Moses Wisner was not especially active in politics until after the election of US President Franklin Pierce in 1852, when he became active in the anti-slavery movement.

Moses Wisner was one of the foremost critics in Michigan of the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 which repealed the Missouri Compromise and opened the territories to slavery.

Moses Wisner participated in the first convention of the US Republican Party in Jackson, Michigan in July, 1854 where he declined nomination as Michigan Attorney General.

In 1858, Moses Wisner was elected the 12th Governor of Michigan by a large majority and served one term from 1859 to 1861.

In September 1862 during the American Civil War, Moses Wisner worked to raise the 22nd Michigan Infantry and was commissioned a colonel, but was stricken with typhoid fever while en route to the regiment's deployment.

Moses Wisner died at the age of 47 in a private home near Lexington, Kentucky, and left behind his wife, Angeolina Hascall, the daughter of General Charles C Hascall, of Flint, Michigan, and four children.

Moses Wisner is interred at Oak Hill Cemetery in Pontiac.

Wisner's Greek Revival-Style mansion in Pontiac, the Moses Wisner House, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.