Jeremiah McLain Rusk
Wisconsin Governor Jeremiah Rusk had a very interesting life,
beginning as a planter and then turning to Innkeeping and finally to
Banking before the Civil War. During the war he was appointed Brevet
General and saw action at Antietam with the 26th Wisconsin Volunteer
which was almost wiped out.
After the Civil war he became a Congressmen and then resigned to run
for Governor of Wisconsin, Obviously he won the election. His most noted act
during his governorship was when he sent the National Guard into Milwaukee Wisconsin to keep the peace during the Great May Labor strikes of 1886. The strikers had shut down every business in the city except the Bay View
Rolling Mills. The Guardsmens orders were that if the strikers were to
enter the Mills shoot to kill. But when the Captain recieved the order
it had a different meaning and he ordered his men to pick out a man and
shoot to kill when the order is given. Several People were killed and
Governor Rusk took the majority of the blame.
In 1889 he resigned his Governorship and accepted a cabinet position
with the Benjamin Harrison Administration.