Allen R. Bushnell

Who was Allen R. Bushnell?

Allen Ralph Bushnell was an U.S. Representative from Wisconsin.

Born in Hartford, Ohio, Bushnell attended the public schools and the academies of Oberlin and Hiram, Ohio. He moved to Wisconsin in 1854 and settled in Platteville. He studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1857 commencing practice in Platteville.

Bushnell was elected district attorney of Grant County in 1860. He resigned to enter the Union Army in August 1861. He served as first lieutenant and afterwards as captain of Company C, Seventh Regiment, Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry. He served as member of the Iron Brigade. He moved to Lancaster, Wisconsin, in 1864. He served as district attorney of Grant County in 1864 and as a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly in 1872.

Bushnell was elected first mayor of Lancaster in 1875. He was also the United States district attorney for the western district of Wisconsin from 1886 till 1890. He moved to Madison, Wisconsin, in 1891.

Bushnell was elected as a Democrat to the Fifty-second Congress representing Wisconsin's 3rd congressional district. He was not a candidate for renomination in 1892. He resumed the practice of law in Madison, Wisconsin, and died there March 29, 1909.