Coles Bashford - 5th WI Governor - Birthday

Coles Bashford
5th WI Governor - March 25, 1856 – January 4, 1858
The Governor was elected to two-year terms until 1967 when it changed to four-years

Bashford ran for governor as a Republican in 1855 and was at first declared the loser to the Democratic incumbent, William A. Barstow, by a mere 157 votes. However, Bashford claimed the result was fraudulent, and it was later discovered that Barstow's win was due to forged election returns coming from non-existent precincts in the sparsely populated northern part of the state.  On March 24, the court unanimously awarded the governorship to Bashford by a count of 1,009 votes.

Independent
Republican until 1866