EDWARD W. DWIGHT, Oregon, is a lineal descendant of John Dwight, who came from England to the colonies in 1635, located at Dedham, Mass. And founded a family famous in the annals of New England; he was one of the five trustees placed in charge of the first free school ever taught in America, said school being instituted in 1644, and supported by town tax; the daughter of Jonathan Edwards, the world-famed theologian, married Timothy Dwight, their son; Timothy was a noted preacher of his time, a chaplain in Washington’s army, and author of the war ode, “Columbia;” after the Revolution, he was made President of Yale College; his son , Dr. Benjamin W. Dwight, born Feb. 10, 1780 in Northampton, Mass. married Sophia Strong, born Jan 1, 1793, in Heath, Mass. and descended from an historic New England family; they had six children—Benjamin Woodbridge, Sophia, Theodore Williams, Mary, Edward Woolsey and Elizabeth; the daughters have gone the way of all the earth; of the sons, the eldest, a Presbyterian clergyman, is Principal of Dwight’s High School, Clinton, N.Y.; is the author of the Dwight Genealogy and many other valuable works; T. W. Dwight, LL.D., is a graduate of Yale Law School; the graduates of his law school, established in New York City, 18__, are at once admitted to the bar of the State; no law school on the continent has won a more extended fame or is more highly extolled by the best legal talent of America and England. Mr. D. has been in the highest positions in the courts of the New York and was one of the Committee of Seventy (Anti-Tammany). E. W. Dwight, born at Catskill, NY. April 8, 1827, studied classics under his oldest brother, and, when 18, went on a whaling cruise of a year’s duration; returning to his native shores, he resided in New York State until September, 1847, when he located on a farm in Spring Prairie, Walworth Co., Wis. seven or eight years later, he went to Iowa and spent a year, then settled on his present farm; Mr. D. has a half-section, with excellent buildings, most of the improvements having been made by himself and his wife; she is Elizabeth, daughter of John and Mary (Lull) Foote, born March 31, 1827, in Clinton, N.Y., where they were married May 16, 1848; they have four children—Mary S., Delia E., Edward F. and Theodore W.; the oldest was born in Spring Prairie, and the others in Oregon. Mr. Dwight was a republican, from the troubled and stormy birth of that party up to the time its leaders sold it our for gold; in 1861, he was Assemblyman from his District, and took an active part in the preparations made by that most historic of our Legislatures to meet the South on the battle-field; a secret caucus was called, and among such men as Randall, King, Schurz, Harvey, Nobles, etc., Senator Worthington alone seemed to realize the magnitude of the coming struggle; he wanted a million dollars placed at the disposition of the State officers for war purposes. Mr. D. was elected Chairman of Oregon in 1855, served until 1861, and from that time till the close of the war, doing more than all others to secure for the town her splendid war record, of which she is so justly proud, neglecting his own interests for those of the people; he personally hired most of the substitutes, walking the streets of Madison, with hundreds of dollars in his pockets with which to pay them off; over $4,000 was thus disposed of, himself and Nathan York (Associate Supervisor) giving at one time their private notes for $2,000, which the town paid, the brothers, T. W. and E.W., making speeches in the Oregon churches which resulted in the prompt filling of the quota of 1864, a $5 bonus being offered for the first to come forward; since war times, Mr. D. has read and studied much on the questions of finance, and taken a stand which has resulted in his nomination as an Elector from his State on the Greenback platform of 1880.
1880 History of Dane County, Wisconsin, p. 1238.
- W. DWIGHT
- W. Dwight, born at Catskill, New York, in 1827; lineal descendant of John Dwight, who came from England to the Colonies in 1635; ancestors conspicuous in educational lines; experienced one year of sea-faring on a whaling cruise; came to Wisconsin in 1847, essentially following agriculture, but always also took keen interest in independent politics. He served one year in the legislature in early Civil war times; served as town chairman from 1855 to 1861, and was very zealous in securing for Oregon her splendid Civil war record. He lived to a ripe old age and died on the farm on which he had labored so long.
Ames, W.L. (1924). History of Oregon and Trade Territory, p. 54-55.