Nelson Dewey - Later Life

Later Life

After his time as governor, Dewey returned to Lancaster, where he speculated in real estate. He remained active in politics, however: in 1853, Dewey ran against Chief Justice Orsamus Cole for a seat in the Wisconsin State Senate for Wisconsin's Sixteenth District; he was elected by a majority of three votes, serving a two-year term. Throughout the remainder of his life, he was a delegate to most of the state conventions of the Democratic Party. From 1854 until 1865, he was regent of the University of Wisconsin. During his time in Lancaster, Dewey served at various times as the chairman of the town board of supervisor and the director of the school board.

In 1854, Dewey and his wife Catherine began to plan to begin anew the development of Cassville, once the goal of Daniels, Dennison & Co. In 1855, he was able to purchase the village under foreclosure; he remodelled the village plot and repaired the Dennison House, a hotel which had been built by the now-defunct firm, at a cost of $15,000; his ultimate hope was that Cassville be developed into a large city. He also acquired about 2,000 acres (8.1 km2) of land northwest of Cassville, on which he built a three-story Gothic-revival mansion, which he named "Stonefield", at a cost of about $70,000; he expended another $30,000 on eleven miles (18 km) of stone fence. It was said that to have been the most modern house in Wisconsin at that time. At this time, Dewey employed around forty to fifty men as a means of returning money to Cassville; it is said that this was the origin of the prosperity of several of Cassville's residents.

Dewey lived in Cassville for the rest of his life, excepting the time from 1858 until 1863, when he lived at Platteville, Wisconsin. While living in Cassville, he served as chairman of the town board of supervisors for seven years, and was also for a time the director of the school board.

In 1863, Dewey unsuccessfully ran for Lieutenant Governor; he also lost his 1869 and 1871 attempts at re-election to State Senate.

Dewey's Cassville project was attracting few people, and he began investing in a railroad line to the village. On January 2, 1873, Dewey's mansion was destroyed in a fire, and he was forced to give up the property to pay his creditors; the estate passed into the ownership of Walter C. Newberry of Chicago. Also this year, Dewey lost his entire investment in the railroad line during the Panic of 1873. At some time during this period, Dewey was involved in another financial setback involving the estate of the deceased Ben Eastman, a former Congressman, of which he was the executor. Dewey returned to his law practice.

Dewey was at one time considered a wealthy man, but by the time of his death, he had little money.

In 1874, Governor William R. Taylor appointed Dewey to the board of directors of the State Prison at Waupun; he served on the board until 1881.

In 1886, Dewey filed for a divorce against his wife; the suit never came to trial. Catherine Dewey eventually moved to St. Louis, Missouri, where her daughter and son-in-law lived.

On February 22, 1889, Dewey suffered a stroke while at court in Lancaster. He was paralyzed and was brought home to Cassville the next day. He was not well prior to this, and was apparently aware of the possibility of becoming paralyzed. From the time of his paralysis, he was almost entirely confined to bed. He died in poverty at the Dennison House, which he had helped rebuild, a few minutes past midnight on the morning of July 21, 1889, after being unconscious for the previous forty-eight hours. He was seventy-five years old.

He was buried on July 23, 1889, in the Episcopal cemetery in Lancaster, next to the graves of his brother Orin and his son Charlie.