John W. North - Early Life and Career

Early Life and Career

North was born at Sand Lake, Rensselaer County, New York, January 4, 1815. He started teaching school at the age of 15 and became a licensed lay preacher in 1833. He completed his post secondary education at Cazenovia Seminary in New York and attended Wesleyan University. He later studied law and was admitted to the New York State Bar in 1845.

His first wife was Emma Bacon (d. 1847). In 1848, he married Ann Hendrix Loomis.

He moved to the Minnesota Territory in 1849 where he continued to practice law. The first years in Minnesota were spent at St. Anthony. In the fall of 1850, North was elected a member of the second Minnesota Territorial Legislature of the territory. He ran for reelection in the 1851 elections but was defeated. He was one of the founders of the Republican Party of Minnesota in 1855. In 1857, he was a member of the Minnesota state Constitutional Convention. In 1860, he was a delegate to the Chicago Republican Convention which nominated Abraham Lincoln for the presidency of the United States and was a member of the committee that went to Springfield to notify Lincoln of his nomination.

In addition to his legislative career in Minnesota, North was influential in founding the University of Minnesota, wrote the act which became the University's charter and was treasurer of its board of regents (an appointed position) from 1851-60.