John W. Cary

---

title: "John W. Cary" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["people-from-shoreham,-vermont", "politicians-from-milwaukee", "democratic-party-wisconsin-state-senators", "democratic-party-members-of-the-wisconsin-state-assembly", "mayors-of-racine,-wisconsin", "union-college-(new-york)-alumni", "1817-births", "1895-deaths", "burials-at-forest-home-cemetery", "19th-century-members-of-the-wisconsin-legislature", "19th-century-mayors-of-places-in-wisconsin"] description: "American lawyer and politician" topic_path: "technology/web" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_W._Cary" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary American lawyer and politician ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox officeholder"]

Field	Value
name	John W. Cary
image	John W. Cary.png
state	Wisconsin
state_senate	Wisconsin
district	7th
term_start	January 3, 1853
term_end	January 1, 1855
predecessor	Samuel G. Bugh
successor	Charles Clement
office1	9th Mayor of Racine, Wisconsin
term_start1	April 1857
term_end1	April 1858
predecessor1	Jerome Case
successor1	Jerome Case
state2	Wisconsin
state_assembly2	Wisconsin
district2	Milwaukee 1st
term_start2	January 1, 1872
term_end2	January 6, 1873
predecessor2	James S. White
successor2	Isaac W. Van Schaick
office3	Member of the Milwaukee City Council
term_start3	April 1868
term_end3	April 1869
party	Democratic
birth_name	John Watson Cary
birth_date
birth_place	Shoreham, Vermont
death_date
death_place	Chicago, Illinois
restingplace	Forest Home Cemetery
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
spouse	{{unbulleted list
children	{{unbulleted list
father	Asa Cary
mother	Anna (Sanford) Cary
relatives	Alfred L. Cary (nephew)
alma_mater	Union College
::

|name = John W. Cary |image = John W. Cary.png |image_size = |state = Wisconsin |state_senate = Wisconsin |district = 7th | term_start = January 3, 1853 | term_end = January 1, 1855 | predecessor = Samuel G. Bugh | successor = Charles Clement |office1 = 9th Mayor of Racine, Wisconsin | term_start1 = April 1857 | term_end1 = April 1858 | predecessor1 = Jerome Case | successor1 = Jerome Case |state2 = Wisconsin |state_assembly2 = Wisconsin |district2 = Milwaukee 1st | term_start2 = January 1, 1872 | term_end2 = January 6, 1873 | predecessor2 = James S. White | successor2 = Isaac W. Van Schaick |office3 = Member of the Milwaukee City Council | term_start3 = April 1868 | term_end3 = April 1869 |party = Democratic |birth_name = John Watson Cary | birth_date = | birth_place = Shoreham, Vermont | death_date = | death_place = Chicago, Illinois | restingplace = Forest Home Cemetery Milwaukee, Wisconsin | spouse = {{unbulleted list | Eliza Vilas | (m. 1844; died 1845) | Isabel Brinkerhoff | (m. 1847; died 1906) | children = {{unbulleted list | with Eliza Vilas | Eliza Vilas (Sanburn) | | with Isabel Brinkerhoff | Frances (Kendrick) | | Melbert B. Cary | | Fred Asa Cary | | John Watson Cary | | George Peter Cary | | Paul Van Ettan Cary | | Isabel Brinkerhoff Cary | |father = Asa Cary |mother = Anna (Sanford) Cary |relatives = Alfred L. Cary (nephew) |alma_mater = Union College

John Watson Cary (February 11, 1817March 29, 1895) was an American lawyer and politician. He served as the 9th Mayor of Racine, Wisconsin, and was a member of the Wisconsin State Senate and the Wisconsin State Assembly.

Biography

John Watson Cary was born in Shoreham, Vermont, the eighth of nine children born to Asa and Anna (Sanford) Cary. His family moved to western New York around 1831. He graduated from Union College and was admitted to the bar in 1844. He moved to Racine, Wisconsin, in 1850 and to Milwaukee in 1859.

Cary died in Chicago's Victoria Hotel in 1895.

Career

Cary was a member of the Senate from 1853 to 1854 and was Mayor of Racine in 1857. He was a member of the Milwaukee City Council in 1868 and was elected to represent Milwaukee's first ward in the State Assembly in 1872. Cary was a Democrat.

Cary was most well known for his legal career. He was the chief legal counsel to the Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul Railroad for 36 years, from 1859 until his death. He was seen as an extremely accomplished lawyer, having successfully argued many cases before the Supreme Court of the United States.

Personal life and family

Cary married his first wife, Eliza Vilas, on July 10, 1844. Eliza died due to complications from the birth of their daughter in 1845.

On June 6, 1847, Cary married his second wife, Isabel Brinkerhoff. They had seven children together.

Cary's lineage can be traced back to the 12th century Lord Adam De Kari in Somersetshire, England. The 14th century MP John Cary of Devon was also an ancestor. His first American ancestor was also named and arrived in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1634.

References

References

1. (1911). "John Cary the Plymouth pilgrim". S. C. Cary.
2. "Cary, John Watson 1817 - 1895". Wisconsin Historical Society.
3. (April 6, 1895). "Famous Lawyer Dead". The Weekly Wisconsin.
4. "John W. Cary". Political Graveyard.
5. (1905). "Bulletin of the John Cary Descendants".

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::