Incarvillea

Edward Sauerhering (June 24, 1864 – March 1, 1924) was a German American pharmacist and Republican politician from Dodge County, Wisconsin. He was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives for two terms, representing Wisconsin's 2nd congressional district during the 54th and 55th congresses (1895–1899). He was author of one of the first significant dairy laws in Congress, placing taxes and regulations on pseudo-dairy products like margarine. His father, Rudolf Sauerhering, was the first village president of Mayville, Wisconsin.

Early life and education

Edward Sauerhering was born in Mayville, Wisconsin, on June 24, 1864. He attended public schools in Mayville until age 16, when he went to work at his father's drug store.^[1] He went on to attend the Chicago College of Pharmacy, where he graduated in 1885.^[2]

After graduating, he worked in the drug business for three years in Chicago before returning to Mayville.^[1]

Political career

Around this time, Sauerhering became active in politics with the Republican Party of Wisconsin. As a German Catholic Republican, Sauerhering was a demographic outlier in 1890s Wisconsin. The German American population was generally split by religious denomination, with Protestants favoring the Republicans and Catholics favoring the Democrats. In the early 1890s, however, the German American population in Wisconsin was mostly unified against the Republican Party due to a compulsory English-language education law, passed as part of a larger education law referred to as the "Bennett Law" in the 1889 legislature. The issue was then exacerbated by some comments from the Republican Governor that were interpreted as xenophobic and anti-Catholic.

In 1891 Sauerhering was nominated on the Republican Party slate for Mayville city council but was not elected.^[3] In 1892, Sauerhering was elected chairman of the Dodge County Republican Party. That fall, he was the Republican nominee for Wisconsin State Assembly in Dodge County's 1st Assembly district—comprising roughly the northeast quarter of the county. Nominations in 1892 were unusually late due to litigation over redistricting. Sauerhering officially received the nomination on October 22, seventeen days before the election.^[4] Sauerhering faced Democratic incumbent Bennett Sampson in the general election, and lost by nearly a 2-to-1 margin.^[5]

Undaunted, the next spring, Sauerhering ran for mayor of Mayville, but lost to Carl A. Barwig, son of congressman Charles Barwig.^[6]

Sauerhering, as chairman of the Dodge County Republicans, appeared at the 2nd congressional district convention in 1894 to organize a ticket. In the 1890s, Wisconsin's 2nd congressional district comprised Dane, Dodge, Columbia, and Jefferson counties, in south-central Wisconsin. The delegates' preferred candidate, Jefferson County state representative George Grimm, refused the congressional nomination; the convention eventually chose Sauerhering instead, some newspapers speculated that this was because Sauerhering was from the same city as the Democratic incumbent, Barwig.^[7][8]

Sauerhering faced the incumbent, Charles Barwig, in the general election. The political mood had turned decisively against the Democrats in 1894, due to fallout from the Panic of 1893, which Republicans blamed on Democratic free trade policies. A Republican wave saw Republicans gain 104 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives.^[9] Sauerhering prevailed in one of the closest races in the country, defeating Barwig by just 265 votes.^[10] Sauerhering won a second term by a wide margin 1896, defeating former Madison mayor William H. Rogers.^[11] His chief accomplishment in Congress was passage of an act defining cheese as a pure dairy product without addition of other animal fats or vegetable oils. The act also placed taxes and regulations on margarine and other "filled cheese" products.^[1][12] He declined to run again in 1898, returning to his family drug store.^[2]

Later years

After leaving office, Sauerhering mostly focused on his drug business, but held local office. He was Mayville's superintendent of public works from 1909 to 1918, during which time he played a role in the construction of a new waterworks in the city. He also served as a justice of the peace from 1912 to 1920.^[2]

Sauerhering died at his home in Mayvile on March 1, 1924, after five years of illness.^[13] He was interred at Mayville's Graceland Cemetery.^[14]

Personal life and family

Edward Sauerhering was one of five children born to Rudolf Sauerhering and his wife Henrietta (née Hartwig). Both parents were German American immigrants from East Prussia (present day Poland). Rudolf Sauerhering was the first village president of Mayville; he and his brother, Adolph Sauerhering, where both pharmacists educated at the University of Königsberg. They came to Wisconsin in the early 1850s and were among the first drug store operators in eastern Dodge County.^[15]

Edward Sauerhering married Eugenia Langenbach on June 29, 1889.^[16] Eugenia was also a first generation American and a child of German emigrants. They had three children together.^[13] Their son, Adolph, served in the United States Army during World War I. Both sons eventually adopted the shortened surname "Sauer".

Electoral history

Wisconsin Assembly (1892)

Mayville Mayor (1893)

U.S. House (1894, 1896)

References

External links

• Edward Sauerhering at Find a Grave

• United States Congress. "Edward Sauerhering (id: S000071)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.