Former Wisconsin Governor One of Grant City's Earliest Residents

A former Wisconsin governor, Leonard Farwell, was one of Grant City's earliest residents, the Adirondack Almanack reports. Farwell was born in 1819 in Watertown, WI and became a successful businessman by 1849. He became the state's second governor in 1852 despite heavy attacks by political opponents who thought that he would become a tool for powerful interests. He served two years before leaving in 1854. He cracked down on banks and insurance companies that he saw as monopolistic and put together public works for the state. During Abraham Lincoln's administration, Farwell was appointed to the Patent Office in Washington by the President as an Assistant Examiner. He was an eyewitness to President Lincoln's assassination and immediately rushed to Vice-President Johnson's residence, woke him up, found a guard to protect him, and seized some weapons that were hidden for the purpose of assassinating the Vice-President. His quick thinking was credited with saving Johnson's life. He was in the well-known picture depicting the last hours of Lincoln's life. Farwell moved to Chicago, where he lost nearly everything he had in the Chicago Fire. He later moved to Grant City, where he was asked to run for governor of Missouri but declined. He died in Grant City in 1889.