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John Wesley North (January 4, 1815–February 22, 1890) was an American abolitionist, lawyer, and politician. A founder of the Republican Party of Minnesota, North served in the constitutional convention of that state and of Nevada. As a legislator in the Minnesota Territorial Legislature, North was influential in founding the University of Minnesota. He was appointed as Nevada's first surveyor general, as an associate justice on Nevada's territorial Supreme Court, and as a judge for the predecessor of the United States District Court for the District of Nevada.

He was the founder of the cities of Northfield, Minnesota and Riverside, California.

Early life and career
North was born near Sand Lake, New York, on January 4, 1815. North's family was intimately associated with the Methodist Church, as the Second Great Awakening swept New England in the early 19th-century. North's father travelled as a preacher.

Through a professional connection with the Reverend Arnold Scholefield, North met Gerrit Smith. Smith, a wealthy leader of the abolitionist movement, was an important influence on North's embrace of anti-slavery.

In 1838, North enrolled at Wesleyan University. After achieving local recognition in an impromptu debate with the pro-slavery minister Francis Hodgson, North was invited by the Connecticut Anti-Slavery Society to work as a lecturer. As he gained attention, North's lay license to practice ministry on behalf of the Methodist Episcopal Church was challenged by Augustus William Smith. Though North survived the challenge, he resigned his license.

North founded Wesleyan's Anti-Slavery Society and, after graduation, continued to lecture for two years across Connecticut.

North also practiced law, forming connections with the anti-slavery lawyers and educators Joshua Leavitt, Beriah Green, and William Burleigh, among others. North's relationship with John Greenleaf Whittier from this era would remain a profound influence on his later life.

Marriage
North's first wife was Emma Bacon, whom he married in 1845. She died of tuberculosis in 1847.

In 1848, North married Ann Hendrix Loomis, the daughter of George Loomis. Dr. George Loomis was an abolitionist and country doctor who attended to North during a period of intense sickness.

Career in Minnesota
North struggled as a lawyer. Seeking new financial opportunities, John and Ann North travelled to Minnesota Territory in 1849, settling in St. Anthony, near the growing cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul. North settled in St. Anthony at the request of Franklin Steele, agreeing to serve as his legal counsel.

The political leadership of the Territory, men like Henry Hastings Sibley and Henry Mower Rice, were associated with the national Democratic Party, a consequence of the connection between the fur trade and the regional Democrats. Territorial governor Alexander Ramsey, appointed by Whig President Zachary Taylor, led local political opposition to the influence of the Democrats and the fur trade.

Through a letter-writing campaign that targeted abolitionist reform newspapers and made use of the Norths' political connections, the Norths helped encourage several thousand Eastern settlers to move to St. Anthony. John and Ann North's aggressive and selective promotion doubled the population of St. Anthony, pushing the political character of the community towards temperance and abolitionism.

Founding Northfield, Minnesota
In January 1855, North travelled south from St. Anthony to visit the Cannon River Valley. On that trip, he purchased interests in the town of Faribault and met with nearby settlers along the Cannon River, organizing a plan for the construction of a saw mill, a grist mill, and a bridge at a convenient site.

A year later, the construction projects neared completion, a townsite was platted, and John and Ann moved their family to the town. A meeting of settlers named the town Northfield.

Minneapolis-Cedar Valley Railroad
Founding of the Minneapolis-Cedar Valley Railroad. Presidentship. North’s tenure as President was defined by internal conflict with his board of directors. It was further complicated by the fact that North himself suffered considerably from the Panic of 1857. North’s stake in the mill in Northfield he sold in 1859, and he resigned the Minneapolis-Cedar Valley Railroad in 185x.

Territorial Legislature
In the fall of 1850, North was elected a member of the second Minnesota Territorial Legislature. During this term, he wrote the charter for the University of Minnesota and resigned amidst controversy about the seating of Alexander Faribault. He lost the race for reelection in the 1851.

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  from 1851–60.

Minnesota Constitutional Convention
In 1857, Congress passed an enabling act. North was elected as a member of the Minnesota Constitutional Convention. During the convention, North argued at length against a whites-only voting clause. "The contour of the countenance, the complexion of the face which the Creator has stamped on human beings, does not give one class the right to inflict wrong and injury upon another. It does not give us the right to say that we have rights which are natural and inalienable, and to another class, 'you are deprived of those rights.”"North’s objections were overcome.

In 1867, Minnesota became the only state to extend suffrage to Black men by popular ratification of the 15th Amendment. Governor William R. Marshall said “we are indebted to J.W. North more than any other man.”

Minnesota Republican Party
On March 29, 1855, several hundred men met in the St. Anthony Congregational church to organize Minnesota's Republican Party. North called the meeting to order. John and Ann worked to prepare the party's resolutions, which John presented at the March party meeting. North's resolutions called for several anti-slavery demands, including the abolition of slavery in new states and the repeal of the Fugitive Slave Act, as well as the prohibition of alcohol.

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. “Mr. Lincoln, I am a radical.”

Surveyor General
In 18xx, Congress approved the formation of Nevada Territory. In 1861, President Lincoln appointed North the official surveyor of the new territory. North moved to Virginia City, Nevada. Details about North and the Comstock Lode.

North surveyed, invested in silver mining properties, began building an ore-treatment mill he named the Minnesota Mill, and practiced law.

Nevada Territorial Supreme Court
On August 20, 1863, President Lincoln appointed North to Nevada's xxxxx. North's rulings supported the "many-ledge" interpretation of mining law on the Comstock Lode, which favored the smaller mining companies over the larger companies. Describe the particular case.

Interaction with Samuel Clemens.

Nevada Constitutional Convention
In 18xx, Congress passed an enabling act. North was elected president of the 1863 constitutional convention.

Rivalry with William M. Stewart
William M. Stewart was a prominent lawyer with political ambitions and large mining companies as clients. Stewart accused North of accepting bribes from litigants. North denied the charge, and Stewart was forced to publicly recant, but Stewart continued to attack North’s honesty, and orchestrated a campaign against North in the Nevada newspapers. North resigned because of ill health after less than a year on the bench, but sued Stewart for slander. North agreed to submit his suit to arbitration, and after hearing both sides, the court declared that Stewart had indeed slandered North, and that there was no evidence that North had engaged in corruption.

Career in Tennessee
In 18xx, North and his family moved to Knoxville, Tennessee. Reconstruction was at whatever phase. North sought to form a colony with these values. North reported that he defended a Black man from violence. His businesses were xxxx. He moved.

Founding Riverside, California
This precipitated a move in 1870 back to California where, in 1870, North founded the southern California town of Riverside along with associates—some from Minnesota—who joined him there. Details?

Later Years
In 1879, he and his family moved north to San Francisco. That year, North was nominated, but did not win, the Republican nomination to the California Supreme Court. He opened a law office in Fresno, built a house and started a farm in nearby small community of Oleander in 18xx. Red ants.

Return to Minnesota.

John North died on February 22, 1890, and was buried in Riverside's Evergreen Cemetery.