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Alonzo David Dick (1813 – October 9, 1872) was a Brothertown Indian farmer, tavernkeeper, and postmaster from Brothertown, Wisconsin, (then called "Manchester"). As a member of the Whig Party, he served one term in the Wisconsin State Assembly, representing Calumet County.

Background

Born 1813 in upstate New York, Dick was among the Brothertown Indians who left New York in accordance with the agreement which gave them land in Wisconsin Territory. He came with his family (he had married Lureanett or Lucenette Crosley, born 1808 of Pequot and Niantic heritage) on the steamboat United States in 1835. In 1839, he was one of the commissioners elected for the purpose of surveying, dividing and apportioning the lands of the Brothertowns. He received farmland allotments, as did his wife and two children Cornelia (born 1838) and Almira (born 1839). At one point around 1837, Dick was running a tavern in Brothertown.

In 1842, Dick was elected "highway overseer" for the Town of "Kaukalan" (encompassing a large area, including what would later become Wrightstown), where he was an early settler and kept "probably the first tavern in Wrightstown". In 1845 the new federal Department of Indian Affairs paid him $3.19 (~$104.00 in 2023) for his services as a sub-agent, interpreter and teamster.

In 1844, the Brothertowns (most of whom were Methodist) elected Dick as one of a committee to erect new building to replace the log chapel they had been using. ("...made of logs hewn on both sides, about eight inches thick, the ends dovetailed together and crevices filled with mortar. It had a pleasing appearance within and without. It had log seats, and the altar was a hewn piece of log. It could seat 100 people and there was standing room for 100 more.") When Methodist circuit rider W. G. Miller came to Brothertown in the spring of 1845, he was hosted by Dick, who served as one of the stewards of the congregation. It was the beginning of what Miller described as "a life-long friendship." Decades later, a white visitor recalled Dick in 1836 as "a very good singer" who served as the "starter" for the congregation's singing.

Legislature

Dick was elected to the Assembly's Calumet County district for the 2nd Wisconsin Legislature, replacing Democrat Lemuel Goodell, who was elected to the State Senate. He was assigned to the standing committees on town and county organization, and on state lands. He was succeeded by fellow Whig David E. Wood.

With William Fowler and W. H. Dick, he was one of three Brothertown Indians to serve in Wisconsin's legislature before the Civil War, the only non-white members of that body until the 1908 election of Lucian H. Palmer.

After the legislature

Dick is recorded as the postmaster of what was still called the Pequot post office in 1851.

He died at his home in Chilton, Wisconsin, in October 1872.

References

1. Love, William DeLoss. Samson Occom and the Christian Indians of New England Boston: Pilgrim Press, 1899; pp. 325-26, 339-40, 354-55
2. Anthony, Charles, T. Commuck and Alonzo D. Dick. "Caution" advertisement in Wisconsin Democrat (Green Bay, Wisconsin) Sep 17, 1839; p. 3
3. Skibine, George T. "Proposed Finding. Against Acknowledgment of The Brothertown Indian Nation (Petitioner #67); Prepared in Response to the Petition Submitted to the Assistant Secretary - Indian Affairs for Federal Acknowledgment as an Indian Tribe" Washington, D.C.: Bureau of Indian Affairs, 2009; pp. 70 et seq.
4. "1835 – Construction began on the Military Road" Brothertown Timelines The Life of the Brothertown Indians ~ Brothertown Indian History, People, Stories and Current Events website
5. Ryan, Thomas Henry History of Outagamie County, Wisconsin. Being a General Survey of Outagamie County History including a History of the Cities, Towns and Villages throughout the County, from the Earliest Settlement to the Present Time Chicago: Goodspeed Historical Association, 1911; Vol. 2, p. 1275
6. McCalla, Jno. M. "Letter from the Second Auditor Transmitting a report of disbursements to Indians for the year ending 30th September 1845" Doc. No. 91. Disbursements to Indians United States House of Representatives, 29th Congress, 1st Session; read and referred to committee January 28, 1846
7. "January 25, 1838 The Methodist Episcopal Church. The first sermon preached by Rev. George White" Brothertown Timelines The Life of the Brothertown Indians ~ Brothertown Indian History, People, Stories and Current Events website
8. Miller, Wesson Gage. Thirty Years in the Itinerancy Milwaukee: I. L. Hauser & Co., 1875; pp. 14-16
9. Wright, W. W. "Tale of Early Days: How the Stockbridger Lived" Oshkosh Northwestern December 13, 1894; p. 1
10. Journal of the Second Session of the Assembly of the State of Wisconsin: Begun and Holden on the 10th Day of January, and Ending April 2nd A. D. 1849 Madison: D. T. Dickson---State Printer; pp. 3, 20.
11. Commuck, Thomas. "Sketch of the Brothertown Indians."Wisconsin Historical Collections 4 (1859). 291-298
12. United States Post Office Dept. Table of post offices in the United States on the first day of January, 1851, arranged in alphabetical order, and exhibiting the states, territories, and counties in which they are situated, with the names of the post masters; also an appendix, containing a list of the post offices, arranged by states and counties, to which is added a list of the offices established, changed, or discontinued to May 31 Washington, W. & J.C. Greer, Printers; p. 210
13. "Death of an Old Resident". Appleton Crescent. 26 October 1872. p. 1. Retrieved 29 June 2021 – via Newspapers.com.

• Wisconsin Whigs
• Members of the Wisconsin State Assembly
• People from Brothertown, Wisconsin
• Methodists from Wisconsin
• Native American state legislators in Wisconsin
• 1813 births
• 1872 deaths
• Native American people from Wisconsin
• Wisconsin postmasters
• Tavernkeepers
• 19th-century members of the Wisconsin Legislature