Joseph W. Furber

Joseph W. Furber
1st Speaker of the Minnesota Territory House of Representatives
In office September 3, 1849 – December 31, 1850
Preceded by	Territory Created
Succeeded by	Michael E. Ames
8th Speaker of the Minnesota Territory House of Representatives
In office January 7, 1857 – December 1, 1857
Preceded by	Charles Gardner
Succeeded by	John S. Waltrous
Personal details
Born	1813 or 1814
Died	July 10, 1884 Cottage Grove, Minnesota
Political party	Whig

Joseph W. Furber (1813 or 1814 – July 10, 1884) was a Whig politician in Minnesota. He was born in New Hampshire in 1813 or 1814. He helped with his family's farm and attended school (including Foxcroft Academy) before moving west in 1838. He lived in Alton, Illinois for two years, then worked in the lumber industry near St. Croix Falls, Wisconsin for another two years before settling in Cottage Grove, Minnesota.

In 1846, Furber was elected to the Wisconsin State Assembly as the representative for Crawford County, Wisconsin. In 1849, he was elected to the first Minnesota Territorial Legislature and served as the first Speaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives. He was elected to the legislature again in 1856 and once again served as speaker. He was appointed United States Marshal for Minnesota by President Millard Fillmore during the 1850s and also held positions with the state militia and as a member of the University of Minnesota Board of Regents. Later in his life he was elected to two more terms in the Minnesota State House of Representatives in 1868 and 1875.

He died at his home in Cottage Grove in 1884.

References

Political offices
Preceded by Territory Created	Speaker of the Minnesota Territory House of Representatives September 3, 1849 – December 31, 1850	Succeeded by Michael E. Ames
Preceded by Charles Gardner	Speaker of the Minnesota Territory House of Representatives January 7, 1857 – December 1, 1857	Succeeded by John S. Waltrous