Minnesota Legislative Reference Library

Accessibility menu

Menu

Minnesota Legislative Reference Library Legislators Past & Present

Library Navigation

Skip Navigation LinksLegislature > LRL Home > Legislators Past & Present > Member Record New Search

Warren, William Whipple

Sessions Served  red ball graphic  Other Information


Map of Crow Wing
Crow Wing, MN

Territorial House 1851 (District 6)

Party when first elected:  Not Available

Counties Served:  Benton, Mahkahto (defunct), Pembina (defunct), Wahnahta (defunct)

BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION

Date of Birth: 05/27/1825 Date of Death: 06/01/1853
Birth Place: La Pointe, Wisconsin Birth County:  Birth Country: United States
Other Names:
Gender:  Male Religion:  Not Reported Reported Minority:   Native American
City of Residence (when first elected):  Crow Wing

Occupation (when first elected):  Ojibwe Interpreter and Historian/Farmer

EDUCATION

Mission School, Mackinaw, Michigan; Elementary School;
La Pointe Schools, Wisconsin; Elementary School;
Oneida Institute, Whitesboro, New York; Secondary;

OTHER GOVERNMENT SERVICE

FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS

Spouse: Matilda Aitken (married on August 10, 1843)
Children: Five children (four while in office): Alfred A., Cordelia "Delia" H., Anna, and William Tyler (while in office); Madeline (born after he left office)
Family Members Who Have Served in the Minnesota Legislature:

GENERAL NOTES

Lake Superior and Madeline Island are also listed as places of birth.

He came to Crow Wing and Gull Lake, Minnesota in 1845.

"William W. Warren was born at La Pointe, Wisconsin, and was a mixed-blood Chippewa Indian. His father was descended from the Plymouth Pilgrims. His mother was of three-fourths Chippewa blood." (Minnesota in Three Centuries, Vol. 2, p. 453)

"His mother was the granddaughter of Chief White Crane of the Chequamegon Ojibwe" tribe.

He ran unsuccessfully for the Minnesota Territorial House of Representatives in the 1851 election. He contested James Beatty's election on grounds that some of the votes cast for Beatty were illegal. The Territorial House of Representatives determined that James Beatty should retain the seat.

He died in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Legislative Session: 2nd Territorial (1851)   Session Details
Body: Territorial House Elected: 9/2/1850 Term of Office: 1/1/1851 to 3/29/1851 (unfinished term)
District: 06 Residence: Crow Wing
Counties Represented: Benton, Mahkahto (defunct), Pembina (defunct), Wahnahta (defunct)
Occupation: Ojibwe Interpreter and Historian/Farmer
Party: Not Available
Committees:
Militia
Territorial Affairs (Chair)
Reason for unfinished term: Resigned
Session Notes: He and six other members of the House resigned in protest over the 1851 apportionment bill. They argued the census count was incorrect. For more information on the resignations, see Minnesota in Three Centuries, Vol. 2, p. 456 and the links in the Other Information section below.

OTHER INFORMATION

Articles & Books By
Warren, William W. "History of the Ojibway People." St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 1984.


Articles & Books About
Schenck, Theresa M. "William W. Warren: The Life, Letters, and Times of an Ojibwe Leader." University of Nebraska Press, 2007.

Antell, Will. "A Biography of the Ojibway Historian Who was the Only Indian Representative to the Legislature of the Territory of Minnesota 1850." Minneapolis: Dillon Publishing, 1973.

Neill, Edward D. Section on the 1851 Apportionment Bill. The History of Minnesota: from the Earliest French Explorations to the Present Time, Philadelphia, J. B. Lippincott and Co., 1873, p. 548-549.

Warren v. Beatty, Contested Election. Minnesota Journal of the Territorial House, Appendix, 1852, p. 255-264.

Resignation of Seven Territorial House Members Over the Apportionment Bill. Minnesota Journal of the Territorial House of Representatives, March 29, 1851, p. 191.

Interpreter, Legislator, and Historian of the Ojibwe People, William Warren, 1825-1853.




Name Search
Other Searches

Minnesota Legislative Reference Library, 645 State Office Building, Saint Paul, MN  55155