Byron Kilbourn was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 surveyor

Surveying

See Also: Public Land Survey SystemSurveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, and science of accurately determining the terrestrial or three-dimensional position of points and the distances and angles between them...

, railroad executive, and politician who was an important figure in the founding of Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Wisconsin

Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...

.

Kilbourn was born in Granby, Connecticut

Granby, Connecticut

Granby is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 10,347 at the 2000 census. The town center was defined as a census-designated place known as Salmon Brook in the 2000 census....

, and moved with his family to Worthington, Ohio

Worthington, Ohio

-Dissolution of the Company:By August 11, 1804 the plat maps were completed, payments or notes promising payments collected and deeds prepared for all sixteen thousand acres of the Scioto Company's purchase...

 in 1803, which his father helped found that year. Kilbourn's father was James Kilbourne

James Kilbourne

James Kilbourne was an American surveyor and politician from Ohio.Kilbourne was born in New Britain, Connecticut, and moved his family to Ohio in 1803, when he founded the city of Worthington, Ohio. In 1805 he was appointed United States surveyor of public lands...

, a colonel during the War of 1812

War of 1812

The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...

 and a U.S. Representative

United States House of Representatives

The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...

 from Ohio from 1813 to 1817.

Byron Kilbourn worked in Ohio as a surveyor and as a state engineer. He first visited Wisconsin

Wisconsin

Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...

 in 1834, landing at Green Bay

Green Bay, Wisconsin

Green Bay is a city in and the county seat of Brown County in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, located at the head of Green Bay, a sub-basin of Lake Michigan, at the mouth of the Fox River. It has an elevation of above sea level and is located north of Milwaukee. As of the 2010 United States Census,...

, and worked as a government surveyor in the area. He later deemed the area near the Milwaukee River

Milwaukee River

The Milwaukee River is a river in the state of Wisconsin. It is about long.- Description :The river begins in Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin and flows south past Grafton to downtown Milwaukee, where it empties into Lake Michigan...

 to be a promising location for commerce, and he purchased land there. In 1837 Byron Kilbourn founded Kilbourntown (present day Westown), which rivaled with Solomon Juneau's Juneautown (present day East Town) and George Walker

George H. Walker

George H. Walker was an American trader and politician who helped found the city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.Walker was born in Lynchburg, Virginia. He moved with his family to Illinois in 1825....

's Walker's Point. In 1846, the three combined and formed the city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Wisconsin

Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...

. Kilbourn served as a Milwaukee alderman and was elected to two non-consecutive terms as mayor in 1848 and 1854.

When working as a highway commissioner for the Wisconsin Territorial Legislature, he also founded what was to become the City of West Bend

West Bend, Wisconsin

West Bend is a city in and the county seat of Washington County, Wisconsin, United States in southeastern Wisconsin. The population was estimated to be 29,894 in 2008...

 in 1845 and later Kilbourn City, now known as the Wisconsin Dells

Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin

Wisconsin Dells is a city in south-central Wisconsin, with a population of 2,418 as of the 2000 census. It straddles four counties: Adams, Columbia, Juneau, and Sauk. The city takes its name from the dells of the Wisconsin River, a scenic, glacially formed gorge that features striking sandstone...

. Byron Kilbourn also became involved in the railroad industry, and served as president of the Milwaukee and Mississippi Railroad for about three years until 1852. He was fired by his directors. Then, he started a new railroad from Milwaukee to La Crosse

La Crosse, Wisconsin

La Crosse is a city in and the county seat of La Crosse County, Wisconsin, United States. The city lies alongside the Mississippi River.The 2011 Census Bureau estimates the city had a population of 52,485...

, on the border of Minnesota

Minnesota

Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...

 and Wisconsin

Wisconsin

Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...

.

Near the end of his life, he moved to Florida

Florida

Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

, where he died in 1870, aged 69, and was buried in Jacksonville.

In 1998 his remains were transported back to Milwaukee for interment at Forest Home Cemetery

Forest Home Cemetery

Forest Home Cemetery located in the Lincoln Village neighborhood of Milwaukee, Wisconsin is the final resting place of many of the city's famed beer barons, politicians and social elite...

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