Christopher S. Raesser was a commission merchant and a Republican

Republican Party (United States)

The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

 member of the Wisconsin State Assembly

Wisconsin State Assembly

The Wisconsin State Assembly is the lower house of the Wisconsin Legislature. Together with the smaller Wisconsin Senate, the two constitute the legislative branch of the U.S. state of Wisconsin....

 from Milwaukee.

Straesser was born in Rochester, New York

Rochester, New York

Rochester is a city in Monroe County, New York, south of Lake Ontario in the United States. Known as The World's Image Centre, it was also once known as The Flour City, and more recently as The Flower City...

, but came to 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 1846. He received a business education, graduating from a commercial college

Business school

A business school is a university-level institution that confers degrees in Business Administration. It teaches topics such as accounting, administration, economics, entrepreneurship, finance, information systems, marketing, organizational behavior, public relations, strategy, human resource...

, and worked as a wood

Wood

Wood is a hard, fibrous tissue found in many trees. It has been used for hundreds of thousands of years for both fuel and as a construction material. It is an organic material, a natural composite of cellulose fibers embedded in a matrix of lignin which resists compression...

 and bark

Bark

Bark is the outermost layers of stems and roots of woody plants. Plants with bark include trees, woody vines and shrubs. Bark refers to all the tissues outside of the vascular cambium and is a nontechnical term. It overlays the wood and consists of the inner bark and the outer bark. The inner...

 salesman. He served in the 3rd Regiment of the Wisconsin Volunteer Cavalry from 1862–1866, mostly as a clerk in the District of the Frontier, Department of the Missouri, where he participated in Indian fighting in western Kansas

Kansas

Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...

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Elected office

In the 1878 Assembly election for the sixth district of Milwaukee County (the sixth and thirteenth wards of the City of Milwaukee), Raesser defeated incumbent Assemblyman Henry Smith

Henry Smith (Wisconsin)

Henry Smith was a millwright and politician who was elected a member of the United States House of Representatives from Wisconsin from 1887 - 1889 as a member of the Union Labor Party. He also served as a Socialist member of the Wisconsin State Assembly in 1878...

, who received only 253 votes as the Greenback Party nominee, to 488 for Democrat Alonzo H. Richards and 716 for Raesser. He was elected again in 1879.

In 1888 he was elected again to the Assembly, receiving 2385 votes to 1398 for Democrat

Democratic Party (United States)

The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

 Jacob Truss, 808 for E. J. Mansar (Union Labor) and 103 for Socialist

Social Democratic Party (United States)

The Social Democratic Party of America was a short-lived political party in the United States, established in 1898. The group was formed out of elements of the Social Democracy of America , and was a predecessor to the Socialist Party of America, established in 1901.-Forerunners:Following the...

 Will Koenig. By the time of his return to the Assembly, he described himself as a "merchant and vessel owner." Incumbent Joseph Meyers

Joseph Meyers

Joseph A. Meyers was a stonecutter from Milwaukee, Wisconsin who served one term as a Populist member of the Wisconsin State Assembly from Milwaukee.- Background :...

 of the Populists was not on the ballot. Raesser was succeeded by fellow Republican William Pierron

William Pierron

William Pierron was a Republican member of the Wisconsin State Assembly from Milwaukee for two terms ....

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