Biography
Alonzo Edgertonwas born in Rome, New York. Edgerton graduated from Wesleyan University in 1850, and there became a member of the Mystical Seven. He read law in 1855. After residing in Mississippi and Illinois for periods of time, Edgerton settled in Mantorville in 1855 and was admitted to the bar. In 1859 he was elected to the Minnesota State Senate. In 1862 Edgerton organized a company of militia which later constituted Company B of the Tenth Minnesota Infantry Volunteers. By January 1864 he had risen to the rank of Colonel of the 67th Regiment Infantry U.S. Colored Troops. He was breveted a Brigadier General on March 13, 1865 and confirmed on April 10, 1866.
Returning to Minnesota, he was in private practice of law in Mantorville, Minnesota from 1867 to 1871. Edgerton became a regent of the University of Minnesota and was in 1872 was appointed as the first state railroad commissioner. After his term ended in 1876 Edgerton returned to the state senate. He was appointed U.S. Senator from Minnesota as a Republican, and served from March 12, 1881 to October 30, 1881 in the 47th congress. Edgerton was a replacement for Senator William Windom, who became Secretary of the Treasury under President James A. Garfield; Windom left the cabinet after Garfield's brief presidency and then was re-elected to serve out the remainder of his own term. Edgerton was later appointed chief justice of the Territorial Supreme Court of Dakota.
When South Dakota was admitted as a State into the Union, he was made United States judge of that district. He also served as president of the constitutional convention of South Dakota. He was a freemason. He died in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
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