# Isaac Atwater *American lawyer, judge, politician and historian (1818–1906)* Isaac Atwater was a lawyer, judge, politician and historian. He was born on May 3, 1818, and died on December 22, 1906.[^1] He moved from New York to St. Anthony, [[Minnesota Territory]], in 1850 and practised law there.[^2] The Minnesota Judicial Branch biography identifies him as an associate justice of the [[Minnesota Supreme Court]].[^3] He appears in the Minnesota record through the [[Wright County War]] of 1858–1859. A composite account of that episode, drawn from contemporaneous newspaper reporting, places writs of habeas corpus issued by Justice Atwater circa April 11–13, 1859. In that account the writs follow the jury acquittal of [[Oscar F. Jackson]] on April 3 and his re-arrest on a theft charge on April 8.[^4] The project's dossier records that the writs are known only from secondary sources and that the original writ text has not been located.[^5] ## Biography Atwater was born in Homer, New York. His father, Ezra Atwater, was a farmer, and his mother was Esther Leaming. Both parents came from Connecticut, and Isaac was the ninth of their eleven children.[^6] His father could not pay for further schooling, so he taught to earn his place at Yale University, which he entered in 1840. He became an editor of the *Yale Literary Magazine* as a senior and finished in the top quarter of the class of 1844.[^6] A year teaching at a private school in Macon, Georgia, paid his way into Yale Law School in 1845. He graduated in 1847, was admitted to the New York bar, and opened his own office in Nassau.[^6] In August 1849 Atwater married Permelia A. Sanborn, a native of Geddes, New York.[^2] Symptoms of tuberculosis led the couple in 1850 to St. Anthony, Minnesota Territory. There he bought land for $800 on credit and cleared the debt within two years from his law earnings.[^2] He first practised in partnership with John W. North, a former schoolmate. After they parted in 1851 he practised alone.[^2] ## Isaac and Permelia Atwater House At one time Atwater bought a house in [[Shakopee]], Minnesota. The house was built in the 1850s and later came to be called the Isaac and Permelia Atwater House, although it is uncertain whether he ever lived there.[^7] The organisation Murphy's Landing maintains it along with other historic houses of the [[Minnesota River]] Valley, and Permelia Atwater wrote about the house and its garden.[^7] In 1983 woodworking students of Dakota County Area Vocational Technical Institute renovated the house. They refinished its woodwork and fitted new door jambs and windowsills in place of worn ones.[^7] ## Publications Atwater wrote a history of [[Minneapolis]]. It was published in 1893 in two parts as *History of the City of Minneapolis, Minnesota*, Part I and Part II.[^8] ## In the Minnesota record ### Who - The Minnesota Judicial Branch biography identifies Isaac Atwater as an associate justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court in the period of the Wright County War.[^3] - A composite account of the Wright County War names Justice Atwater as the issuer of writs of habeas corpus in April 1859.[^4] ### What - The composite account attributes writs of habeas corpus to Atwater. The record in the pack does not include the writs themselves, and the original writ text has not been located.[^4][^5] ### When - The composite account gives this sequence:[^4] - Henry A. Wallace was found murdered; the account dates this to September 1858. - Oscar F. Jackson was arrested in October 1858. - A jury acquitted Jackson on April 3, 1859. - He was re-arrested on a theft charge on April 8. - Atwater issued writs of habeas corpus circa April 11–13. - A mob besieged the Holdship farmstead on April 24. - Jackson was lynched on April 25. - The Sibley reward proclamation of $500 was issued on April 29. - Atwater was born on May 3, 1818, and died on December 22, 1906.[^1] ### Where - He settled in St. Anthony, Minnesota Territory, in 1850.[^2] ### Why - He moved to Minnesota Territory on account of poor health, including symptoms of tuberculosis.[^2] ### How much - He paid $800, on credit, for land in St. Anthony and paid off the debt within two years.[^2] - The composite account records a $500 reward proclamation after Jackson's death.[^4] ## Notes [^1]: Wikipedia contributors, *Isaac Atwater* (rev. 1336029855, retrieved 2026-10-26) — birth and death dates; occupations. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Atwater [^2]: Wikipedia contributors, *Isaac Atwater*, "Biography" section (rev. 1336029855, retrieved 2026-10-26) — marriage, 1850 move to St. Anthony for health, $800 land purchase, practice with John W. North until 1851. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Atwater [^3]: Minnesota Judicial Branch, *Associate Justice Isaac Atwater* (biography; date not given in pack) — Atwater's service on the Minnesota Supreme Court in the relevant period. https://mncourts.libguides.com/atwater [^4]: Wikipedia contributors, *Wright County War* (composite account from contemporaneous newspaper reporting, as summarized in project dossier of 2026-09-02) — sequence from the Wallace murder through the April 29, 1859 reward proclamation, including Atwater's habeas writs circa April 11–13, 1859. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wright_County_War [^5]: Project dossier, *Insurrection Doctrine 5000 Steelman*, note 4 (2026-09-02) — records that the April 1859 habeas writs are secondary-sourced and the original writ text has not been located (gap G-6); cites the Judicial Branch biography for Atwater's service only. https://mncourts.libguides.com/atwater [^6]: Wikipedia contributors, *Isaac Atwater*, "Biography" section (rev. 1336029855, retrieved 2026-10-26) — birthplace, parents, education at Yale and Yale Law School, New York practice. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Atwater [^7]: Wikipedia contributors, *Isaac Atwater*, "Isaac and Permelia Atwater House" section (rev. 1336029855, retrieved 2026-10-26) — the Shakopee house, Murphy's Landing, 1983 renovation. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Atwater [^8]: Wikipedia contributors, *Isaac Atwater*, "Publications" section (rev. 1336029855, retrieved 2026-10-26) — the two-part 1893 history of Minneapolis. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Atwater