# Samuel P. Jennison *Minnesota politician, teacher, librarian, lawyer and Union Army brigadier general (1830–1909)* Samuel Pearce Jennison (May 9, 1830 – November 30, 1909), whose middle name also appears as Pierce, was a [[Minnesota]] lawyer, librarian and politician who reached the rank of brigadier general in the Union Army during the American Civil War.[^1] He entered the war as adjutant of the [[2nd Minnesota Infantry Regiment]]. After it he held three posts in state government: Chief Clerk of the [[Minnesota House of Representatives]], Secretary of the [[Minnesota Senate]], and [[Minnesota Secretary of State]].[^1] Jennison was born in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. He taught school in New Hampshire, read law there and was admitted to the bar in 1857, and in the same year settled in Saint Paul, [[Minnesota Territory]].[^1] He was a Republican. He was private secretary to three Republican governors between 1860 and 1887, and he won the 1871 election for Secretary of State against a Democratic opponent.[^1] He later ran newspapers in [[Red Wing, Minnesota]]. In 1897 he moved to Covina, California, where he grew citrus and where he died in 1909.[^1] ## Early life His parents were James Jennison and Mary Lamb Jennison. After common schooling he attended Harvard University.[^1] He was a skilled singer from youth, though he did not make entertainment his career.[^1] His first move was to New Hampshire. There he taught and eventually became principal of the high school in Concord.[^1] He read law in New Hampshire under [[John B. Sanborn]] and C. C. Lund and passed the state's bar examination in 1857.[^1] He moved to Saint Paul that year and joined the law office of [[David Cooper (jurist)|David Cooper]], an Associate Justice in Minnesota. The two men then formed the firm Cooper & Jennison.[^1] In Minnesota he also undertook college-level legal study with [[Edward Duffield Neill]]. He became an active Republican.[^1] In August 1858 he married Lucia A. Wood (1838–1922) during a visit to Concord, New Hampshire, and they had four sons.[^1] That December he and Russell C. Munger organized the Olympic Baseball Club of St. Paul. Jennison was its first captain, and the club is recorded among the earliest baseball teams in St. Paul.[^1] He served as head librarian of the [[Minnesota State Law Library]] from January 2, 1860, until January 24, 1861, by appointment of Governor [[Alexander Ramsey]]. Over 1860–1861 he was also Ramsey's personal secretary.[^1] ## American Civil War ### 2nd Minnesota Infantry Regiment When the Civil War began, Jennison left his clerical and library posts and joined the Union Army.[^1] He was enrolled on June 17, 1861, as a second lieutenant in Company D of the 2nd Minnesota, commanded by Captain Horace Henry Western.[^1] On January 17, 1862, he became a first lieutenant and was named regimental adjutant under Colonel Horatio P. Van Cleve.[^1] He was with the regiment for its first two engagements, at the Battle of Mill Springs and the Siege of Corinth.[^1] He was promoted to lieutenant colonel in August 1862. He was then ordered back to Minnesota to help raise the [[10th Minnesota Infantry Regiment]], whose colonel was James Heaton Baker.[^1] ### 10th Minnesota Infantry Regiment He held the lieutenant colonelcy of the 10th Minnesota for the regiment's whole term, from its August 1862 muster to its August 1865 muster-out.[^1] The regiment was raised during the [[Dakota War of 1862]]. Elements of it, chiefly Company B, took part in relieving the [[Battle of Fort Ridgely]] and in the [[Battles of New Ulm]], the [[Battle of Acton]], the [[Attack on Hutchinson]] and the [[Battle of Wood Lake]].[^1] In [[Sibley's 1863 Campaign]] against the [[Dakota people]], Jennison commanded a battalion of the regiment at the Battle of Big Mound. The battalion was formed from companies A, C, F and K.[^1] The 10th Minnesota afterward fought at the Battle of Dead Buffalo Lake and the Battle of Stony Lake.[^1] Clinton B. Fisk named Jennison provost marshal of Northern Missouri in March 1864.[^1] He ended the war as a brigadier general.[^1] ## Political career From 1867 until he retired to California in 1897, Jennison worked in Minnesota politics.[^1] He was Chief Clerk of the House in three sessions: the [[9th Minnesota Legislature]] in 1867, the [[10th Minnesota Legislature]] in 1868 and the [[13th Minnesota Legislature]] in 1871.[^1] In the [[1871 Minnesota Secretary of State election]], Jennison defeated the Democratic candidate, Erik N. Falk.[^1] He sought a second term in the [[1873 Minnesota Secretary of State election]], where his Democratic opponent was John H. Stevens. The source does not state the result.[^1] During the 22nd Minnesota Legislature, 1881–1882, he was Secretary of the Minnesota Senate.[^1] He was also private political secretary to three Minnesota governors. These were Alexander Ramsey (1860–1861), [[William Rainey Marshall]] (1867–1870) and [[Lucius Frederick Hubbard]] (1882–1887).[^1] ## Other work and later life In 1870 Jennison settled in Red Wing and took work with the *Goodhue County Republican*.[^1] He brought about the merger of many of the town's newspapers and established the Red Wing Printing Company.[^1] He later served as editor-in-chief of the *Red Wing Republican* and left that post in 1894.[^1] In 1897 he relocated to Covina, California. There he grew citrus fruit and headed the Covina Citrus Association of California.[^1] He died in Covina on November 30, 1909. His place of burial is recorded as unknown.[^1] ## In the Minnesota record ### Who - Samuel Pearce Jennison, Republican. He was Chief Clerk of the Minnesota House of Representatives, Secretary of the Minnesota Senate and Minnesota Secretary of State, and he ended the Civil War as a Union brigadier general.[^1] ### What - Head librarian, Minnesota State Law Library (January 2, 1860 – January 24, 1861), by appointment of Governor Alexander Ramsey.[^1] - Lieutenant colonel, 10th Minnesota Infantry Regiment (August 1862 – August 1865). He commanded a battalion at the Battle of Big Mound in Sibley's 1863 Campaign.[^1] ### When - Born May 9, 1830; admitted to the New Hampshire bar in 1857; enrolled in Company D, 2nd Minnesota, June 17, 1861; promoted to first lieutenant January 17, 1862.[^1] - Won the 1871 Secretary of State election; Secretary of the Minnesota Senate 1881–1882; died November 30, 1909.[^1] ### Where - Born in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. He practiced law in Saint Paul from 1857, moved to Red Wing in 1870 and moved to Covina, California, in 1897.[^1] ## Notes [^1]: Wikipedia contributors, *Samuel P. Jennison* (retrieved 2026-10-25; revision 1378571286), CC BY-SA 4.0 — biographical summary of Jennison's birth, education, law practice, library and secretarial posts, Civil War service, elections and offices, newspaper work and death. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_P._Jennison