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Biography For Stephen Alban

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Author:
Bill Hart

Background:

Son of James S. and Amanda (Harris) Alban, Stephan Alban was born in Stark County, Ohio on April 7, 1836.When the Indian title to the lands on the west side of the Wisconsin River in Sauk County was extinguished in 1837, James Alban moved his family to Wisconsin and became the first settler on government lands on what is now Sauk City.  James Alban practiced law until enlisting in the military for the Civil War.  He commanded the 18^th Regiment, Wisconsin Volunteers until he was killed in action at the Battle of Shilo.  Young Stephan attended the common schools of the area, Lawrence College in Appleton and the University at Madison.  He was admitted to the bar in Portage County in March 1857, having studied in his father's office.

Accomplishments:

Stephan moved to Grand Rapids (now Wisconsin Rapids), WI where he was appointed District Attorney and practiced there until 1858, when he moved back to Plover to form a law partnership with his father.  In the spring of 1862 he was appointed by President Abraham Lincoln as Register of the Land Office at Stevens Point, which he held until March 1884.

Mr. Alban moved to Wausau, WI in 1872.  After his term as register expired in 1884 he returned to the private practice of law and was appointed Municipal Judge of Marathon County.  In 1888 he moved to Rhinelander, WI and formed a partnership with John Barnes, later Justice of the Supreme Court.  The firm of Alban & Barnes dissolved in July 1897.  In 1906 Mr. Alban was appointed postmaster at Rhinelander, an office he held until the time of his death.

In September 1869, Stephan Alban was married to Miss Helen N. Cowan of Menasha, WI.  Together they had three daughters.  Mr. Alban was an ardent Mason, holding virtually every post and award in the Masonic Order.  As a versatile writer and brilliant orator, he contributed often to magazines and local newspapers.  During his time in Wausau, using the moniker “Rambler,” he contributed enough articles to the Pilot to make up an entire book.  While in Rhinelander, he published what he called “Lay Sermons,” which he said “seemed to the writer simply a convenient and possibly an effective medium for heart-to-heart talks with his neighbors.”

Stephan Alban died in Rhinelander, WI from complications from pneumonia on December 27, 1913.  He is buried in the Rhinelander Cemetery.

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Other Information

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Nickname: Harris

Date of Birth: 4/7/1836

Place of Birth: Ohio

Date of Death: 12/271913

Place of Death: Wisconsin

Place of Burial: Forest Home Rhinelander, WI

Race: W

Father's Birthplace: Ohio

Mother's Birthplace: Ohio

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