Isaac Elijah Messmore (August 21, 1821 – January 8, 1902) was a Canadian American lawyer, politician, and Union Army officer in the American Civil War. He also held public office as a Wisconsin Circuit Court Judge and as a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly.

Quick Facts Wisconsin Circuit Court Judge for the 6th Circuit, Appointed by ...

Isaac E. Messmore
Photograph from Los Angeles Times obituary
Wisconsin Circuit Court Judge for the 6th Circuit
In office April 10, 1861 – August 28, 1861
Appointed by	Alexander Randall
Preceded by	George W. Gale
Succeeded by	George W. Gale
Member of the Wisconsin State Assembly from the La Crosse–Monroe district
In office January 1, 1861 – April 10, 1861
Preceded by	John J. McKay
Succeeded by	Thomas Benton Stoddard (La Crosse district) Joseph M. Morrow (Monroe district)
Personal details
Born	Isaac Elijah Messmore (1821-08-21)August 21, 1821 Upper Canada, British Empire
Died	January 8, 1902(1902-01-08) (aged 80) Los Angeles County, California, U.S.
Cause of death	Pneumonia
Resting place	Angelus-Rosedale Cemetery Los Angeles, California
Political party	Democratic Republican (before 1870)
Spouses	Editha Helen McKenney (m. 1848; died 1860) Margaret A. Hull (m. 1861; died 1902)
Children	Charles Messmore Florence Helen (Kendall) (b. 1848; died 1900) William Hull (stepson)
Parents	John Messmore (father) Jane (Moat) Messmore (mother)
Alma mater	Richmond Law School
Profession	Politician
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Branch/service	United States Army Union Army
Years of service	1862–1863
Rank	Colonel, USV
Unit	14th Reg. Wis. Vol. Infantry
Commands	31st Reg. Wis. Vol. Infantry
Battles/wars	American Civil War

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Born in Upper Canada, near Detroit, Isaac Messmore grew up in Michigan and later studied law as a young man, graduating from the Richmond Law School in Virginia; he went on to live in La Crosse, Wisconsin, where he practiced law in the 1850s.

In 1861, he served in the Wisconsin State Assembly as a Republican. Later in 1861, he was appointed a Wisconsin Circuit Court judge; however, his appointment to the bench was ruled to have been improperly authorized by the governor, and thus invalid.^[1]

Messmore next went on to serve in the 31st Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry Regiment during the American Civil War, attaining the rank of colonel.

After the end of the war, Messmore resettled in Washington, D.C., where he was very soon appointed assistant commissioner of the Internal Revenue Bureau. While in Washington, in 1867, he acquired the Meridian Hill estate, an older property which sat a short distance north of the White House; he then subdivided this tract of land, and its lots were sold to create a new neighborhood.^[2]

In the late 1860s, he next served on the Metropolitan Revenue Board of the City of New York, primarily fighting excise-tax fraud. Messmore subsequently moved to Grand Rapids, Michigan, where he purchased and became, in 1881, the editor and publisher of the newspaper The Democrat.

He relocated to California, in 1886, first to Orange County, and then to Los Angeles, where he formed a successful law partnership with fellow Wisconsin transplant Amasa Cobb.^[3] He was also active in the California Democratic Party and was an unsuccessful candidate for the United States House of Representatives in California's 6th congressional district in 1894.^[4] Colonel Messmore was noted to have been a defender of the rights of the average citizen against the economic power of the railroads.

Isaac first married Editha McKenney in 1848; she died about 1860. He remarried, in about 1861, Margaret A. Jones (née Hull) of New York, who lived with him until his death. Children: a son, Charles and a daughter, Florence, as well as an adopted stepson, William Hull.

Isaac Messmore died in California in 1902, two days after the death of his wife, Margaret. Both died of pneumonia.^[5] Messmore died in Los Angeles, California on January 8, 1902.^[6][7]