Victims Targeted by the Draft Rioters

Milwaukee newspaper accounts in the aftermath of the riot identified seventeen people who suffered violent assaults or looting and destruction of their property. In analyzing who the victims of the rioters were, some clear patterns emerge. Maintaining a total value division of less than $1,000 for lower class, $1,000 to $3,000 for middle class, and above $3,000 for upper class, it is apparent that nine of the seventeen victims (53%) were in the upper class economic bracket. Some of these men were among the wealthiest in Port Washington. The owner/operator of the local grist mill, John Thomlinson, had $6,000 in assets. His mill was vandalized, his money stolen, and he fled for his life. The machinist who worked for him, B.C. Hoyt, had $15,000 in assets. Hoyt hid behind the warehouse at the mill and successfully avoided the rioters. Banker and former newspaper owner James Vail had $12,000 in assets. He fled town  with the bank’s assets to prevent its theft. Isaac Loomis was a government assessor and wealthy farmer with $8,000 in assets. His residence was completely looted and destroyed. Attorney Lafayette Towsley had $8,000 in assets, and rioters severely assaulted him until someone stepped in and prevented Towsley from being more seriously injured

It is telling that the contents of the local Masonic Lodge were completely destroyed. At least ten of the victims (59%) were Masons, and it's possible that there were more.  One victim was Andrew Blair, a young lawyer who was not yet wealthy, but was a Worshipful Master, which is the leader of the lodge (essentially, the president for a one-year term). The Masons and their lodge were targeted by the rioters because many of its members were the wealthy elite of Port Washington who rioters blamed for conspiring to conduct what they saw as a  fraudulent draft. Additionally, at least ten of the victims (59%) are identified as Republicans. So, affiliation with the Republican party also appears to have been a factor in targeting the victims of the rioters. Although, it is important to point out that at least three of the victims were Democrats – including Commissioner Pors, Judge Austin White and lawyer Lafayette Towsley. Regardless of their political party affiliation, these three Democrats were openly and actively involved in the draft process.   

Many of the victims were also government officials. Two of the victims were judges. Judge Austin White, who had $3,600 in assets, was also a Mason. County Judge Johnathan Downs had $3,000 in assets and was also a Mason. Judges White and Downs were both severely assaulted by the rioters. Five of the victims were identified as Draft Commissioners in a document filed with both the Wisconsin Legislature and the U.S. Congress seeking compensation for their losses. These commissioners were William Pors, Dr. Henry Stillman, Isaac Loomis, Hannibal Hunt and Andrew Blair. Collectively these five victims filed reimbursement claims totaling $8,400 for destruction and loss of property. Pors claim accounted for 38% of these reimbursement claims, but his losses amounted to much greater than financial losses. His head wounds were so severe that he was bedridden recovering for ten days. Pors also completely lost the law practice and government positions which he had spent several years cultivating in Port Washington. The assault and vandalism so thoroughly terrified the Pors family that they left for good the day of the riot, never to return.