Levi Baker Vilas

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Levi Baker Vilas (February 25, 1811 – February 6, 1879) was a Vermont-born American lawyer, banker, and politician who helped shape the early city of Madison, Wisconsin. An active Democrat with early anti-Masonic ties, he built a wide-ranging career in both Vermont and Wisconsin and was the father of William Freeman Vilas, who later became a U.S. senator and a cabinet member.

In Vermont, Vilas was a leading Democrat. He served in the Vermont House of Representatives from 1840 to 1844 and in the Vermont Senate from 1845 to 1847. He was involved in banking and local politics, ran for the U.S. House of Representatives in 1844, and sought the U.S. Senate in 1848.

Vilas moved to Wisconsin in 1850, settling in Madison where he quickly became a central figure in business and politics. He set up a law practice, invested in real estate and finance, and helped launch several enterprises. He was among the founders of the Vilas House hotel (opened in 1853), the Dane County Bank (where he was the first president), and, with partners, the Madison Gas Light and Coke Company and the Madison Hydraulic Company. He also contributed to the Wisconsin Historical Society and served as a university regent.

Politically, Vilas remained active in the Democratic Party in Wisconsin. He served as the 4th mayor of Madison from April 1861 to April 1862, a period dominated by issues related to the Civil War, peace, and the city’s volunteer army. He won the mayor’s race unopposed, but his bid for a second term faced strong opposition, and an independent run with Republican support defeated him.

Vilas served three terms in the Wisconsin State Assembly representing Dane County: 1855–1856, 1868–1869, and 1873–1874. He was a delegate to the National Union Convention in 1866 and remained active in Democratic politics for many years, including a 1871–1872 campaign for the state senate.

He died in Madison from pneumonia in 1879 and was buried in Forest Hill Cemetery. Vilas’s Madison home is in what is now the Langdon Street Historic District. He and Esther Green Smilie, whom he married in 1837, had ten children, including William Freeman Vilas, who would become a U.S. senator and cabinet member.