Eliab B. Dean Jr.

Eliab Byram Dean Jr., (November 7, 1819 – July 22, 1900) was an American businessman, Democratic politician, and Wisconsin pioneer.

He served as Superintendent of Public Property under Governor William Robert Taylor, and was a member of the Wisconsin State Senate for the 1851 and 1852 sessions, representing Dane County.

In 1842, he settled at the village of Madison and started a merchant business with his brother, Nathaniel W. Dean, dealing in dry goods and other groceries.

He was a political ally and business partner of other prominent Madison Democrats, such as Levi Baker Vilas, Simeon Mills, and his father-in-law Jairus C. Fairchild.

Later that year, he was appointed probate judge for Dane County by Territorial Governor Henry Dodge, ultimately serving until the fall of 1848.

[3] After his Senate term, with a Democratic President in power in Washington, Dean began to seek federal appointments.

Sarah's younger brothers, Cassius and Lucius, were also prominent Democratic politicians in the 1850s and popular Union Army colonels in the American Civil War.