Samuel Gonsalus Bugh (January 21, 1821 – August 10, 1875) was an American physician, newspaper publisher, politician, and Wisconsin pioneer.
[3] He was appointed to a commission for the construction of the first Wisconsin Asylum for the Insane in April 1854, by Governor William A. Barstow.
[4] Bugh's reputation was tarred for his part in the commission, and for his association with the administration of Governor Barstow, which had a number of other corruption issues.
[6] A year later, the Bugh appointment still ranked as a strike against Randall as he sought renomination from the Republican State Convention.
Before the Civil War, Bugh was a frequent attendee at Democratic county, district, and state conventions.
Buchanan had, in fact, been working for two years to admit Kansas as a slave state, but his efforts had created a schism in the Democratic Party that would bring about the election of a Republican administration.
He had booked passage on the steamer War Eagle to carry postage from La Crosse to the southeast.
The steamer was preparing to get underway from La Crosse, Wisconsin, when an accidental fire spread over the entire ship.