Jüssen was born in Jülich, in the Kingdom of Prussia to Jacob Jüssen (1802–1880), a wealthy cloth merchant who served as Burgermeister of Jülich. Swept up in the 1848 Revolutions, Jüssen's opportunities for education in Germany were limited due to his political affiliations, and he elected to instead travel to the United States with his uncle, Georg.[2] Jüssen's brother-in-law Carl Schurz also immigrated to America and in 1877 became United States Secretary of the Interior.
Career
Edmund Jüssen came to the Wisconsin Territory from Germany in 1847 and first found employment with the Hungarian nobleman Agoston Haraszthy, who helped the young man learn English through the use of his extensive library. Jüssen opened a store in Columbus soon thereafter. He then moved to Saint Louis, Missouri but returned to Columbus with his wife who succumbed to cholera shortly thereafter. He studied law and was admitted to the Wisconsin bar.[3] In 1853, Jüssen's father joined him in Wisconsin and eventually served as postmaster of Columbus.[4]
In an effort to establish himself in a larger community, Jüssen moved to Madison, where he was elected to the Wisconsin State Assembly in 1861 as a Republican.[4] He served in the 23rd Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry Regiment with the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel in the American Civil War.[4][3] Jüssen was well respected by his soldiers, and he was a strict disciplinarian that did not allow straggling or looting. He was wounded and returned home in 1863, though spent the remainder of his life suffering from chronic pain. After the war he practiced law in Chicago, Illinois.[4]
In 1869, Jüssen was appointed Collector of Internal Revenue for the First District of Illinois and it was during his tenure in this office that he discovered the earliest activities of the Whiskey Ring, prior to the outbreak of the scandal. Unable to bribe him into ceasing his investigations, whiskey distillers managed to secure his removal from office by the end of the year. Shortly thereafter, for health reasons, Jüssen and his family traveled to Germany. Whilst there, he was a correspondent for several American newspapers. He returned to the United States and resumed practicing law after a year and a half absence.
