After being discharged, Lees returned to Buffalo County and established a home in Gilmantown. His wounds left him incapable of farm work, so he devoted the next several years to teaching at rural schools and was subsequently elected superintendent of schools for Buffalo County.[1]
Lees became active with the Democratic Party of Wisconsin. In 1872, he won election to the Wisconsin State Assembly, representing Buffalo County's Assembly district.[3] He continued studying law and was admitted to the bar shortly after his Assembly term. In 1881, he was elected county judge of Buffalo County, and was subsequently re-elected in 1885, 1889, 1893, 1897, 1901, and 1905. While serving as judge, he was elected to the Wisconsin State Senate in 1890 in Wisconsin's 29th State Senate district, then-comprising Buffalo, Barron, Dunn, and Pepin counties.[4] He was not a candidate for re-election to the Senate in 1894. He served as county judge for the rest of his life.[5]
Lees suffered a Stroke in September 1908, and died a few days later at his home in Alma, Wisconsin.[5]
Personal life and family
Robert Lees was the son of Edward Lees. Edward Lees was also a self-taught lawyer and served four terms in the Wisconsin State Assembly. On March 4, 1865, Robert Lees married Mary Baertsch, the daughter of another family of Buffalo County pioneers. They had six children together.[1]
Robert Lees was described as a friend of Edward S. Bragg, who had been colonel of the 6th Wisconsin Infantry and later served as a U.S. congressman and a leader of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin.[5] In Bragg's final bid for election to the United States Senate in 1893, Lees was the sole vote for Bragg in the official tabulation.[6]
Electoral history
Wisconsin Assembly (1872)
Wisconsin Assembly, Buffalo District Election, 1872[3]