the inauguration of James K. Polk in 1845. In 1846, Madison was formally incorporated as a Village and Sutherland became the first President of the Village of Madison. That same year, he became one of the founders of the Wisconsin Historical Society and served as the first Secretary of the organization under President A. Hyatt Smith. In 1848, after Wisconsin became the 30th state, Sutherland was again named United States Attorney to fill the vacancy created by William Pitt Lynde, who had resigned after he was elected to Wisconsin's first congressional delegation. In that consequential year, the new state legislature formalized the state University and established the first Board of Regents. Sutherland was appointed to the Board of Regents by Governor Nelson Dewey, along with other early Wisconsin dwellers Edward V. Whiton, Alexander L. Collins, John H. Rountree, and Rufus King. California In the spring of 1849, Sutherland left Wisconsin for California, which had just been annexed by the United States in the Mexican–American War. He traveled over land with a group including Count Agoston Haraszthy and his family. He settled in San Diego, where, in 1850, he served as the final Alcalde (Mayor) of San Diego prior to California becoming a state. That year, on May 5, he and his wife welcomed a son, Thomas, who is claimed to be the first "white" child born in the territory. He then became District Attorney for San Diego County in 1851. They moved to San Francisco in 1852, where Sutherland continued his law practice. He died on February 2, 1859, in Sacramento, California, and was buried at Lone Mountain Cemetery in San Francisco. References See also Thomas W. Sutherland biography in Smythe's History of San Diego Thomas A. Sutherland obituary 1850 Census, San Diego, California, p. 278A 1810s births 1859 deaths San Diego City Attorneys District attorneys in California Mayors of Madison, Wisconsin United States Attorneys for the District of Wisconsin 19th-century American lawyers 19th-century American politicians Burials at Laurel Hill Cemetery (San Francisco)