Cadwallader C. Washburn

Overview

order	11th
office	Governor of Wisconsin
term start	January 1, 1872
term end	January 5, 1874
lieutenant	Milton Pettit
predecessor	Lucius Fairchild
successor	William Robert Taylor
office1	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Wisconsin
constituency1	6th congressional district
term start1	March 4, 1867
term end1	March 3, 1871
predecessor1	Walter D. McIndoe
successor1	Jeremiah McLain Rusk
constituency2	2nd congressional district
term start2	March 4, 1855
term end2	March 3, 1861
predecessor2	Ben C. Eastman
successor2	Luther Hanchett
birth date	April 22, 1818
birth place	Livermore, Massachusetts, U.S. (now Maine)
death date	May 14, 1882
death place	Eureka Springs, Arkansas, U.S.
resting place	Oak Grove Cemetery, La Crosse, Wisconsin
party	Republican
profession	lawyer, politician
spouse	Jeannette Garr (m. 1849-1882)
children	Jeanette Garr (Kelsey) (b. 1850; died 1931) Frances (Payson) (b. 1852; died 1925)
father	Israel Washburn Sr.
mother	Martha (Benjamin) Washburn
relatives	Israel Washburn Jr. (brother) Elihu B. Washburne (brother) William D. Washburn (brother) Charles Ames Washburn (brother) Albert Kelsey (grandson) Dorilus Morrison (cousin) Ganem W. Washburn (cousin)
allegiance	United States
branch	United States Volunteers Union Army
service years	1862–1865
rank	Major General
commands	2nd Reg. Wis. Vol. Cavalry 1st Div, XIII Corps
battles	American Civil War * Battle of Cotton Plant * Vicksburg Campaign Siege of Vicksburg Jackson Expedition * Banks' Texas Coast Operations Battle of Brownsville Battle of Mustang Island ** Battle of Fort Esperanza * Second Battle of Memphis

Cadwallader Colden Washburn (April 22, 1818 –May 14, 1882) was an American businessman, Republican politician, and Wisconsin pioneer. He was the 11th governor of Wisconsin (1872–1874) and served 10 years in the U.S. House of Representatives, representing western Wisconsin. As a businessman, he acquired and grew the Minneapolis Milling Company, creating the business that would later become General Mills. During the American Civil War, Washburn also distinguished himself as a Union Army officer, and rose to the rank of major general, leading forces in the western theater of the war.

Cadwallader Washburn was a member of the Washburn family of Maine. His brother, Israel Washburn Jr., was the 29th governor of Maine, and another brother, William D. Washburn, served as a United States senator from Minnesota. Two other brothers were also notable politicians and diplomats.

Education and early career

Washburn was born in Livermore, Massachusetts (now Livermore, Maine),[1] the son of Martha (née Benjamin) and Israel Washburn Sr. He was one of seven brothers, who included Israel Washburn Jr.,

Business

Land speculation and banking

In 1844, Washburn formed a partnership with land agent Cyrus Woodman. Together the two men developed a number of companies, such as the Wisconsin Mining Company. The most successful business venture undertaken by the men was land acquisition. In May 1855 they established Washburn's and Woodman's Mineral Point Bank. Washburn and Woodman dissolved their partnership amicably in 1855.

Minneapolis Mill Company

In 1856, the Minneapolis Mill Company was chartered by the Minnesota territorial legislature. Among the incorporators were Washburn's cousin Dorilus Morrison, and Robert Smith, an Illinois congressman who had acquired the rights to the water power at the west side of St. Anthony Falls in Minneapolis. The company struggled initially, and several of the early investors sold out. Washburn bought in and eventually became president. His brother William moved to Minneapolis about that time, and actively managed the company. The company built a dam, a canal and a complex set of water transfer tunnels which were then leased, along with land that the company owned at the foot of the falls, to a variety of mills – cotton mills, woolen mills, sawmills and grist/flour mills. Eventually the work and investment of the two brothers paid off well, and they used their new-found capital to invest in mills themselves.

Lumber

In 1853, Washburn built a mill at Waubeck on the Chippewa River. In 1859 Washburn moved to La Crosse, Wisconsin, and after his war time service, he engaged in a project to clear the Black River to make it easier to drive logs. In 1871 he formed the La Crosse Lumber Company, which eventually sawed 20,000,000 board feet of lumber annually. He also had the largest shingle mill in the upper Mississippi valley.

Flour

In 1866, he built his own Washburn "B" Mill, which was thought at the time to be too large to ever turn a profit. However, he succeeded and in 1874 built an even larger Washburn "A" Mill. The original "A" mill complex was destroyed, along with several nearby buildings, in a flour explosion in 1878, but was later rebuilt.[3] In 1877, Washburn teamed with John Crosby to form the Washburn-Crosby Company. At the same time, Washburn sent William Hood Dunwoody to England to open that market for spring wheat.[4] Successful, Dunwoody became a silent partner and went on to become one of the wealthiest millers in the world. Dunwoody became a philanthropist endowing hospitals, educational facilities which became Dunwoody College of Technology, and a charitable home which ultimately became Dunwoody Village. The corporation eventually became known as General Mills.[4]

Politics and military career

In 1854, Washburn ran for Congress as a Republican, later serving three terms as part of the 34th, 35th and 36th United States Congresses representing Wisconsin's 2nd congressional district, from March 4, 1855, to March 3, 1861. During the 34th Congress, he and his brothers voted for Nathaniel Banks during the protracted 1855-56 House of Representatives Speaker election.[5] In his last term Washburn served as chairman of the Committee on Private Land Claims. He declined to run again in 1860.

The Washburn family had always been strongly opposed to slavery. Washburn moved to La Crosse, Wisconsin, in 1861 but returned to Washington, D.C., later that year as a delegate in the peace convention that was held in an attempt to prevent the American Civil War.[1] He served in the Union Army during the Civil War, becoming colonel of the 2nd Wisconsin Volunteer Cavalry, on February 6, 1862; brigadier general of Volunteers on July 16, 1862; and major general on November 29, 1862. Washburn had the honor of having his appointment document signed by President Abraham Lincoln. At one point Ulysses S. Grant called Washburn "one of the best administrative officers we have." He commanded the cavalry of the XIII Corps in the opening stages of Ulysses S. Grant's Vicksburg campaign.[6] Once siege operations had begun against the city of Vicksburg and Grant called for all available forces, Washburn led a detachment of the XVI Corps during the siege of Vicksburg. He commanded the 1st Division in the XIII Corps in Nathanial P. Banks' operations along the Texas Coast leading the expedition against Fort Esperanza in November 1863.

For the rest of the war he served in administrative capacities in Mississippi and Tennessee. While commanding Union forces in Memphis, he was the target of an unsuccessful raid led by Nathan B. Forrest to kidnap him and other Union generals.[7] He left the Union Army on May 25, 1865.

After the conclusion of the war, Washburn returned to his home in La Crosse, where he was elected again for two terms in the House of Representatives. This time he represented Wisconsin's 6th congressional district at the 40th and 41st Congresses from March 4, 1867, to March 3, 1871, where he was chairman of the Committee on Expenditures on Public Buildings in the first term. He declined to run in 1870.[1]

In 1871, he was urged to run for Governor of Wisconsin against James R. Doolittle. Washburn won the election and was inaugurated governor of Wisconsin on the first Monday in January 1872 and served from 1872 to 1874. He ran unsuccessfully for reelection in 1873.

A year later, he purchased the Edgewood Villa estate from Samuel Marshall, where Edgewood College sits today.

Cadwallader C. Washburn

Education and early career

Business

Land speculation and banking

Minneapolis Mill Company

Lumber

Flour

Politics and military career

Family life

Later life

Legacy

See also

Other references

External links

References