Cadwallader Colden Washburn (April 22, 1818May 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), the son of Martha (née Benjamin) and Israel Washburn Sr. He was one of seven brothers, who included Israel Washburn Jr., Elihu B. Washburne, William D. Washburn, and Charles Ames Washburn. Washburn attended school in Wiscasset, Maine, and later taught there in 1838–1839. In 1839 he moved to Davenport, Iowa Territory, where he taught school, worked in a store, and worked as a surveyor. Inspired by his brother Elihu who set up a legal practice in nearby Galena, Illinois, he studied law. In 1842 he was admitted to the Wisconsin bar and moved to Mineral Point, Iowa County, Wisconsin Territory, where he began a legal practice. 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. 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. 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, and as part of the radical wing of the Republican party, Washburn was staunchly opposed to the expansion of 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. 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. 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. Both were 30-years-old at the time. The following year, the couple brought their first daughter, Jeanette (Nettie) Garr Washburn, into the world in 1850. After giving birth to Nettie her mother, Jeanette, started showing signs of mental illness. After Frances (Fanny) was born two years later, in 1852, Washburn made arrangements for his wife's care at the Bloomingdale Asylum. Later she was transferred to an institution in Brookline, Massachusetts, where she remained until her death at the age of 90 in 1909.

Later life

Washburn donated the Edgewood Villa estate to the Sinsinawa Dominican Sisters of Madison, Wisconsin, in 1881. The Edgewood Villa later became Edgewood College and Edgewood High School. Nearly a year later, on May 14, 1882, he died in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, while on a visit to the springs for his health. His body was interred in Oak Grove Cemetery in La Crosse, Wisconsin.

After his death, his estate was valued at an estimated two to three million dollars. However, the largest portion was set aside to pay for the care of his wife, Jeanette.

Legacy

alt=|thumb|right|upright|Cadwallader C. Washburn Monument and grave site at Oak Grove Cemetery in La Crosse, Wisconsin.

The city of Washburn in Bayfield County, Wisconsin, was named after Cadwallader Washburn, as were Washburn County in northern Wisconsin and the city of Washburn, North Dakota, As well as, Washburn Center for Children, and Washburn High School in Minneapolis. Washburn Observatory, at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, was also named for Washburn, who as governor, allocated the money for its construction. La Crosse, Wisconsin, where Washburn is laid to rest at his memorial in the Oak Grove Cemetery, has a downtown neighborhood and park named for the former governor and long time resident of the city.

See also

  • List of American Civil War generals (Union)
  • List of U.S. political families

Notes

;Attributions

Other references

Retrieved on 2008-10-30

  • Our milling roots and beyond , General Mills
  • Cadwallader C. Washburn , Wisconsin State Historical Society
  • Washburn/Norland Living History Center, Livermore, Maine
  • Washburn Center for Children