biography
| name: |
Washburn, Cadwallader Colden
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| sex:
| male
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| lived:
| (1818–82)
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| biography:
| Land agent, industrialist, miller, US representative, and governor, born in Livermore, Maine, USA. In 1839 he travelled W to Davenport, IA, where he held several jobs and read law. He opened a law office in Mineral Point, WI (1842) and in 1844 he formed a partnership with Cyrus Woodland to buy up valuable public land, which they then sold to settlers; the partnership dissolved in 1855 but Washburn continued as a developer. A Republican, he served in the US House of Representatives (Wisconsin, 1855–61), where he opposed attempts to make slavery legal. During the Civil War, he organized and led a volunteer cavalry from Wisconsin. After the war he served in the US House of Representatives again (1867–71) and as governor of Wisconsin (1872–3). Although he was involved in a variety of businesses throughout his career, including lumber and railroads, he made his greatest contribution with his Minneapolis Mill Co, which became one of the largest flour-millers in the USA. Among his philanthropies were the University of Wisconsin's Washburn Observatory, a public library in La Crosse, WI, and an orphan asylum in Minneapolis, MN. |
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