William D. Washburn

William Drew Washburn ( born January 14, 1831 in Livermore, Androscoggin County, Maine; † July 29, 1912 in Minneapolis, Minnesota) was an American politician ( Republican), who represented the state of Minnesota in both chambers of Congress.

William Washburn came from a family that produced many politicians. Three of his seven brothers also suggested a political career and how he sat in the House of Representatives of the United States - but each for a different State: Israel (1813-1883) for Maine, Elihu (1816-1887) for Illinois and Cadwallader (1818 - 1882) for Wisconsin. Israel and Cadwallader Washburn, moreover, were governors of their respective states, Elihu Washburne - the anhängte his last name "e" - also officiated for a few days as Secretary of State under President Ulysses S. Grant.

After graduating from Bowdoin College William Washburn studied in Bangor under John A. Peters, a later Congressman from Maine, the law, before he moved to Minneapolis in 1857. There he practiced as a lawyer and worked for a company founded by his brother Cadwallader Minneapolis Milling Company. He also began to engage himself as a businessman and was successful in the lumber and flour trade in one of the wealthiest men in Minnesota. From 1883 to 1889 he served as the first president of a railroad company, which was known as the Soo Line Railroad later. He also founded the Pillsbury - Washburn Milling Company, from which then the Pillsbury Company was established; this, in turn, went up in General Mills, the successor company of the guided by his brother Milling Company.

In his first public office as chief surveyor ( Surveyor General ) of Minnesota, based in Saint Paul Washburn was appointed in 1861 by President Abraham Lincoln; He held it until 1865. In 1864 he wrote his first application for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, but lost the election. After he had listened to the House of Representatives from Minnesota in several sessions, he still succeeded in the election of 1878 the way into the Congress, where he represented the interests of Minnesota's March 4, 1879 to March 3, 1885. He left after that first from the Parliament, then ran in 1888 but in the election to the U.S. Senate, he decided in his favor. After six years in office from March 4, 1889 until March 3, 1895, however, Washburn failed re-election.

After his retirement from politics Washburn went back to his business activities. He spent his last years at his estate " Fair Oaks ", whose environment was designed by landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted artfully. The house was demolished in 1924 to make way for a park; Today, the area belongs to the Washburn - Fair Oaks Mansion District, which was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1977.