College Beginnings

Creating a College Campus

Preparing for a New Century

Cadwallader Washburn

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Ambition and Perseverance

Young C.C. Washburn showed tremendous determination and perseverance as well as business acumen. He taught school and studied law in Maine until he had enough money to travel west to Iowa where he continued as a teacher and studied land surveying. Realizing the fortunes to be made on the frontier, he set up a law firm and land agency in Mineral Point with Cyrus Woodman in 1844. During their 11-year partnership, their company made them wealthy while earning them a reputation for conservative practice and business honesty. In the rough and tumble of a territory only recently made a state, those in law, education, and land speculation controlled its political fortunes.

Washburn leaped in and exerted a strong influence on Wisconsin's local politics; then was elected to two terms in Congress from 1854 to 1859. He and his acquaintances helped to organize the Republican Party and pushed one of their friends, Abe Lincoln, to the presidency of the United States.

Duty and Valor
With the eruption of the Civil War, Washburn enlisted in 1861 as a colonel in the 2nd Wisconsin Cavalry. He rose to the rank of major general, fought in Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, and alongside Grant at Vicksburg, and remained in service until the end of the war. Then he returned to LaCrosse, Wisconsin, which had become his home and the center of his lumber business.

After serving two more terms in Congress, Washburn was elected Governor of Wisconsin in 1871 and moved to Madison following his inauguration in 1872. He lived first at a house on Lake Mendota, but upon visiting his friend, Samuel Marshall at his lakeside villa, fell in love with the estate.

Lakeside Retreat
Edgewood Villa had been built for John Ashmead by Samuel Chase in 1855. The Philadelphia lawyer's wife died while it was being built, and he sold the house to Samuel Marshall, a co-founder of Marshall and Ilsley (M&I) Bank.

The home boasted broad verandas with awnings, white columns and yellow paint. Marshall added arbors and trellises to the villa as well as a stone carriage house. He created gardens and was fond of inviting guests to visit. However, the estate's location made daily life inconvenient, and the Marshall family eventually decided to move to Milwaukee. Governor Washburn acquired the estate in 1873.

After Washburn bought the estate, he set about further improving the grounds and planting many interesting trees and shrubs. He added small fish ponds which he stocked with trout and he even imported a flock of Cotswold sheep to keep the green lawns trim. He dreamed of boating and bought himself a small blue rowboat in which he occasionally steered about the reed-choked lakeshore.

When he bought the house, Washburn fully expected to be re-elected. However, he lost his second bid for the governorship. As a result, he turned his attention to handling the affairs of the large flour mills he had founded in Minneapolis in 1866, and spent very little time at Edgewood.

Overcoming Tragedies
Washburn had invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in his milling operations, but was confident of their success. So confident was he that in 1878, he agreed to present the State University in Madison with an observatory. He was staying at Edgewood by himself the evening before the meeting with the Trustees since his daughters had moved with their husbands to other cities and his wife had long ago been hospitalized with mental illness and sent to live back East.

That night, May 2, he received a telegram relating how one of his new mills had exploded, setting off a fire which completely destroyed his facilities and killed fourteen men. Despite the knowledge that he had lost everything and was deeply in debt, he proceeded with the meeting regarding the observatory and set about arranging for its construction.

The mills were insured in 82 different companies, nearly all of which refused to pay without months of litigation. Meanwhile, Washburn rebuilt his mills using a form of machinery developed in Hungary which cracked the wheat berries rather than crushing them. So successful was the technique that Washburn-Crosby & Company flour products won the gold, silver and bronze medals at the Millers' International Exhibition in Paris. The company flourished, eventually merging with several other regional milling companies in 1928 to become General Mills, producer of Gold Medal flour, cereals, and other food products.

A Generous Gift
Depression over his political loss, legal and financial battles, plus a stroke in January 1881 all took their toll on the former governor's health. He determined to divest himself of his beloved retreat at Edgewood and head abroad to recover. Unable to convince the city, State or University of Wisconsin to accept the property (it was "too far outside the city" at the time), he remembered the good work of the Sinsinawa Dominican Sisters who were teaching at St. Regina Academy on West Washington Avenue near the Capitol. With further encouragement from some of the local clergy, Washburn decided to present his villa and its surrounding 55 acres of land to the Sisters, stipulating only that it be kept always "for educational purposes."

According to Sister Alexius Duffy, "It was the feast of St Antoninus, May 10, 1881... Mother Emily Power, accompanied by Sisters Magdalen Madigan and Alexius Duffy, came to Edgewood Villa at Governor Washburn's request to complete arrangements for the transfer of the property. With stately courtesy, Governor Washburn met us at the foot of the steps to the porch and took us to the Red Room, for the beautiful Colonial building, like the White House, had its own color scheme for each room."

"Business concluded, the Governor accompanied us through the house, eagerly discussing the changes that might have to be made in fitting it for a school. Then, we went from group to group of trees on the front lawn. Governor Washburn was a tree lover and at each group had something of interest to point out - the center tree in one was from Japan, its green very effective; of cork tree from the Spanish Isles; while the cedars of Lebanon towered gracefully on many parts of the grounds. From the lawn to the orchard, then through the grove to the fish ponds. We at once christened the little rowboat The Colda, that being Governor Washburn's middle name [actually , it was Colden]. On our way back to the house, we passed through the vineyard, another source of pride to our benefactor. On the porch facing Lake Wingra, we paused to admire the view and Governor Washburn, pointing to a shell bark hickory tree that shaded the lawn, said he hoped unless real necessity arose, we would not let it be cut down; it had many associations for him."

The deed transferring the property to the Sinsinawa Dominicans was entered on May 26, 1881.

In 1882, Cadwallader was recuperating in Switzerland when he wrote to the Sisters in residence with the students at the boarding academy at Edgewood, "I am much pleased to hear that you are progressing so well at Edgewood, and that your school promises to be popular and useful." He died several months later at Eureka Springs, Arkansas and was buried in LaCrosse.

The Connection to Edgewood Continued...
Jeanette Washburn, Cadwallader's daughter, continued her father's interest in the school located on the site of her former home. In 1913, she was asked to give a biographical sketch of her father and their life at Edgewood. Though unable to attend the banquet personally, she sent an essay and a piece of stained glass bearing the family crest from a 16th century church in England. Jeanette also annually sent medals to be awarded to students for distinctions such as academic performance and loyalty to the school and its ideals. She had married A. Warren Kelsey, and one of their sons was Albert Kelsey, who drew up the plans in 1925 for the high school and junior college building which opened in 1927.

In 1975, Edgewood College hosted a Washburn Day which brought descendants of the family to campus. One of the guests was the widow of Governor Washburn's namesake nephew, Cadwallader Washburn, who was an artist recognized for his etchings. Several of the works were donated to the College.

In 1978, Mark Peters, a great-great-great grandson of Washburn, completed his college education at Edgewood and while here, discovered that his best friend from boyhood in Virginia, Samuel Marshall V, was the great-great-great grandson of the very man from whom C.C. Washburn had bought Edgewood!

The Washburn Society At Edgewood College
To commemorate Cadwallader Washburn's generosity, Edgewood College established the Washburn Society in 1986-87, providing special recognition for benefactors with cumulative contributions of $25,000 or more to Edgewood College.

The Washburn Society now includes more than 120 individual, corporate, and foundation members who meet at an annual banquet to recognize new members, learn about achievements and future plans at the College, and to honor the memory of the man who first had the foresight to make the multi-level educational venture known as Edgewood possible.

If you know people who are interested in joining the Washburn Society, please have them contact the Edgewood College Development Office, 1000 Edgewood College Drive, Madison, WI 53711; (608) 663-4861.