Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 10.djvu/343

 WASHBURN

WASHINGTON

publican national convention of 1860, and lieute- nant-colonel of the 1st "Vermont regiment, but acted as colonel during its three months' ser- vice. He was adjutant and inspector-general Vermont, 1861-66, and was elected governor of Vermont in 1868, serving until his death. He was twice married : first, to Almira E, Ferris of Swantou, Vt., and secondly to Almira P. Hop- kins of Glens Falls, N.Y. Governor Washburn was a trustee of the State Agi-icultural College of Vermont, 1865-70, and published : Digest of all Casps in the Supreme Court of Vermont, in- cluding the First Fifteen Volumes of Vermont Reports (1845) ; Reports of the Supreme Court of Vermont (Vols. XVI.-XXIII., 1845-52); supple- ment to " Aiken's Forms" (1847); and Digest of Cases in the Supreme Court of Vermont (Vols. XVI.-XXH., 1853). He died in Woodstock, Vt., Feb. 7, 1870.

WASHBURN, William Barrett, governor of Massachusetts, was born in Winchendon, Mass., Jan. 31, 1820 ; son of Asa and Phebe (Whitney) Washburn ; grandson of Col. Elijah Washburn and of Capt. Phineas Whitney, and a descendant of John Washburn, the immigrant. He attended Westmin- ster and Hancock academies ; was graduated from Yale college, A.B., 1844; clerked for his uncle, W. B. Whitney of Or- ange, 1844-47 ; en- gaged in the chair and woodenwai'e manufacturing bus- iness in Erving, Mass., until 1857, and subsequently in Greenfield, Mass., where he also served as president of the national bank for several years. He was married, Sept. 6, 1847, to Hannah A., daughter of Col. Samuel Sweetser of Athol, Mass. He was a state senator from the Frank- lin district, 1850 ; a representative in the state legislature, 1854, and elected without opposi- tion in 1863 a Republican representative from the ninth Massachusetts district in the 38th-42d con- gresses, 1863-73, serving imtil Jan. 1. 1872. when he resigned to become governor of Massachusetts. He was chairman of the committee on claims in the 43d congress, and was a delegate to the Loy- alist convention at Philadelphia, Pa. . 1866. He resigned the governorship upon his election as U.S. senator to fill the vacancy occasioned bj' the death of Charles Sumner, servin g from May 1, 1874, to March 8, 1875. He received the honorary

OLD STATE HOUSE BOSTO/N.

degree of LL.D. from Harvard in 1872 ; was an overseer of the charitable fund of Amherst col- lege, 1864-71 ; a trustee of Yale, 1869-81 ; a fellow of Yale, 1872-81, and a trustee of Smith college and of the Massachusetts State college. He bequeathed $50,000 each to the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (of which he was a corporate member), the Amer- ican Home Missionary society and the American Missionary association. He died suddenly in Springfield, Mass., Oct. 5, 1887.

WASHBURN, William Drew, senator, was born in Livermore, Me., Jan. 14, 1831 ; son of Israel and Martha (Benjamin) Wasliburn ; grandson of Samuel and Tabitha (Livermore) Benjamin, and a descendant of John Washburn (secretary of the Plymouth colony in England, who settled in Duxbury, Mass.), and Patience (Cook) Washburn. He was graduated from Bowdoin college, A.B., 1854; was clerk in the U.S. house of representatives, and-in May, 1857, bega!i the practice of law in Minneapolis, Minn. He erected the first merchant flouring-mill in Minneapolis, and through his efforts the Minne- apolis Mill conapauy (of which he was made secre- tary, 1857) became one of the largest enterprises in the country. He was president of the ^Minne- apolis board of trade. In 1859 he was married to Lizzie, daughter of Franklin Muzzy of Bangor. He was appointed surveyor-general of Minnesota, in 1861, and resided in St. Paul. He engaged ex- tensively in the lumber business, and in 1880 under the name of W. D. Washburn and Co. he built a fiour mill at Anoka, which in 1884 became the Washburn Mill Co. In 1889 a new company was formed under the style of Pillsbury-Washburn Flour Mills Co. He was largely instrumental in developing the railroads of Minnesota, and in 1870 was one of the contractors to build the Northern Pacific railway from the St. Louis to Red river, completing the work in 1872 ; was presi- dent of the construction company that built the Minneapolis and Duluth and the Minneapolis and St. Louis railroads, and organized the Min- neapolis and Pacific railway company. He was a representative in the state legislature for several years ; Republican representative in the 46th-48th congresses, 1879-85. and U.S. senator, 1889-95.

WASHINGTON, Booker Taliaferro, educator, was born a slave, near Hale's Ford, Va., about 1859. After the war he removed with his mother and stepfather, Washington Ferguson, to Mai- den, W. Va., where he attended the common schools and was employed in the household of Gen. Lewis Ruffner until 1872. He was gradu- ated from Hampton Normal and Agricultural in- stitute, Virginia, in 1875 ; taught school in Mai- den. Va., 1875-78. and was a student at Waylanil seminary, Washington, D.C., 1878-80. In 1880