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Search here to find more than 2,000 feature articles totaling over 35,000 pages, exactly as they originally appeared in the Wisconsin Magazine of History. The entire archive of previous issues, back to 1917, has been made available online in 2007. The current issue can be purchased online, at the Wisconsin Historical Museum, in the Wisconsin Historic Sites gift shops, and your local bookstore. This free online access to the Wisconsin Magazine of History is made possible by a generous grant from the Schoenleber Foundation of Milwaukee.

Volume Listing > Volume 88 > C.C. Washburn: the evolution of a flour baron

Kelsey,Kerck "C.C. Washburn: the evolution of a flour baron"
C.C. Washburn: The Evolution of a Flour Baron: This is a short biography of one of the "most successful entrepreneurs in Wisconsin's history," Cadwallader Colden Washburn (1818-1882). Washburn came to Wisconsin in 1842 and, with Cyrus Woodman (1814-1889), engaged in the Wisconsin Shot Company, a small bank in Mineral Point, and various mining, lumbering, and land dealings. On the verge of bankruptcy in the early 1860s, Washburn enlisted in the U.S. Army, served as Colonel of the Second Wisconsin Cavalry during the Civil War, and was named Major General at the end of the war. He spent the last 35 years of his life along the Black and Mississippi Rivers, investing in river improvements, building sawmills, and developing railroad lines. In 1886, Washburn opened an immensely profitable flour milling business that continues to flourish today under the name of General Mills. (14 pages)

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Citation: Kelsey,Kerck "C.C. Washburn: the evolution of a flour baron" Wisconsin Magazine Of History. Volume: 88 /Issue: 4 (2004-2005)

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