William Barrett Washburn | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Washburn in circa 1860–1865 | |
| United States Senator from Massachusetts | |
| In office April 17, 1874 – March 3, 1875 | |
| Preceded by | Charles Sumner |
| Succeeded by | Henry L. Dawes |
| 28th Governor of Massachusetts | |
| In office January 4, 1872 – April 17, 1874 | |
| Lieutenant | Joseph Tucker Thomas Talbot |
| Preceded by | William Claflin |
| Succeeded by | Thomas Talbot as Acting Governor William Gaston |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromMassachusetts's9th district | |
| In office March 4, 1863 – December 5, 1871 | |
| Preceded by | Amasa Walker |
| Succeeded by | Alvah Crocker |
| Member of theMassachusetts House of Representatives | |
| In office 1853–1855 | |
| Member of theMassachusetts Senate | |
| In office 1850 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1820-01-31)January 31, 1820 |
| Died | October 5, 1887(1887-10-05) (aged 67) |
| Political party | Republican |
| Alma mater | Yale College |
| Signature |  |
William Barrett Washburn (January 31, 1820 – October 5, 1887) was an American businessman andpolitician fromMassachusetts. Washburn served several terms in theUnited States House of Representatives (1863–71) and as the28th governor of Massachusetts from 1872 to 1874, when he won election to theUnited States Senate in a special election to succeed the recently deceasedCharles Sumner. A moderateRepublican, Washburn only partially supported theRadical Republican agenda during theAmerican Civil War and theReconstruction Era that followed.
AYale graduate, Washburn parlayed early business success in furniture manufacture into banking and railroads, based in theConnecticut River valley town ofGreenfield. He was a major proponent of railroads in northern and western Massachusetts, sitting on the board of theConnecticut River Railroad for many years, and playing an oversight role in the construction of theHoosac Tunnel. He has been described as a latter-day "Connecticut River God" because of his role as a leading regional businessman and politician.[1]
William Barrett Washburn was born on January 31, 1820, inWinchendon, Massachusetts, to Asa and Phoebe (Whitney) Washburn. His father was a hat maker from a family with deep colonial roots;Emory Washburn, who wasgovernor of Massachusetts in 1854, was a distant cousin. Asa Washburn died in 1823.[2]
Washburn was educated in the academies atHancock andWestminster, and then attendedYale College, graduating in 1844.[3] He was a member of theSkull and Bones Society.[4] He was employed as a store clerk from 1844 to 1847 in the business of his uncle inOrange. He established a chair factory inErving, operating it from 1847 to 1857 and parlaying a $10,000 ($340,000 in 2024 dollars) investment into a wood products business whose annual production exceeded $150,000 ($5,060,000).[3] In 1849, he cofounded the Franklin County Trust Company, on whose board he sat until 1858.[5] He moved toGreenfield in 1857, where he was elected president of the Greenfield Bank (later the First National Bank), a post he would hold for the rest of his life.[6]
In 1847, Washburn married Hannah Sweetser ofAthol; the couple had six children,[7] with four surviving to adulthood.[8]
Washburn won election to theMassachusetts Senate in 1850 and served two years in theMassachusetts House of Representatives from 1853 to 1855.[9] His elections to the state legislature were supported by proponents of theHoosac Tunnel.[6] In 1862, Washburn ran for Congress as aRepublican, winning election to the 38th Congress against no opposition. He was reelected four times, winning each time by wide margins.[10] He was viewed as relatively moderate, in comparison to the mostlyRadical Republican Massachusetts delegation.[11] He served as chairman of theCommittee on Claims during the 41st Congress.[12]
In 1871, Washburn ran forgovernor of Massachusetts. The Republican Party was then dominant in state politics,[13] and a number of well-known politicians vied for the party nomination to replace outgoing GovernorWilliam Claflin. Most prominent was the former Congressman andAmerican Civil War generalBenjamin F. Butler, who was disliked by the fiscally conservative state Republican establishment over his support for the continued issuance ofgreenbacks (currency not backed by silver or gold),[14] and who frequently used populist tactics to upset convention proceedings. Butler's opponents eventually united behind Washburn to give him the nomination, and he won the general election by a 13,000 vote margin overJohn Quincy Adams II and a labor candidate.[15] He was reelected to further terms in 1872 and 1873, the former despite dissension in Republican ranks that had resulted in the splitting off of theLiberal Republican Party, who fielded Francis W. Bird.[16] The 1873 convention was particularly affected by the actions of Butler supporters, but Washburn prevailed and was again comfortably reelected.[17] Washburn's three victories over Butler in these conventions marked a low point in the latter's career.[18]
The major event of 1872 during Washburn's tenure as governor was theGreat Boston Fire of 1872, which destroyed 65 acres (26 ha) of prime commercial real estate in the city on November 9. The legislature was called into a special session to enable the provision of state assistance. Measures it passed included a bill simplifying the establishment of insurance companies, since several were bankrupted by the blaze, and a bill authorizing the city to issue bonds to speed the rebuilding effort.[19] 1873 brought a new round of state funding in the amount of $200,000 to fund the final completion of the Hoosac Tunnel, a tightening of the state's alcohol prohibition laws, and the establishments of a new prison inConcord (nowMCI Concord) and a mental hospital inSalem.[20] In 1874, Washburn signed legislation establishing a women's reformatory.[21] Although Washburn was a supporter ofwomen's suffrage, the matter was not seriously considered by the legislature during his term.[22] He also supported legislation reforming the state's child labor and education laws, which were widely flouted.[23] He opposed enactment of a labor bill limiting work to ten hours per day, a subject of regular labor agitation during his tenure.[24]
When United States SenatorCharles Sumner died in March 1874, the state senate, which then chose the state's US senators, met to choose his replacement. After a long and contentious debate involving thirty-three ballots,[25] Washburn was chosen to succeed Sumner as a compromise candidate acceptable to supporters ofHenry L. Dawes andGeorge F. Hoar. Washburn then resigned the governorship, leaving Lieutenant GovernorThomas Talbot as acting governor.[26] Washburn served from April 17, 1874, until the term ended on March 3, 1875, and refused to run for reelection.[12]
Not long after leaving the governorship, Washburn was appointed to a state commission established to investigate the finances and operations of the Hoosac Tunnel,[27] whose construction, originally estimated at $2 million ($80,000,000), had instead cost over $14 million ($400,000,000) and the financing and involvement of the state to complete.[28] This commission filed its report with the legislature in 1875.[27]
Washburn served at various times as a trustee of Yale, theMassachusetts Agricultural College (nowUMass Amherst),Amherst College, andSmith College,[29] whose Washburn House he funded.[30]Harvard University conferred a law degree upon him in 1872.[29] He was a member of a number of missionary societies, which were major beneficiaries of his estate.[31] He was a benefactor of the Greenfield Public Library, funding the construction of its first building and endowing it with funds.[6]
Washburn died inSpringfield, Massachusetts, on October 5, 1887, while attending a session of theAmerican Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM), of which he was a member. He was buried in Green River Cemetery in Greenfield.[1]
{{cite book}}:|first= has generic name (help)| Party political offices | ||
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| Preceded by | Republican nominee forGovernor of Massachusetts 1871,1872,1873 | Succeeded by |
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
| Preceded by | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromMassachusetts's 9th congressional district March 4, 1863 – December 5, 1871 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Governor of Massachusetts January 4, 1872 – April 29, 1874 | Succeeded byas Acting Governor |
| U.S. Senate | ||
| Preceded by | U.S. senator (Class 1) from Massachusetts April 17, 1874 – March 3, 1875 Served alongside:George S. Boutwell | Succeeded by |
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| Class 2 | ||
| International | |
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| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
