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Seven Sons: Millionaires and Vagabonds

by Theodore Webb

398 pages; quality trade paperback (softcover); CD also available through author; catalogue #99-0024; ISBN 1-55212-255-7; US$28.50, C$35.25, EUR23.00, £15.90

A review of the lives and careers of the seven Washburn brothers provides an abbreviated overview of 19th century American history, its politics, war, business, religion, foreign policy, presidential elections, and home customs where they lived.

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About the Book A review of the lives and careers of the seven Washburn brothers provides an abbreviated overview of 19th century American history, its politics, war, business, religion, foreign policy, presidential elections, as well as down home customs in the places where the brothers lived. Titles of chapters are suggestive of cultural history: Religion and the Washburns, Into the Fire of the Times, The Vagabond Prince, Edging Toward War, The Destruction of Reconstruction Voila! Another Revolution! The produce of this work represents twenty-five year of research of the family and Washburn descendants.

About the Author

Author Webb, native of Maine, Universalist Minister, graduate of Maine/Connecticut theological school and university, served New England, Northern New York and California churches; historian, lecturer, researched for more than twenty years in preparation for writing five books and three dramas.

Excerpts

Israel Washburn, Sr.
The Senior, as he was called, had a large head and high forehead. His eyes were alive and as ready to smile as his mouth. Dressed in his Sunday, go-to-meeting clothes, his great head was sunk into a wing collar which gathered around his chin like a suit of mail on a medieval warrior. He, the Venerable, was known throughout the district as a man of cheerful disposition. Horatio Livermore in distant California told one of Israel's sons he remembered his father "as a man of humor and dry wit."1 It was said by those who knew Abraham Lincoln that father Washburn rivaled Lincoln as a story-teller. One of the boys recalled that "Father makes it light within, dark as it is outside." As the children grew older and learned about the dark side of life, some of them may easily have thought of their father as Pollyanish, having what G.K. Chesterton called "a mania for declaring when things are going badly that all is well."

The Washburn Journal is replete with Sidney's whimsy,
"I desire to be rich, enjoy good health, and excel in wisdom," wrote Sidney. "[S]hall go to bed at 9." "Mr. Hines...brought over for Dad a bag full of sweet corn and water millions [sic]..." Sidney told of an occasion when "a lot of um went to Portland, --Leavett, Brettun a storekeeper, Uncle Paul, Blossom... They had a jug of gin, they got tight generaly [sic] and when the gin run low, old Brettun p---- in the jug and passed it to Uncle Paul for a swig. Uncle Paul took hold with ardor. Brettun sung out, 'Good gin Uncle Paul?' 'A d---d sight better then you ever sold,' Uncle Paul replied."

Mother of the Clan (1792-1861)
"When I look apon(sic) this imperfect scrawl this is before me I feel heart sick and feel all the imperfections." Nonetheless, she was the inspiration and model for the children and constantly championed efforts they made to obtain advanced education. She sent them to school, insisting they make the most of it even when they did not have suitable clothing. At least from the children's point of view what they wore was meager. When they complained, the mother reminded them that if they stand at the head of their class, jackets are just as good as coats. Mother Martha commented in a letter that Cadwallader had attempted to enter Westpoint(sic). He was unsuccessful in his attempt, and that pleased his mother. She did admit however, that at West Point "[h]e might...improve his education." That alone commended the military academy to her.

Israel, Jr.
It was pleasing for Israel to be able to write in the Family Journal in 1869, "Strange, not strange, but natural and pleasing to find that Wordsworth, Coleridge, Southey, Lamb, Lady Byron, cum multis alliis of the Dei Majores, were in the cardinal point of Universalism positive and undoubted adherents and believers." It is not difficult to determine when the Orono critic had fallen into his humorous manner of playing on words. Of Landor, Israel once wrote that "in the intellectual larder[,] [Landor's] place will be nearer Bacon than Lamb." While this is an over generous larding of Israel's literary talents, it is fitting to say that the Orono Washburn displayed shrewd judgments in many of his critiques of English essayists.

Israel, Jr.
Washburn's ethical outlook engendered a strong feeling that "new canons of distribution" would be adopted in modern times; that there would be yet more equality to match the advancements of the judiciary. With his progressive outlook, he disparaged systems which glorify the accumulation of wealth, the centralization of money power, and the control of land by the few. Israel saw that power resulted in "stealing from the many for the [the benefit of] the few." Almost as if to exonerate himself in the eyes of merchants, however, he added that there is a strong desire to possess; and an urge to amass wealth based upon the instinct of self-preservation. With this qualification, Israel appeared to abrogate the criticism he had made of the evils of excess in acquisitiveness.

The Maine Whig, Israel, turned to philosophical subject matter in his remarks on the railroad. He referred to "an age of...material progress," in which he gave substance to a Universalist point of view. The phrase he used, "onward and upward forever" was on the lips of Universalist ministers indicating the influence on the clergy and laity of European and English philosophers such as Vico, Kant, Comte and J.S. Mill. Elbridge Gerry, for example, an influential minister among Universalists, tied together the cause of Christianity and progress. Israel himself, knowledgeable of English utilitarianism on the one hand, and anticipating American pragmatism on the other, spoke of "the ideal and the actual [joined] in no unwilling matrimony." He hoped to impress upon readers the idea that progress and "the problem of civilization" had a relationship to an acceptance of his European and North American Railway Plan.

Brother number five, Charles Ames Washburn, hiding beneath a bushy black beard, a loner who is angry with himself for being who he is, is unhappy that he is not Israel, Elihu or Cadwallader. Hiding himself from himself Charles is wandering the earth, going from one task to another bearing out in his career what he considers himself to be, a vagabond. As a young man, wanderer Washburn leaves his native home in Maine, and goes South to teach. At the bidding of his brother Israel, Jr., he settles in Washington, D.C., and works for the Treasury Department. Following a stint in Washington he is moving back to Maine, studying law with Israel, Jr. Leaving Orono, Maine, and his brother Israel, he travels West to Wisconsin continuing his study of law under the patient guidance of his brother Cadwallader passing the bar. He heads for the Pacific in 1850 with all the other lemming-like seekers after a fortune, reaching the Golden State at the age of twenty-eight, a little more than quarter-past his life. For him, life is beginning at age twenty-eight. Joining the swarming hordes descending on the gold mine country of California, the Maine vagabond mines gold, works his way into journalism, edits and later owns newspapers, publishes novels, and for a time Charles is celebrated in story and print as he has a life-and-death struggle with an excitable Southern Chivalric. In the course of a gun battle between Washburn and Benjamin Franklin Washington, Washburn is wounded but survives. The dueling incident is to be used to frustrate his greatest ambition, which is to serve in congress with his brothers, Israel, Elihu and Cadwallader.

Reviews

Dr. Edmund Sherman, Professor Emeritus, State University of New York at Albany, writes, "Webb has found a truly artful way of presenting a significant personage and segment of American history. There is a fluency to the dialogue that allows for the interplay of personality and politics in a most fruitful way."

Review of Seven Sons: Millionaires and Vagabonds
by Theodore A. Webb
Trafford Publishing, 1999.

This 391 page book provides a rich compendium of information on the remarkable Washburn brothers. The exhaustive historical research that went into it is evident throughout amd makes one realize that in the hands of a different author this could have ended up in a more ponderous, multi-volume narrative.

What Webb has been able to do is to tell the story of the Washburns in a compact yet richly detailed manner. He does this by interweaving facts and obsemations from several levels of historical perspective: the personal (each brother individually), the familial, the regional, the national, the international, and the broad cultural, throughout each and every chapter. What this amounts to is a rich tapestry that captures the zeitgeist of a whole era in American history.

The book is very much in the verstehen tradition of historiography in which the historian attempts to capture the "objective human spirit" or geist of a culture and an age. Its founder and foremost proponent, Wilhelm Dilthey, believed that one has to look toward the values, rules, and norms of a culture. It is there that one finds both the public expressions of human existence and the private, individual experiences of life. As he put it, the community of the "objective human spirit" provides the condition that opens individual "spiritual" subjects to one another, and through that spirit (geist) and communal bond they understand one another's expressions. This spirit is evident throughout Seven Brothers.

Webb cites Ralph Walde Emerson's famous dictum. "there is properly no history, only biography," early in the book. He does well to do this because, although the history in his book is wide and deep, the biography shines through it as a result of the strong and distinct personalities of the Washburn brothers and their parents.

This book provides a colorful and eventful chunk of Americana. Its reader will have in hand a bountiful source of information and understanding of a critical period of American history.

Edmund Sherman, Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus

Theodore A. Webb: Seven Sons: Millionaires and Vagabonds (Vancouver, BC: Trafford Publishing, 1999).

This is the story of the seven sons of Israel and Martha Washburn of Livermore, Maine, all of whom left their mark on four decades of nineteenth century American life. Raised in a Universalist family, all of them, in one way or another, carried the influence of that liberal faith with them throughout their lives.

Israel, Jr., the oldest, grew up to be a governor of Maine, a railroad president, a congressman, a radical Republican, and an influential denominational leader who gave a major address at the Gloucester centennial in 1870.

Algernon, a regular attender of Universalist churches, became, first, a Boston merchant, then a Maine banker.

Elihu had an outstanding career in government as congressman, Secretary of State, and ambassador to France; he promoted Ulysses S. Grant into the presidency, and was himself nominated for that office. Though not active in church affairs, he was a generous supporter of the church of his youth.

Cadwallader, the first of the brothers to go west, was an active member of the Universalist church of LaCrosse, Wisconsin. He, too, served in the United States Congress, and during the Civil War rose to the rank of major general. Later he went on to become governor of Wisconsin, a business tycoon, and a millionaire.

Charles also went west, becoming a successful newspaper editor in San Francisco, where he attended the Unitarian church during the ministry of Thomas Starr King. He, too, ran for Congress, hoping to join his three brothers in the House of Representative, but failed to be elected. Later, President Lincoln sent him on a diplomatic mission to Paraguay.

Samuel went off to sea at an early age and became a sea captain. During the Civil War he commanded Union ships in southern waters. He apparently had no church involvement as an adult.

William, the youngest, also went west and became a highly successful business man. He, too, served in the House of Representatives, and later as a senator and as governor of Minnesota Through his leadership a still flourishing Universalist church was organized in Minneapolis.

The lives of these seven remarkable Washburn brothers, with their sign)flcant contributions in politics, commerce and religion, were woven into the very fabric of nineteenth century America. Theodore Webb's book, the product of some twenty five years of research and writing, is a solid contribution to the history of that period and the Universalist impulse within it.

-- Charles A. Howe
    Author of The Laraer Faith: A Short History of American Universalism

Theodore A. Webb, Seven Sons Millionaires Vagabonds (Victona, BC., Trafford, 1999)

By Professor George E. Carter, Adjunct Professor of History and English, Indiana- Purdue University-
      Fort Wayne,

The life long interest and work of Reverend Theodore A. Webb has come to fruition in his study Seven Sons Millionaires and Vagabonds which focuses on the lives of the Washbum brothers of Maine. There was little that went on in the nineteenth century United States that in one way or another did not involve one of the brothers. They served as diplomats, generals, congressmen, governor, mayor, entrepreneurs, philanthropists, friends of Presidents, and four were considered geniuses, and all were committed Universalists in their religious orientation. They all interacted with the elite of American society, government, business, economics and religion.

The study is unusual in its coverage in a single volume of seven brothers. Four or five of the Washbum's probably deserve a full-scale biography and perhaps that will happen later via Rev. Webb. There is no one that knows more about these brothers and their accomplishments. The sweep of the current study wets one's appetite for more. Civil War students and scholars will enjoy the discussions and reports of Elihu and the progressive thinking of Govemor Israel Washhurn who pushed hard to allow African-Americans to serve in the Union forces. The correspondence between the brothers and other family members is rich with fresh ideas and insights on what was going on in their individual world.

Webb's approach and style, broad overview, good documentation, and a pertinent bibliography, reminds this reader of the approach and style of Bruce Catton, who also was not a professional historian, but very readable. An index would have helped the reader keep track of the Washburn brothers. There is a fair amount of covering the same historical ground in order to present all seven brothers. With these minor reservations aside, the work makes a significant contribution to our knowledge of the Washburns and those that they interacted with; no easy task. Webb has managed to bring them together in a coherent fashion. A must read for anyone interested in nineteenth century U.S. History.

Theodore A. Webb. Seven Sons: Millionaires and Vagabonds.

Victoria, B.C. Trafford, 1999. 392 pp.

Washburn was a family name to be reckoned with in nineteenth century America, like the illustrious family dynasties of more recent times. The Washburns were not as famous or as powerful as the Kennedys or the Rockefellers of our era, but they were intimately and broadly associated with the growth of the nation and the development of the entrepreneurial spirit in the formative years of the young republic.

In writing this exhaustive account of the accomplishments of one generation of Washburns, the Rev. Theodore A. Webb has woven for us a rich tapestry of middle American history, using his extensive knowledge of the time as his loom. Like the clan about which he writes in Seven Sons, Webb is a native of Maine, well acquainted with the "down easter" settings from which these talented siblings came. He has had long career as a Unitarian Universalist minister, knowing intimately the Universalist tradition that played a crucial party in shaping the characters of the Washburns. He gathered the scattered resources about the lives of the Washburns all across the continent over a period of twenty years.

Of the ten children born into the family of Israel and Martha Washburn of Livermore, Maine, between 1811 and 1831, five appeared repeatedly on the political and cultural horizon in the last half of the 1800s and played prominent roles in their adopted states. The brothers became "U.S. Representatives, a Senator, diplomats, a Major General, a commander, governors, authors, business tycoons and banker" (p. 5). They were personifications of Yankee initiative and enterprise, leaving their marks in a five or six states and a dozen professions.

A sampling of the brothers' accomplishments may suggest the range of their achievements. Elihu, the third and most energetic of the brothers, attended Harvard, went to Illinois via Washington and became prominent in the politics of the Civil War and Reconstruction era. He served effectively in Congress and became a confidant of Presidents Abraham Lincoln and Ulysses S. Grant. He also shaped fiscal policy, had a brief tenure as Secretary of State and had a stint as ambassador to France during the early 1870s. He was considered prominently as a potential nominee for the presidency in 1872.

The eldest brother, Israel Jr., was a renowned member of the House of Representatives from Maine during the struggle over the Kansas-Nebraska bill in 1854 and the Dred Scott decision. He also served as governor of the "pine tree state." Cadwallader became a speculator and man of commerce in Wisconsin and Minnesota. He was elected to Congress three times, where he served simultaneously with Israel and Elihu. (The minister Thomas Starr King jested that the Washburns constituted "a quorum in the House.") Cadwallader later became owner of a profitable flour mill in Minneapolis, a lumberman, and the developer of a regional railroad.

Webb speculates that William Washburn, who settled in Minnesota, wielded more power than his brothers because he became a U.S. Senator, although the record on him is less fulsome. Still another brother, Samuel, had a career as a naval officer during the Civil War and later became ambassador to Paraguay.

Not all of the brothers achieved national prominence. Charles was a self-described "vagabond prince" who went to California with the gold rush of 1849. He merely became editor of the Alta California, a highly influential newspaper in the pre-war era. Four of the brothers were leaders in founding the Republican party from the ruins of the Whig movement, with which they had been affiliated. Algernon Sidney Washburn, although a successful banker, was the "silent partner" of the clan.

Most of the brothers left extensive written records, upon which Webb has drawn for his account. They provide a rich chronicle of the ante bellum, Civil War, and Reconstruction eras.

Webb laces his profiles of the Washburns' achievements with accounts of their dealings with other prominent citizens, constructing a veritable "who's who" of the era. Using their correspondence and their public utterings, he tries to fathom the thoughts and motives of his subjects. The product of his labors will be a veritable warehouse for future historians of early Americana.

James W. Hulse
Professor Emeritus
University of Nevada, Reno
November 24, 1999

Israel Washburn served in the United States House of Representatives as a Whig, and then as a Republican, from Maine, 1851-61. Elihu B. Washburne (he preferred the English spelling), from Illinois, served in the same body, 1853-69, as a Whig and then as a Republican. Cadwallader Colden Washburn served as a Republican Congressman from Wisconsin, 1855-61, 1867-71.William Drew Washburn was in the House, representing Minnesota as a Republican, 1879-85; and in the Senate, 1889-95.

This remarkable record was established by sons of a Universalist family from Livermore, Maine. They were merely four of the seven sons, and three sisters, of Israel Sr. and Martha Washburn. The four sons mentioned above inherited their yen for public service from their parents: from their teachings and from the example set by their father, who served in the Maine legislature. As is obvious, the sons, as did so many Easterners, headed west, to make their fortunes. They became lawyers, businessmen, entrepreneurs, and went on to serve their communities in the political sphere, as the country expanded across the continent.

Theodore Webb has spent a quarter century studying the Washburn family, starting with the family seat in Livermore, with the Universalist church that nurtured them, and traveling across the country to wherever the records are stored. Because so many in the family served in the federal government, inevitably this required painstaking research in the vast records maintained in the Library of Congress. His was a complicated task, considering that any one member of the family could have been the subject of an individual biography. To undertake such a vast, expansive joint biography was a daunting task.

This group biography is unique, in that Webb has included dozens of illustrations. Indeed, the cover and the title page carry portraits of the seven brothers. Successive pages reveal to the reader the appearance of their parents, their sisters, and countless other persons mentioned in the text. Even the faces of Marie Antoinette, and others who are mentioned in passing, grace the pages of the book.

Since the story Webb tells is so rich and detailed, a review can only mention some of the leading characteristics of the book. The reader will not find here a plodding, methodical year-by-year coverage of the careers of the subjects,but rather an impressionistic approach. For instance, particularly in the case of the political members of the family, Webb relates them by association to the significant figures in American history, rather than in chronological order. One reservation should be mentioned in passing. It is unfortunate that a number of typographical errors eluded the editorial process.

Given the complexity of a group biography, this is necessarily a richly rewarding book that should appeal to readers interested in the vast panorama of American history, and, also, to those who are concerned with the influence that the Universalist faith exercised on its adherents in the nineteenth century.

Your book is marvelous. I felt both the joy of having finished a good book and enlightened by it. This is not a review but just a letter commenting on it and the thoughts it suggested. It is a splendid work. Your scholarship is apparent and your mastery of a lot of historical material as well as a clear picture of what you wanted to do. I have to wonder how the vision came to you. Was it first with the biographical material or with the notion to write a history of a particular facet of American life in the late nineteenth century, or about the slavery issue or what?...It is comprehensive and gives a picture of life in the United States in the later Nineteenth Century through one family. It integrates the political and economic scene (particularly the slavery and rising corporation issues) with domestic life, religious life and penetrating these into the cultural ethos of the times. Your analysis of the Whigs was sharp and a good way to make the penetration. Your introduction of Universalism was instructive. In this case, I wonder if Universalism had a tendency to bring out the best in some of us (the Washburn was your prize example) but also the worst in others, while conventional Christianity was more prosaic and tended to put some boundaries at the bottom while also putting ceilings at the top. I also thought of your looking at the late Nineteenth Century life through your late Twentieth Century eyes. They are good eyes, yet I wonder if in the late Twenty-first century, it will again look different. I suspect that our century may seem over interested in sex...
This is enough for now. I am sure I will have other comments later. I loved your book, Ted, and I thank you for the effort it took in the writing.

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