Cadwallader C . Washburn Cadwallader Colden Washburn ( April 22 , 1818 – May 15 , 1882 ) was an American businessman , politician , and soldier noted for founding what would later become General Mills and working in government for Wisconsin . He was born in Livermore , Maine , one of seven brothers that included Israel Washburn , Jr . , Elihu B . Washburne , William D . Washburn , and Charles Ames Washburn . Education and early career . Washburn was born in Livermore , Maine , the son of Martha ( née Benjamin ) and Israel Washburn . Washburn attended school in Wiscasset , Maine , and later taught there in 1838 – 1839 . In 1839 he moved to Davenport , Iowa where he taught school , worked in a store , and worked as a surveyor . Inspired by his brother Elihu who set up a legal practice in nearby Galena , he studied law , In 1842 he was admitted to the Wisconsin bar and he moved to Mineral Point , Wisconsin where he began a legal practice . Business . Land speculation and banking . In 1844 , Washburn formed a partnership with land agent , Cyrus Woodman . Together the two men developed a number of companies , such as the Wisconsin Mining Company . The most successful business venture undertaken by the men was land acquisition . In May 1855 they established Washburn ' s and Woodman ' s Mineral Point Bank . Washburn and Woodman dissolved their partnership amicably in 1855 . The Minneapolis Mill Company . In 1856 , the Minneapolis Mill Company was chartered by the Minnesota territorial legislature . Among the incorporators were Robert Smith , an Illinois congressman who had acquired the rights to the water power at the west side of St . Anthony Falls , and Dorilus Morrison , a cousin of Washburn . The company struggled initially , and several of the early investors sold out . Washburn bought in and eventually became president . His brother William moved to Minneapolis about that time , and actively managed the company . The company built a dam , a canal and a complex set of water transfer tunnels which were then leased , along with land that the company owned at the foot of the falls , to a variety of mills — cotton mills , woolen mills , saw mills and grist / flour mills . Eventually the work and investment of the two brothers paid off well , and they used their new found capital to invest in mills themselves . Lumber . In 1853 , Washburn built a mill at Waubeck on the Chippewa River . In 1859 Washburn moved to La Crosse , Wisconsin , and after his war time service , he engaged in a project to clear the Black River to make it easier to drive logs . In 1871 he formed the La Crosse Lumber Company , which eventually sawed 20 , 000 , 000 board feet of lumber annually . He also had the largest shingle mill in the upper Mississippi valley . He also established mills in Minneapolis , Minnesota . Flour . In 1866 , he built his own Washburn " B " Mill , which was thought at the time to be too large to ever turn a profit . However , he succeeded and in 1874 built an even larger Washburn " A " Mill . The original " A " mill complex was destroyed , along with several nearby buildings , in a flour explosion in 1878 , but was later rebuilt . In 1877 , Washburn teamed with John Crosby to form the Washburn - Crosby Company . At the same time , Washburn sent William Hood Dunwoody to England to open that market for spring wheat . Successful , Dunwoody became a silent partner and went on to become one of the wealthiest millers in the world . Dunwoody became a philanthropist endowing hospitals , educational facilities , and a charitable home which ultimately became Dunwoody Village . The corporation eventually became known as General Mills . Politics and military career . In 1854 , Washburn ran for Congress as a Republican , later serving three terms as part of the 34th , 35th and 36th United States Congresses representing Wisconsin ' s 2nd congressional district , from March 4 , 1855 to March 3 , 1861 . In his last term Washburn served as chairman of the Committee on Private Land Claims . He declined to run again in 1860 . The Washburn family had always been strongly opposed to slavery . Washburn moved to La Crosse , Wisconsin in 1861 but returned to Washington , D . C . later that year as a delegate in the peace convention that was held in an attempt to prevent the American Civil War . He served in the Union Army during the Civil War , becoming colonel of the 2nd Wisconsin Volunteer Cavalry , on February 6 , 1862 ; brigadier general of Volunteers on July 16 , 1862 ; and major general on November 29 , 1862 . Washburn had the honor of having his appointment document signed by President Abraham Lincoln . At one point Ulysses S . Grant called Washburn " one of the best administrative officers we have . " He commanded the cavalry of the XIII Corps in the opening stages of Ulysses S . Grant ' s Vicksburg Campaign . Once siege operations had begun against the city of Vicksburg and Grant called for all available forces , Washburn led a detachment of the XVI Corps during the siege of Vicksburg . He commanded the 1st Division in the XIII Corps in Nathanial P . Banks ' operations along the Texas Coast . For the rest of the war he served in administrative capacities in Mississippi and Tennessee . While commanding Union forces in Memphis , he was the target of an unsuccessful raid led by Nathan B . Forrest to kidnap him and other Union generals . He left the Union Army on May 25 , 1865 . After the conclusion of the war , Washburn returned to his home in La Crosse , where he was elected again for two terms in the House of Representatives . This time representing Wisconsin ' s 6th congressional district at the 40th and 41st Congresses from March 4 , 1867 to March 3 , 1871 , where he was chairman of the Committee on Expenditures on Public Buildings in the first term . He declined to run in 1870 . In 1871 , he was urged to run for Governor of Wisconsin against James R . Doolittle . Washburn won the election and was inaugurated governor of Wisconsin on the first Monday in January , 1872 and served from 1872 to 1874 . He ran unsuccessfully for reelection in 1873 . A year later , he purchased the Edgewood Villa estate from Samuel Marshall , where Edgewood College sits today . Family life . Shortly after birth , Washburn was diagnosed with epilepsy . Cadwallader Colden Washburn married Jeanette Garr , daughter of Elizabeth Sinclair Garr and Andrew Sheffield Garr on January 1 , 1849 . Both were 30 at the time . The couple brought their first daughter , Jeanette ( Nettie ) Garr Washburn , into the world in 1850 . After giving birth to Nettie , Jeanette showed signs of mental illness . After the birth of their second daughter , Frances ( Fanny ) , in 1852 , Washburn made arrangements for his wife ' s care at the Bloomingdale Asylum . Later she was transferred to an institution in Brookline , Massachusetts , where she remained until her death at age 90 in 1909 . Later life . Washburn donated the Edgewood Villa estate to the Sinsinawa Dominican Sisters of Madison , Wisconsin in 1881 . The Edgewood Villa later became Edgewood College , and Edgewood High School . Nearly a year later , in 1882 , he died in Eureka Springs , Arkansas while on a visit to the springs for his health . His body was interred in Oak Grove Cemetery in La Crosse , Wisconsin . After his death his estate had an estimated value of between two and three million dollars . In his will , Cadwallader left money to his daughter as well as other members of his family . A large bequest was made to the city of La Crosse ; land was bought and a building for the La Crosse Public Library was built . However , the largest portion was set aside to pay for the care of his wife , Jeanette . Legacy . The city of Washburn in Bayfield County , Wisconsin was named after Cadwallader Washburn , as was Washburn County in northern Wisconsin . Washburn Observatory , at the University of Wisconsin – Madison , was also named for Washburn , who as governor , allocated the money for its construction . Washburn High School in Minneapolis was also named after Cadwallader Washburn . He left money in his will that would start an orphanage for the children that lost parents in the mill explosion . This organization has evolved into what is known today as the Washburn Center for Children .