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Cyrus Woodman (June 2, 1814 – March 30, 1889) was a lawyer, businessman and land speculator whose business affairs were influential in the State of Wisconsin. He was native of
Buxton, Maine Buxton is a town in York County, Maine, United States. It is part of the Portland metropolitan area. The population was 8,376 at the 2020 census. Buxton includes the villages of Salmon Falls/Tory Hill, Chicopee, Groveville, Bar Mills, West Buxton, ...
, and a graduate of
Bowdoin College Bowdoin College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Brunswick, Maine. When Bowdoin was chartered in 1794, Maine was still a part of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The college offers 34 majors and 36 minors, as well as several joint e ...
and
Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each class ...
. He was a charter member of the
Wisconsin Historical Society The Wisconsin Historical Society (officially the State Historical Society of Wisconsin) is simultaneously a state agency and a private membership organization whose purpose is to maintain, promote and spread knowledge relating to the history of ...
and an associate and close friend of the Wisconsin politician
Cadwallader C. Washburn Cadwallader Colden Washburn (April 22, 1818May 14, 1882) was an American businessman, politician, and soldier who founded a Gristmill, mill that later became General Mills. A member of the Washburn family of Maine, he was a U.S. Congressman and ...
. In semi-retirement after 1864 he lived in
Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Greater Boston, Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most ...
.


Life and career

Woodman was born in
Buxton, Maine Buxton is a town in York County, Maine, United States. It is part of the Portland metropolitan area. The population was 8,376 at the 2020 census. Buxton includes the villages of Salmon Falls/Tory Hill, Chicopee, Groveville, Bar Mills, West Buxton, ...
, on June 2, 1814, the oldest of five children of Joseph Woodman and Susanna Coffin Woodman. His father was a farmer and one-time member of the
legislature A legislature is an deliberative assembly, assembly with the authority to make laws for a Polity, political entity such as a Sovereign state, country or city. They are often contrasted with the Executive (government), executive and Judiciary, ...
in Massachusetts before Maine became an independent state. Cyrus attended
Bowdoin College Bowdoin College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Brunswick, Maine. When Bowdoin was chartered in 1794, Maine was still a part of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The college offers 34 majors and 36 minors, as well as several joint e ...
, graduating in 1836, and received his law degree from Harvard in 1838. In 1840 Woodman went to Illinois as an employee of the Boston Land Company. Within six months his immediate superior resigned, and he was named agent of the company, a position he held until the company dissolved in 1843. In 1844 he moved to
Mineral Point, Wisconsin Mineral Point is a city in Iowa County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 2,581 at the 2020 census. The city is located within the Town of Mineral Point. Mineral Point is part of the Madison Metropolitan Statistical Area. Mineral P ...
, where the federal land office for that territory was located, and entered into a partnership with Cadwallader Washburn. Within a few short years, the partners amassed immense land holdings throughout the state. This included his property now known as Bonnie Oaks. In 1847 they bought the
Helena Helena may refer to: People *Helena (given name), a given name (including a list of people and characters with the name) *Katri Helena (born 1945), Finnish singer *Helena, mother of Constantine I Places Greece * Helena (island) Guyana * ...
shot tower, originally built by Daniel Whitney. In 1852 Washburn was called upon by the Governor Leonard J. Farwell to formulate the new Wisconsin banking laws, and with the inside knowledge thus gained, Woodman and Washburn formed the Mineral Point Bank. In association with the Holloway Bank of Maine, they issued $47,000 worth of bank notes which became a major form of circulating currency on the upper Mississippi. When Washburn was elected to Congress in 1854, the partners amicably dissolved the partnership, closed the bank, and paid off all the outstanding notes. It was a fortuitous time to do so because in 1857 a major financial crisis wrecked many similar banks. In 1856, Woodman took his family on an extended tour of Europe. His children were educated by some of the best tutors in Europe. While there he kept up active correspondence with Washburn. Woodman was never politically active, but even from Europe he was swept up in the pre-Civil War maelstrom as these letters showed. In addition, he expressed an abiding appreciation for the freedom of speech that was so much more common in the United States than it was in continental Europe, especially when it came to the ability to criticize government officials. In 1859 the family returned to the United States. He moved to Mineral Point, although his family settled in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In 1861 he was elected to the
Wisconsin Legislature The Wisconsin Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The Legislature is a bicameral body composed of the upper house, Wisconsin State Senate, and the lower Wisconsin State Assembly, both of which have had Republ ...
, but since he did not seek the office and his business interests were taking him elsewhere, he resigned before taking office. From 1862 to 1864 he resided in Detroit, while working for the St. Mary's Ship Canal Company and the Michigan Pine Lands Association. In 1864 he returned to Cambridge, where for the balance of his life he engaged in historical research and writing. While living in Cambridge, Woodman never completely gave up his interest or involvement in the West. For a brief period of time, he was employed by the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad company. In 1867 he filed suit to stop the Kilbourn Manufacturing company from building their dam at Wisconsin Dells. In 1889, shortly before his death, he took a trip with the Milwaukee capitalists
William H. Bradley William Henry Bradley (July 10, 1868 – January 25, 1962) was an American Art Nouveau illustrator and artist. Nicknamed the "Dean of American Designers" by ''The Saturday Evening Post'', he was the highest-paid American artist of the early 20 ...
, of the Tomahawk Land and Boom Company, and Wallace G. Collins, of the
Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad The Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad (CMStP&P), often referred to as the "Milwaukee Road" , was a Class I railroad that operated in the Midwest and Northwest of the United States from 1847 until 1986. The company experienced ...
, to survey and assess pine lands in the State of Washington. Woodman married Charlotte Flint, another Maine native, in Fremont, Illinois, in 1842. They had six children, two of whom died in infancy. Although he only spent 16 years in Wisconsin, his ties to that state remained strong. While he lived there he was a founding member and one time vice-president of the State Historical Society. His personal records are on deposit at that institution. He also made an endowment in his will to fund the library of the Astronomy Department at the
University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase ''universitas magistrorum et scholarium'', which ...
.


References

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Further reading

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Woodman, Cyrus 1814 births 1889 deaths People from Buxton, Maine People from Mineral Point, Wisconsin Lawyers from Cambridge, Massachusetts Bowdoin College alumni Harvard Law School alumni Businesspeople from Wisconsin People of pre-statehood Wisconsin Businesspeople from Cambridge, Massachusetts 19th-century American businesspeople 19th-century American lawyers