Israel Washburn Sr. (November 18, 1784 – September 1, 1876) was a

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

politician.

Early life

Washburn's family was from

, to which their ancestor emigrated from England in 1631. He was born in

Raynham, Massachusetts Raynham () is a New England town, town in Bristol County, Massachusetts, Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States, located approximately south of Boston, Massachusetts, Boston and northeast of Providence, Rhode Island. The population was ...

, in 1784, the son of Israel Washburn and Abiah King. His brother was Reuel Washburn.

Settlement in Maine

Washburn moved north to Maine in 1806. He was a school teacher for a couple of years, before working in the shipbuilding industry at White's Landing on the

Kennebec River The Kennebec River (Abenaki language, Abenaki: ''Kinəpékʷihtəkʷ'') is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed June 30, 2011 natural river within the U.S. state of Ma ...

. In 1809, at age 25, Washburn bought a homestead with some acres of farmland at The Norlands in

Livermore, Maine Livermore is a town in Androscoggin County, Maine, United States, formerly in Oxford County, Maine. The population was 2,127 at the 2020 United States census. It is included in both the Lewiston-Auburn, Maine Metropolitan Statistical Area an ...

. He settled there, working on the farm. He also opened a general store.

Political career

Washburn was elected twice and he served in the

Massachusetts House of Representatives The Massachusetts House of Representatives is the lower house of the Massachusetts General Court, the State legislature (United States), state legislature of Massachusetts. It is composed of 160 members elected from 14 counties each divided into ...

, in 1815–1816 and 1818–1819. He remained very active in local politics until 1829.

Personal life

On March 26, 1812, Washburn married Martha "Patty" Benjamin (1792–1861), daughter of Lieutenant Samuel Benjamin, a Revolutionary War veteran. They had eleven children with her, ten survived, including seven sons. Their sons included Israel Washburn Jr., Elihu B. Washburne, Cadwallader C. Washburn, and

William D. Washburn William Drew "W.D." Washburn, Sr. (January 14, 1831 – July 29, 1912) was an American politician. He served in both the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate as a Republican from Minnesota. Three of his seven ...

Charles Ames Washburn Charles Ames Washburn (March 16, 1822 – January 26, 1889), also known as C. A. Washburn, was the U.S. Minister to Paraguay. He was born in Livermore, Maine. He was the son of Israel Washburn Sr.; nephew of Reuel Washburn; brother of Israel ...

was an

elector Elector may refer to: * Prince-elector or elector, a member of the electoral college of the Holy Roman Empire, having the function of electing the Holy Roman Emperors * Elector, a member of an electoral college ** Confederate elector, a member of t ...

and a

diplomat A diplomat (from ; romanization, romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state (polity), state, International organization, intergovernmental, or Non-governmental organization, nongovernmental institution to conduct diplomacy with one ...

Later life and death

In 1829, Washburn's general store failed, and he returned to farming. In 1859, at age 75, he became blind. Two years after, he became a widower upon the death of Martha. Washburn died in 1876, aged 91. He was interred in Waters Hill Cemetery in Livermore, alongside his wife.

Notes

1784 births 1876 deaths Members of the Massachusetts House of Representatives Washburn family 19th-century members of the Massachusetts General Court {{Massachusetts-MARepresentative-stub