Summary Information
John E. Cashman Papers
1888-1946
- Cashman, John E., 1865-1946
Green Bay Mss 95; Green Bay Micro 43; Micro 983
1.6 c.f.(1 record center carton, 2 archives boxes, 1 package) and 11 reels of microfilm (35mm)
UW-Green Bay Cofrin Library / Green Bay Area Research Ctr. (Map)Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)
Papers of a Progressive who served in the Wisconsin Senate, 1922-1946. Available on microfilm are personal and legislative correspondence and biographical clippings. The personal letters include numerous exchanges with his wife prior to their marriage and letters to and from his son during the 1930's and 1940's about legislative matters. The legislative correspondence includes many letters from constituents, but there are also letters from prominent correspondents such as Emil Baensch, John J. Blaine, Gerald J. Boileau, William J. Campbell, R. Ryan Duffy, James A. Farley, Bernard J. Gehrmann, Frank N. Graass, William D. Hoard, Merlin Hull, Jens Jensen, Thomas F. Konop, Robert M. La Follette, Jr., Aldo Leopold, Orland S. Loomis, George C. Sellery, and Edwin Witte. Unfilmed materials include speeches and writings; fragmentary legislative files on highways, education, agriculture, and oleomargarine; campaign memorabilia; and subject files on his work as a gauger for the Internal Revenue Service and on the legal education of his son at the University of Wisconsin.
English
http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-gb0095 ↑ Bookmark this ↑
Biography/History
Progressive state senator John E. Cashman was born on November 18, 1865 on the homestead in Franklin township, Kewaunee County, which his parents William and Hannah purchased from the government in 1858. The eighth of nine children, Cashman was educated in the local schools and after additional home study attended Valparaiso University. The dates of this attendance, as well as those of many of the events of his early life, are not known. It is known, however, that he taught in rural schools in Brown and Kewaunee counties before the turn of the century. In 1901 he began work as a federal meat inspector with the United States Bureau of Animal Husbandry. In subsequent years, Cashman advanced to the position of gauger with the Bureau of Internal Revenue and was active in the gaugers' national association. In 1902 Cashman began two years of night classes at Chicago Law School, making his mark as president of his class and winner of the institution's 1904 oratorical prize.
Cashman left the federal civil service in 1919 to return to Wisconsin to operate the family farm. In his first attempt at electoral politics in 1922, he was elected to the state senate representing Door, Kewaunee, and Manitowoc counties. Except for a very brief period, he was to serve in the Senate for the rest of his life.
Cashman was a staunch supporter of the Progressive faction of the Republican Party, and in 1924 he served as a La Follette delegate to the National Convention. His legislative accomplishments included the 1931 highway bill, which funded road construction through gas taxes and license fees; an anti-oleomargarine bill; a bill which exempted farmers' woodlots from taxation; and a bill which provided that all beer sold in Wisconsin be made from barley. Like many of the Wisconsin Progressives, Cashman was an isolationist, and it was in conjunction with this issue that he was perhaps best known. In 1923 he introduced a bill which eliminated pro-British interpretations of the American Revolution from textbooks in Wisconsin schools. This bill passed largely due to Cashman's colorful and persuasive oratory, and it brought him a considerable amount of national publicity. During the 1930's Cashman returned to this theme when he attempted to abolish texts which contained pro-British views of the causes of World War I.
Cashman was an unsuccessful candidate for Congress on the Democratic ticket in 1936 and 1938. In 1938 he gave up his Senate seat in order to make the attempt. He returned to the Senate, however, in 1939 when he was appointed to fill the unexpired term of Francis Yindra. Although Cashman planned to run for reelection in 1946, declining health forced him to withdraw. He died before the election on June 5, 1946.
In addition to his legislative work Cashman served a six-year term on the Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin. He was also a devout Catholic and was active in St. James Church in Cooperstown and the Knights of Columbus of Algoma.
In 1896 Cashman married Sophie Marie Duaime (b. 1876) of DePere. She died in 1907, leaving an infant son, John R. Cashman was remarried in 1923 to Elizabeth Kelly, but this marriage ended in divorce in 1925.
Scope and Content Note
The Cashman Papers are of considerable research interest. Not only do they add to the Society's holdings on the Progressive Movement, but they do so over an extended period of time. The materials on the Senate during the 1920's are especially valuable because documentation on the legislative politics of this period are relatively scarce. Secondly, the voluminous legislative and constituent correspondence is supported by frank, personal exchanges with his son about legislation during the 1930's and 1940's.
Included in the collection are personal and legislative correspondence, biographical clippings, speeches and writings, legislative files, and subject files relating to political campaigns, the United States Civil Service, and the legal career of his son, John R. Cashman. The clippings and correspondence have been microfilmed for preservation. Because many of the other files were fragmentary, handwritten or undated, these materials have not been filmed.
The correspondence is divided into two chronological segments: personal, 1888-1946, and legislative, 1922-1946. The personal correspondence includes many letters to and from his wife Sophie prior to their marriage. Later there are exchanges with his son about legislation and the operation of the family farm. The early letters contain several exchanges with Wisconsin congressman Thomas F. Konop. There are, however, many gaps. The details of Cashman's early career are undocumented. There is also no information on his return to Wisconsin or the reason for his entry into politics (although the activities of the 1922 campaign are included), and the events of his disastrous second marriage are only briefly mentioned. Legislative correspondence includes incoming and outgoing letters, with the bulk consisting of letters from constituents. Prominent correspondents here include Emil Baensch, John J. Blaine, Gerald J. Boileau, William J. Campbell, Raymond J. Cannon, Charles E. Coughlin, F. Ryan Duffy, James A. Farley, Bernard J. Gehrmann, Frank N. Graass, William D. Hoard, Merlin Hull, Jens Jensen, Robert M. La Follette, Jr., Aldo Leopold, Orland S. Loomis, George C. Sellery, and Edwin Witte. The correspondence offers coverage of his activities as a member of the Highway Committee and the Board of Regents, as an advocate for Wisconsin agriculture, and as a member of the Progressive Party.
The legislative files are less useful because of their fragmentary and undated nature. Included are bills and drafts, reports, memoranda, and information concerning highways, agriculture, oleomargarine, and education.
Speeches and writings include a file of dated material, 1902-1941, and undated items which have been sorted by topic into agriculture, education, and miscellany. There is also a separate file of handwritten items, notes, and fragments. Because of Cashman's reputation as an orator this section is of considerable interest.
Subject files include campaign memorabilia and information on his career in the civil service as a gauger and on the legal education of his son, who later became district attorney of Manitowoc County.
The miscellany includes notes and a phrenological report on Cashman done in 1891.
Administrative/Restriction Information
Presented by John R. Cashman, Manitowoc, Wisconsin, and Milo Sidwell, Denmark, Wisconsin, 1961-1972. Accession Number: M61-203 and 203-1; M70-84 and 310; M72-162
Processed by Carolyn J. Mattern, April 1984.
Contents List
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Green Bay Micro 43/Micro 983
Reel
1
Frame
1
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Series: Biographical Clippings, 1924-19??
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|
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Series: Correspondence
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Personal
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Reel
1
Frame
319
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1888-1919
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|
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Reel
2
Frame
1
|
1920-1929
|
|
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Reel
2
Frame
383
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1930-1939
|
|
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Reel
2
Frame
622
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1940-1945
|
|
|
Legislative
|
|
|
Reel
2
Frame
774
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1922
|
|
|
Reel
2
Frame
777
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1923
|
|
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Reel
3
Frame
1
|
1924
|
|
|
Reel
3
Frame
45
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1925
|
|
|
Reel
3
Frame
596
|
1926
|
|
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1927
|
|
|
Reel
3
Frame
729
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January-February
|
|
|
Reel
4
Frame
1
|
March-December
|
|
|
Reel
4
Frame
393
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1928
|
|
|
Reel
4
Frame
420
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1929
|
|
|
Reel
4
Frame
812
|
1930
|
|
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1931
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|
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Reel
5
Frame
1
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First 1931 file (no July)
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|
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Reel
5
Frame
632
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Second 1931 file
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|
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Reel
5
Frame
759
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1932
|
|
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Reel
6
Frame
1
|
1933
|
|
|
1934
|
|
|
Reel
6
Frame
898
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January-June
|
|
|
Reel
7
Frame
1
|
July-December
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|
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1935
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|
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Reel
7
Frame
120
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January-August (no July file)
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|
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Reel
8
Frame
1
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September - December
|
|
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Reel
8
Frame
105
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1936
|
|
|
1937
|
|
|
Reel
8
Frame
662
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January-March
|
|
|
Reel
9
Frame
1
|
April-December
|
|
|
Reel
9
Frame
527
|
1938
|
|
|
Reel
10
Frame
1
|
1939
|
|
|
Reel
10
Frame
210
|
1940
|
|
|
1941
|
|
|
Reel
10
Frame
441
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January-May
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|
|
Reel
11
Frame
1
|
June-December
|
|
|
Reel
11
Frame
13
|
1942
|
|
|
Reel
11
Frame
48
|
1943
|
|
|
Reel
11
Frame
483
|
1944
|
|
|
Reel
11
Frame
677
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1945
|
|
|
Reel
11
Frame
971
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n.d.
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Green Bay Mss 95
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Series: Speeches and Writings
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Box
1
Folder
1
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Dated, 1902-1941
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Undated
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Box
1
Folder
2
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Agriculture
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Box
1
Folder
3
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Education
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Box
1
Folder
4
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Miscellany
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Box
1
Folder
5
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Handwritten material, notes, fragments
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Series: Legislative Files
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Box
1
Folder
6
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Barley
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Education
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Box
1
Folder
7
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Bills
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Box
1
Folder
8
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Miscellany
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Box
1
Folder
9
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Farms and Agriculture
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Highways
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Box
1
Folder
10
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Bills
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|
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Box
1
Folder
11-15
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Miscellany
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Box
2
Folder
1
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Utilities
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Box
2
Folder
2
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World Court
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Box
2
Folder
3-4
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Miscellany
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|
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Package
1
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Reapportionment charts, circa 1930
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Series: Subject Files
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Campaign files
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Box
2
Folder
5
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Memorabilia
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Box
2
Folder
6
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George J. Schneider research, 1936-1938
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Box
2
Folder
7
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Miscellany
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|
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Box
2
Folder
8
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Gaugers' file, 1911-1913
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Legal files
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Box
3
Folder
1
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John E. Cashman, 1902-1905
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John R. Cashman
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Box
3
Folder
2
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Papers and debate materials, 1922
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Box
3
Folder
3
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Law school assignments
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Box
3
Folder
4
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Law school notes
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Box
3
Folder
5
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Miscellany
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|
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Box
3
Folder
6
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Series: Miscellany
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