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.
