Edward B. Cassatt

Who was Edward B. Cassatt?

Colonel Edward Buchanan Cassatt was an American soldier and an owner/breeder of Thoroughbred racehorses. He was the son of Alexander Cassatt, president of the Pennsylvania Railroad, and his wife, Lois Buchanan, a niece of James Buchanan, 15th President of the United States.

Cassatt studied at Haverford College then at École spéciale militaire de Saint-Cyr in France before graduating from West Point in 1903. He served with the United States Cavalry in the Spanish-American War and the Philippine-American War. He also served as military attaché at the Embassy of the United States in London, England.

He married Emily Louise Phillips in 1893 and divorced in 1904. They had one child, Lois, who married John B. Thayer III. He married a second time in 1908 to Eleanor Blackford Smith of Virginia. She was about twenty years his junior and shared his love of horses.

Edward Cassatt ran as a Democrat for the 65th United States Congress but lost to incumbent Republican, Thomas S. Butler.