Abram Stevens Hewitt (July 31, 1822January 18, 1903) was an American politician, educator,
ironmaking
Ferrous metallurgy is the metallurgy of iron and its alloys. The earliest surviving prehistoric iron artifacts, from the 4th millennium BC in Egypt, were made from meteoritic iron-nickel. It is not known when or where the smelting of iron from ...
industrialist, and lawyer who was
mayor
In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...
of
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
for two years from 1887–1888. He also twice served as a
U.S. Congressman from and chaired the
Democratic National Committee from 1876 to 1877.
The son-in-law of the industrialist and philanthropist
Peter Cooper
Peter Cooper (February 12, 1791April 4, 1883) was an American industrialist, inventor, philanthropist, and politician. He designed and built the first American steam locomotive, the '' Tom Thumb'', founded the Cooper Union for the Advancement of ...
, Hewitt is best known for his work with the
Cooper Union, which he aided Cooper in founding in 1859, and for planning the financing and construction of the
first line of what would eventually develop into the
New York City Subway, for which
Early life
Hewitt was born in
Haverstraw, New York
Haverstraw is a town in Rockland County, New York, United States, located north of the Town of Clarkstown and the Town of Ramapo; east of Orange County; south of the Town of Stony Point; and west of the Hudson River. The town runs from the w ...
. His mother, Ann Gurnee, was of French
Huguenot
The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a religious group of French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, the Genevan burgomaster Be ...
descent, while his father, John Hewitt, was from
Staffordshire in
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
and had emigrated to the U.S. in 1796 to work on a
steam engine to power a water plant in
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...
.
Hewitt earned a scholarship to attend
Columbia College. After graduating from the College in 1842, he taught
mathematics there, and became a lawyer several years later.
From 1843 to 1844, Hewitt traveled to
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...
with his student,
Edward Cooper, the son of industrialist entrepreneur
Peter Cooper
Peter Cooper (February 12, 1791April 4, 1883) was an American industrialist, inventor, philanthropist, and politician. He designed and built the first American steam locomotive, the '' Tom Thumb'', founded the Cooper Union for the Advancement of ...
, and another future New York City mayor. During their return voyage, the pair were
shipwrecked together. After this, Hewitt became "virtually a member of the Cooper family", and in 1855 married Edward's sister, Sarah Amelia.
Career
In 1845, financed by Peter Cooper, Hewitt and Edward Cooper started an iron mill in
Trenton, New Jersey
Trenton is the capital city of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County. It was the capital of the United States from November 1 to December 24, 1784.[wrought iron
Wrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon content (less than 0.08%) in contrast to that of cast iron (2.1% to 4%). It is a semi-fused mass of iron with fibrous slag inclusions (up to 2% by weight), which give it a wood-like "grain" ...]
beams, as well as developing other innovative products. Hewitt's younger brother, Charles, was a manager at the iron mill. Hewitt also invested in other companies, in many case serving on their boards.
[Mushkat, Jerome. "Hewitt, Abram S(tevens)" in , p. 594] Hewitt was known for dedicated work for the U.S. government and exceptionally good relations with his employees.
After his marriage to Sarah Cooper, Hewitt supervised the construction of the
Cooper Union, Peter Cooper's free educational institution, and chaired its board of trustees until 1903.
Political career
In 1871, inspired by reformer
Samuel J. Tilden, Cooper prominently campaigned to remove the corrupt "Tweed Ring", led by
William M. "Boss" Tweed, from control of
Tammany Hall
Tammany Hall, also known as the Society of St. Tammany, the Sons of St. Tammany, or the Columbian Order, was a New York City political organization founded in 1786 and incorporated on May 12, 1789 as the Tammany Society. It became the main loc ...
, and to reorganize the
Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to:
*Democratic Party (United States)
Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to:
Active parties Africa
*Botswana Democratic Party
*Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea
*Gabonese Democratic Party
*Demo ...
in New York, which Tweed controlled for years through his
political machine. Hewitt first ventured into electoral politics in 1874, when he won a seat in the
U.S. House of Representatives, where he initially served two terms representing , from March 4, 1875 to March 3, 1879. During his first stint in Congress, he was made head of the
Democratic National Committee in 1876, when Tilden
ran unsuccessfully for President.
After defeating
James O'Brien, his successor in Congress who was a staunch opponent of Tammany Hall, for the Democratic nomination in the 10th district during the
1880 elections, Hewitt regained his old seat and once again served in the U.S. House from March 4, 1881 to December 30, 1886.
Hewitt's most famous speech was made at the opening of the
Brooklyn Bridge between
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
and
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
in 1883.
Hewitt was elected mayor of New York
in the
1886 election when
Richard Croker of Tammany Hall–– which had resumed its control of the city Democratic Party–– arranged for Hewitt to win the Democratic nomination with Tammany Hall's support, despite his being the leader of the anti-Tammany "Swallowtails" of the party. Croker needed a strong candidate to oppose the
United Labor Party
The South Australian Labor Party, officially known as the Australian Labor Party (South Australian Branch) and commonly referred to simply as South Australian Labor, is the South Australian Branch of the Australian Labor Party, originally formed ...
candidate, political economist
Henry George
Henry George (September 2, 1839 – October 29, 1897) was an American political economist and journalist. His writing was immensely popular in 19th-century America and sparked several reform movements of the Progressive Era. He inspired the eco ...
, as Tammany feared that a win by George might reorganize politics in the city along class lines rather than along ethnic lines, which Tammany exploited to stay in power.
Hewitt was not successful as a mayor, due both to his unpleasant character and
nativist beliefs: he refused, for instance, to review the
Saint Patrick's Day
Saint Patrick's Day, or the Feast of Saint Patrick ( ga, Lá Fhéile Pádraig, lit=the Day of the Festival of Patrick), is a cultural and religious celebration held on 17 March, the traditional death date of Saint Patrick (), the foremost patr ...
parade, a decision that alienated much of the Democratic Party's
Irish–American base in the city. Hewitt also refused to allow Tammany the control of
patronage they wanted,
and Croker saw to it that Hewittt was not nominated for a second term.
Hewitt was considered a defender of sound money practices (he is quoted as saying "Unnecessary taxation is unjust taxation") and
civil service reform. He developed a plan to fund and construct the
New York City Subway system.
Entrepreneurial career
Hewitt had many investments in natural resources, including considerable holdings in
West Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the B ...
, where
William Nelson Page
William Nelson Page (January 6, 1854 – March 7, 1932) was an American civil engineer and industrialist. He was active in the Virginias following the U.S. Civil War. Page was widely known as a metallurgical expert by other industry leaders a ...
(1854–1932) was one of his managers. He was also an associate of
Henry Huttleston Rogers
Henry Huttleston Rogers (January 29, 1840 – May 19, 1909) was an American industrialist and financier. He made his fortune in the oil refining business, becoming a leader at Standard Oil. He also played a major role in numerous corporations ...
(1840–1909), a financier and
industrialist who was a key man in the
Standard Oil Trust, and a major developer of natural resources. One of Hewitt's investments handled by Rogers and Page was the Loup Creek Estate in
Fayette County, West Virginia. The
Deepwater Railway
The Deepwater Railway was an intrastate short line railroad located in West Virginia in the United States which operated from 1898 to 1907.
William N. Page, a civil engineer and entrepreneur, had begun a small logging railroad in Fayette County ...
was a subsidiary initially formed by the Loup Creek investors to ship
bituminous coal from coal mines on their land a short distance to the main line of the
Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (C&O) along the
Kanawha River
The Kanawha River ( ) is a tributary of the Ohio River, approximately 97 mi (156 km) long, in the U.S. state of West Virginia. The largest inland waterway in West Virginia, its valley has been a significant industrial region of the st ...
. After rate disputes, the tiny
short line railroad
:''Short Line is also one of the four railroads in the American version of the popular board game Monopoly, named after the Shore Fast Line, an interurban streetcar line.''
A shortline railroad is a small or mid-sized railroad company that opera ...
was eventually expanded to extend all the way into Virginia and across that state to a new
coal pier at
Sewell's Point on
Hampton Roads. Planned secretly right under the noses of the large railroads, it was renamed the
Virginian Railway
The Virginian Railway was a Class I railroad located in Virginia and West Virginia in the United States. The VGN was created to transport high quality "smokeless" bituminous coal from southern West Virginia to port at Hampton Roads.
Histor ...
, and was also known as the "richest little railroad in the world" for much of the 20th century.
In 1890, Abram partnered with
Edward Cooper and
Hamilton M. Twombly in forming the American Sulphur Company, which then entered into a 50/50 agreement with
Herman Frasch
Herman Frasch r Hermann Frasch(December 25, 1851 in Oberrot bei Gaildorf, Württemberg – May 1, 1914 in Paris) was a chemist, mining engineer and inventor known for his work with petroleum and sulfur.
Biography Early life
He was the son of Joh ...
and his partners to form the
Union Sulphur Company
The Union Sulphur Company was an American sulfur mining corporation founded in 1896 by the famous inventor Herman Frasch. It utilized the Frasch Process to extract previously inaccessible sulfur deposits located beneath swampland in Louisiana. ...
.
Philanthropy
As a philanthropist, Hewitt was especially interested in education.
Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
gave him the degree of
LL.D.
Legum Doctor (Latin: “teacher of the laws”) (LL.D.) or, in English, Doctor of Laws, is a doctorate-level academic degree in law or an honorary degree, depending on the jurisdiction. The double “L” in the abbreviation refers to the early ...
in 1887, and he was the president of its alumni association in 1883, and a trustee from 1901 until his death. In 1876, he was elected president of the
American Institute of Mining Engineers
The American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers (AIME) is a professional association for mining and metallurgy, with over 145,000 members. It was founded in 1871 by 22 mining engineers in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, Uni ...
, and was a founder and trustee of the
Carnegie Institution of Science. He was also a trustee of
Barnard College
Barnard College of Columbia University is a private women's liberal arts college in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1889 by a group of women led by young student activist Annie Nathan Meyer, who petitioned Columbia ...
and of the
American Museum of Natural History.
Death and family
![Ringwood Manor spring 2015](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/58/Ringwood_Manor_spring_2015.jpg)
Abram Hewitt died at his New York City home on January 18, 1903, and was interred at
Green-Wood Cemetery
Green-Wood Cemetery is a cemetery in the western portion of Brooklyn, New York City. The cemetery is located between South Slope/ Greenwood Heights, Park Slope, Windsor Terrace, Borough Park, Kensington, and Sunset Park, and lies several blo ...
. His last words, after he took his oxygen tube from his mouth, were "And now, I am officially dead."
Hewitt's daughters, Amy, Eleanor, and Sarah Hewitt, built a decorative arts collection that was for years exhibited at the Cooper Union and later became the core collection of the
Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum is a design museum housed within the Andrew Carnegie Mansion in Manhattan, New York City, along the Upper East Side's Museum Mile. It is one of 19 museums that fall under the wing of the Smithsonian Inst ...
. His son,
Peter Cooper Hewitt
Peter Cooper Hewitt (May 5, 1861 – August 25, 1921) was an American electrical engineer and inventor, who invented the first mercury-vapor lamp in 1901. Hewitt was issued on September 17, 1901. In 1903, Hewitt created an improved version t ...
(1861–1921), was a successful inventor, while another son, Edward Ringwood Hewitt (1866–1957), was also an inventor, a chemist and an early expert on fly-fishing. He published ''Telling on the Trout'', among other books.
Hewitt's youngest son, Erskine Hewitt (1871–1938), was also a lawyer and philanthropist in New York City. He donated
Ringwood Manor
Ringwood Manor, located in Passaic County, New Jersey, was the site of an ironworks and home to a number of well-known ironmasters from the 1740s to the late 19th century. The current manor house was not built until 1807.
History
Scottish engine ...
to the State of
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...
in 1936. On February 18, 1909, Erskine Hewitt was named a director of the newly formed
National Reserve Bank of the City of New York
The National Reserve Bank of the City of New York was a bank in New York City that was formed from a merger of Consolidated National Bank and Oriental Bank in 1909. Deposits of the National Bank Reserve Bank were about $4,352,561 on January 13, 1 ...
.
On March 2, 1909, Hewitt was elected chairman.
Legacy
![FDNY fireboat Abram S](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dc/FDNY_fireboat_Abram_S._Hewitt_passes_under_the_Brooklyn_Bridge_in_1903.jpg)
*One of Cooper Union's academic buildings was named in his honor. It was demolished and replaced by
41 Cooper Square
41 Cooper Square, designed by architect Thom Mayne of Morphosis, is a nine-story, academic center that houses the Albert Nerken School of Engineering with additional spaces for the humanities, art, and architecture departments in the newest additi ...
in 2007. An historic twenty-foot column in the Hewitt Building designed by
Stanford White
Stanford White (November 9, 1853 – June 25, 1906) was an American architect. He was also a partner in the architectural firm McKim, Mead & White, one of the most significant Beaux-Arts firms. He designed many houses for the rich, in addition ...
was transported—appropriately enough—to its former home at the
Green-Wood Cemetery
Green-Wood Cemetery is a cemetery in the western portion of Brooklyn, New York City. The cemetery is located between South Slope/ Greenwood Heights, Park Slope, Windsor Terrace, Borough Park, Kensington, and Sunset Park, and lies several blo ...
in
Brooklyn, New York
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
, where it now stands on Abram S. Hewitt's memorial plot.
*A New York City
fireboat
A fireboat or fire-float is a specialized watercraft with pumps and nozzles designed for fighting shoreline and shipboard fires. The first fireboats, dating to the late 18th century, were tugboats, retrofitted with firefighting equipme ...
,
''Abram S. Hewitt'', which served from 1903 until 1958 was named in his honor. The fireboat was eventually scrapped, and its remains may be found at the
Witte Marine Scrapyard in
Rossville, Staten Island
Rossville is a neighborhood of Staten Island, New York, on the island's South Shore. It is located to the north of Woodrow, to the west of Arden Heights, and to the south and east of the Arthur Kill. Rossville is located within Staten Island Com ...
.
*There is a life-sized white marble statue of Hewitt in the Great Hall of the
Chamber of Commerce of the State of New York in
Albany, New York
Albany ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of New York, also the seat and largest city of Albany County. Albany is on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River, and about north of New York C ...
.
*The historic village of
Hewitt, New Jersey, located within the Township of
West Milford, is preserved within
Long Pond Ironworks State Park
Long Pond Ironworks State Park is located in the community of Hewitt, in West Milford, New Jersey, United States. The park is known for its old stone walls, furnaces and other remnants of a once industrious ironworking community that now sits ...
. The village contains the ruins of the iron smelting furnaces operated by Cooper and Hewitt.
*
Ringwood Manor
Ringwood Manor, located in Passaic County, New Jersey, was the site of an ironworks and home to a number of well-known ironmasters from the 1740s to the late 19th century. The current manor house was not built until 1807.
History
Scottish engine ...
in
Ringwood, New Jersey
Ringwood is a borough in Passaic County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 11,735, a decline of 493 (−4.0%) from the 2010 census count of 12,228,[Ringwood State Park
Ringwood State Park is a state park in Passaic County in northeastern New Jersey, USA. The Park is located in the heart of the Ramapo Mountains in Ringwood. Its forests are part of the Northeastern coastal forests ecoregion.
It contains ...]
.
* Abram Stevens Hewitt School (P.S. 130) in the
Bronx, New York, was named for him.
* Hewitt Hall of
Barnard College
Barnard College of Columbia University is a private women's liberal arts college in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1889 by a group of women led by young student activist Annie Nathan Meyer, who petitioned Columbia ...
at
Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
is named for him.
*
Abram S. Hewitt State Forest along the
Appalachian Trail
The Appalachian Trail (also called the A.T.), is a hiking trail in the Eastern United States, extending almost between Springer Mountain in Georgia and Mount Katahdin in Maine, and passing through 14 states.Gailey, Chris (2006)"Appalachian ...
was named in his honor.
References
Notes
Bibliography
*
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hewitt, Abram
Hewitt, Abram Stevens
Hewitt, Abram Stevens
Hewitt, Abram Stevens
Hewitt, Abram Stevens
Hewitt, Abram Stevens
Hewitt, Abram Stevens
Peter Cooper
People from Haverstraw, New York
Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from New York (state)
History of the New York City Subway
19th-century American politicians
Bourbon Democrats
Columbia University faculty
Members of the United States House of Representatives from New York (state)