Demas Strong (April 22, 1820 – November 9, 1893) was an American businessman, lawyer, and politician.

Life

Strong was born on April 22, 1820 in Middletown, Connecticut, the son of Davis Swift Strong and Clarissa Braddock. Strong was apprenticed to a gold watch case manufacturer in

New York City, New York New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

from 1834 to 1837. He then spent several years as a clerk in a wholesale store in New York. Initially a Democrat, he joined the

Free Soil Party The Free Soil Party was a short-lived coalition political party in the United States active from 1848 to 1854, when it merged into the Republican Party. The party was largely focused on the single issue of opposing the expansion of slavery int ...

and was a member of the 1848 Free Soil National Convention. In 1849, he moved to California and established a trading post in Big Bar, then another one in Coloma, and then building a store in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

. He then moved to

Sacramento ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

, where he was a merchant, erected several stores and dwellings, and bought town lots. He was a city alderman, serving as president of the

City Council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...

. Following the Squatters' riot, when Mayor

Hardin Bigelow Hardin Bigelow (1809 in Michigan Territory – November 27, 1850 in San Francisco, California) was the first elected mayor of the city of Sacramento, California, which was known then as "Sacramento City." Bigelow's efforts to construct Sac ...

was shot, Strong became the city's acting mayor. In December 1850, he moved to

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 ...

, closing up his California businesses in 1856. By that point, he became an active

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

. He studied law while working as a merchant's clerk and began working as a lawyer in Brooklyn. Strong was a member of the Williamsburgh Board of Education, and he was one of the appointed commissioners to arrange the consolidation of that city with Brooklyn. He spent five years as a member of the Brooklyn Common Council. In 1863, he was elected to the New York State Senate as a Republican, representing

New York's 2nd State Senate district New York's 2nd State Senate district is one of 63 districts in the New York State Senate. Since 2021, it has been represented by Republican Mario Mattera, who succeeded former Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan. For the 2022 election, the 2nd ...

(the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 7th, 11th, 13th, and 19th wards of Brooklyn). He served in the Senate in 1864 and 1865. While in the Senate, he wrote a bill that established the New York State Institution for the Blind in

Batavia Batavia may refer to: Historical places * Batavia (region), a land inhabited by the Batavian people during the Roman Empire, today part of the Netherlands * Batavia, Dutch East Indies, present-day Jakarta, the former capital of the Dutch East In ...

. He later became president of the Eastern District Hospital trustees. In 1841, Strong married Jane A. Leaycraft. Their children were Richard Polk, Julia, William Davis, Clarrise, Joseph Lewis, George Jesse, Grace, Jeanie, Demas Swift, Morris Braddock, and Susie. Strong died in Atlantic City, New Jersey, where he was staying for health reasons, on November 9, 1893. He was buried in the family burial plot in Middle Haddam, Connecticut.

Footnotes

References

External links

*
The Political Graveyard
'
Demas Strong
at '' Find a Grave'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Strong, Demas 1820 births 1893 deaths Politicians from Middletown, Connecticut New York (state) Free Soilers Businesspeople from Sacramento, California Sacramento City Council members Mayors of Sacramento, California People from Williamsburg, Brooklyn Businesspeople from Brooklyn Lawyers from Brooklyn Politicians from Brooklyn New York (state) city council members Republican Party New York (state) state senators Burials in Connecticut 19th-century American businesspeople