Frederick A. Wenck (April 15, 1879 – July 26, 1946) was an American athlete, sports administrator, and businessman who served as chairman of the New York State Athletic Commission.

Early life

Wenck was born on April 15, 1879, in

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was d ...

. He moved to New York City's Upper West Side in 1890. He attended the

Barnard School for Boys The Barnard School for Boys was a college prep-school founded in 1886 by William Livingston Hazen., Descendants of Thomas Hazen In 1920, Barnard moved to 246th Street and Cayuga Avenue in the Riverdale section of the Bronx of New York City, i ...

, where he was captain of the football team. During the Spanish–American War he served with the 22nd New York Infantry Regiment. He graduated from Yale Law School in 1902. After college, Wenck spent many years as a sportswriter and editor. He worked on the staffs of the '' New York Evening Mail'', '' New-York Tribune'', and ''

The Morning Telegraph ''The Morning Telegraph'' (1839 – April 10, 1972) (sometimes referred to as the ''New York Morning Telegraph'') was a New York City broadsheet newspaper owned by Moe Annenberg's Cecelia Corporation. It was first published as the '' Sunday ...

''.

Athletic career

Wenck was a swimmer for the New York Athletic Club from 1896 to 1904. At Yale he was captain of the swimming and water polo teams and founded and served as the first president of the Yale University Swimming Association. He also captained the 22nd New York Infantry Regiment's football team.

New York State Athletic Commission

On October 8, 1915, Wenck was appointed chairman of the New York State Athletic Commission by Governor

Charles Seymour Whitman Charles Seymour Whitman (September 29, 1868March 29, 1947) was an American lawyer who served as the 41st Governor of New York from January 1, 1915, to December 31, 1918. An attorney and politician, he also served as a delegate from New York to t ...

. On January 2, 1917, attorney Emil Fuchs sent a letter to Governor Whitman on behalf of boxing promoters Harry Pollok, Patrick T. Powers, and John J. White, who alleged that Wenck had solicited bribes in exchange for a license. Whitman appointed Franklin B. Lord to oversee public hearings into the charges. Lord cleared Wenck of the bribery charges, but found that he had borrowed money from a boxing manager, had recommended promoter John J. Mack to

Fred Fulton Fred Tobias Fulton, nicknamed "The Rochester Plasterer", (April 19, 1891 – July 7, 1973) was an American heavyweight professional boxer. Biography He was born in Blue Rapids, Kansas on April 19, 1891. Fulton made his professional debut in 1 ...

’s manager for Fulton's fight against Al Reich and endorsed the note that allowed Mack to be financially able to promote the fight, had accepted a large number of free tickets for boxing and other events at

Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsylva ...

, and allowed two companies to stage fights before they were licensed. For these reasons, Lord found Wenck to be unfit for office. On March 16, 1917, Whitman ousted Wenck based on Lord's recommendation. Whitman chose not to fill the office after Wenck's removal, as boxing was soon outlawed in the state.

Business career

Following his removal from the athletic commission, Wenck entered the ferry business. He operated ferries on the

Long Island Sound Long Island Sound is a marine sound and tidal estuary of the Atlantic Ocean. It lies predominantly between the U.S. state of Connecticut to the north and Long Island in New York to the south. From west to east, the sound stretches from the Eas ...

between

New Rochelle, New York New Rochelle (; older french: La Nouvelle-Rochelle) is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States, in the southeastern portion of the state. In 2020, the city had a population of 79,726, making it the seventh-largest in the state of ...

and Greenwich, Connecticut and points on the North Shore. He held the ferry and beach house concession for

Glen Island Park Glen Island Park is a waterfront park, located on Glen Island, on the Long Island Sound, New York. The park is owned and operated by Westchester County and shares the island with a privately operated but county-owned entertainment facility, the G ...

and operated a ferry from New Rochelle to Glen Island. In 1936 he opened Wenck Marine Salvage Company in Port Washington, New York, which he ran until his death on July 26, 1946, at

Meadowbrook Hospital Nassau University Medical Center (NUMC) is a public teaching hospital affiliated with the Health Sciences Center of Stony Brook University and with Northwell Health. The 19-story, 631-bed Level I Trauma Center is located at 2201 Hempstead Turnpik ...

in Hempstead, New York.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wenck, Fred A. 1879 births 1946 deaths American military personnel of the Spanish–American War American sportswriters New York State Athletic Commissioners New-York Tribune personnel Marine salvors Sportspeople from Baltimore Sportspeople from New Rochelle, New York Sportspeople from New York City Swimmers from New York (state) Yale Bulldogs men's swimmers Yale Law School alumni