Gottfried H. Wende (March 6, 1852 - December 3, 1933), was an American lawyer and politician from

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

Early life

Wende was born in Alden, New York on March 6, 1852. He was the son of Herman A. von Wende (1825–1892), a Colonel in the German Army, and Mary R. Wende (1833–1919). He was educated at the Millgrove, Clarence Union School, Buffalo Central School, and graduated with the first-ever law class of

Cornell Law School Cornell Law School is the law school of Cornell University, a private Ivy League university in Ithaca, New York. One of the five Ivy League law schools, it offers four law degree programs, JD, LLM, MSLS and JSD, along with several dual-deg ...

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

in 1876.

Career

After reading law with Judge Cothran, Wende was admitted to the bar in 1877 and practiced law for 61 years, keeping his law office, Wende & Wende, at the

Erie County Savings Bank The Erie County Savings Bank building was a 10-story Romanesque Revival, office and bank branch building that was located at present-day 9 Church Street in downtown Buffalo, New York. Building history The decorative castle-like building was compl ...

. As a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

, he was a member of

New York State Assembly The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature, with the New York State Senate being the upper house. There are 150 seats in the Assembly. Assembly members serve two-year terms without term limits. The Assem ...

(Erie Co., 7th D.) in

1909 Events January–February * January 4 – Explorer Aeneas Mackintosh of the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition escaped death by fleeing across ice floes. * January 7 – Colombia recognizes the independence of Panama. * Januar ...

, beating Robert H. Reed. Wende was appointed a member of the Code and Military Affairs committees by

Speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** In ...

James Wolcott Wadsworth Jr. James Wolcott Wadsworth Jr. (August 12, 1877June 21, 1952) was an American politician, a Republican Party (United States), Republican from New York (state), New York. He was the son of New York State Comptroller James Wolcott Wadsworth, and the ...

He also served in the

1910 Events January * January 13 – The first public radio broadcast takes place; live performances of the operas '' Cavalleria rusticana'' and ''Pagliacci'' are sent out over the airwaves, from the Metropolitan Opera House in New York C ...

1911 A notable ongoing event was the Comparison of the Amundsen and Scott Expeditions, race for the South Pole. Events January * January 1 – A decade after federation, the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory ...

and

1912 Events January * January 1 – The Republic of China (1912–49), Republic of China is established. * January 5 – The Prague Conference (6th All-Russian Conference of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party) opens. * January 6 ...

. Reportedly, New York Governor

Al Smith Alfred Emanuel Smith (December 30, 1873 – October 4, 1944) was an American politician who served four terms as Governor of New York and was the Democratic Party's candidate for president in 1928. The son of an Irish-American mother and a C ...

's favorite story involved Wende and took place when both were members of the Assembly:

"Serving in the state legislature, he mithwas involved in a floor debate with three Republican representatives: Ed Merritt, Fred Hammond, and Jesse Phillips. As the discussion grew heated, an assemblyman from Buffalo, Gottfried Wende, asked the privilege of interrupting. Wende's addition to the proceedings, breathed with the air of a town crier announcing the results of a critical battle, was the declaration, 'Mr. Speaker, I have just heard that Cornell won the boat race.' Merritt was the first to reply: 'That doesn't mean anything to me. I'm a Yale man.' Hammond then chipped in, 'It doesn't mean anything to me. I'm a Harvard man.' Finally, Phillips added, 'It doesn't mean anything to me, I'm a U. of M. man." If the speakers thought that they were humiliating Al Smith, bring him up short with their pedigrees, they most definitely underestimated the man's quickness of wit. Al simply turned and said, 'It doesn't mean anything to me... I am an F.F.M. man,' At that a Tammany assemblyman yelled out, 'What is that Al?' and Smith answered. 'Fulton Fish Market. Let's proceed with the debate.'"

He was a member of the

New York State Senate The New York State Senate is the upper house of the New York State Legislature; the New York State Assembly is its lower house. Its members are elected to two-year terms; there are no term limits. There are 63 seats in the Senate. Partisan com ...

(50th D.) in

1913 Events January * January 5 – First Balkan War: Battle of Lemnos (1913), Battle of Lemnos – Greek admiral Pavlos Kountouriotis forces the Turkish fleet to retreat to its base within the Dardanelles, from which it will not ven ...

and

1914 This year saw the beginning of what became known as World War I, after Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the Austrian throne was Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, assassinated by Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip. It als ...

. Wende was a close friend of both

Grover Cleveland Stephen Grover Cleveland (March 18, 1837June 24, 1908) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 22nd and 24th president of the United States from 1885 to 1889 and from 1893 to 1897. Cleveland is the only president in American ...

and

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

Personal life

Wende was married to Anna C. Schmidt (1885–1912). He bought the Wende Cottage at 2256 Bailey Avenue in Buffalo where he lived with his family. Together, they were the parents of four children, including: * Herman A. Wende, an electrical inspector. * Anna Wende, who married Richter, the owner of Richter Periodical Company. Wende died at his home in Buffalo, New York on December 3, 1933. He was 81 years old.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wende, Gottfried H 1852 births 1933 deaths New York (state) state senators Members of the New York State Assembly Politicians from Buffalo, New York Lawyers from Buffalo, New York