Henry Jager (born 1879) was an American politician from New York.

Life

He emigrated from the

Kingdom of Romania The Kingdom of Romania ( ro, Regatul României) was a constitutional monarchy that existed in Romania from 13 March ( O.S.) / 25 March 1881 with the crowning of prince Karl of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen as King Carol I (thus beginning the Romanian ...

to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, and was naturalized in 1900 in New York. In 1911, he removed to Maywood, New Jersey. He engaged in the real estate business, and was active in politics as a Socialist organizer. In April 1914, he ran on the Socialist Labor ticket for Congress at a special election in

New Jersey's 7th congressional district New Jersey's 7th congressional district includes all of Hunterdon and Warren Counties; and parts of Morris, Somerset, Sussex, and Union Counties. The district is represented by Republican Thomas Kean Jr., who was first elected in 2022, de ...

, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Robert G. Bremner, and polled 104 votes. He came in last, behind Dow H. Drukker (Rep.), James J. O'Byrne (Dem.), Gordon Demarest (Soc.) and Henry C. Whitehead (Progr.). In May 1917, at a Socialist meeting in Madison Square Garden, Jager accused one Paul Strashun of testifying in court that Jager had called President

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of ...

a "murderer". Strashun denied this, and was called by Jager "a perjurer, skunk and liar", for which Jager was convicted of

disorderly conduct Disorderly conduct is a crime in most jurisdictions in the United States, the People's Republic of China, and Taiwan. Typically, "disorderly conduct" makes it a crime to be drunk in public, to " disturb the peace", or to loiter in certain are ...

. He was sentenced to a three-month term in prison, and served the full term. Afterwards he lived at several boarding houses in different locations in

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 ...

, ending up in 1920 in

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 ...

, while his wife Irene remained in their home in Maywood where he spent many week-ends with her. In November 1920, Jager was elected on the

Socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ...

ticket to the New York State Assembly (Kings Co., 14th D.), and took his seat in the

144th New York State Legislature The 144th New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from January 5 to April 16, 1921, during the first year of Nathan L. Miller's governorship, in Albany. Background Under the pr ...

in 1921. On January 12, Assemblyman George H. Rowe offered a resolution contesting Jager's eligibility to office because he had called President Wilson a murderer, had served a six-month prison term, and was a resident 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 ...

. The resolution was referred to the Assembly Committee on the Judiciary, and a sub-committee was formed to investigate Rowe's claims. On March 29, the Assembly Committee on the Judiciary presented its final report in the matter of the eligibility of Henry Jager. There was consensus that the claim that Jager had called the President a murderer was false, and that neither a conviction for disorderly conduct and a short prison term, nor membership in the Socialist Party, were barring anybody from public office. Contentious remained the question of residence: The majority submitted a report concluding that Jager was a resident of Maywood, New Jersey, and therefore was ineligible for office under the provisions of the Public Officers Law of New York. A minority concluded that Jager was a resident of

. On the next day, Jager's seat was declared vacant by a vote of 77 to 62.''Journal of the Assembly'' (144th Session)
(1921; Vol. II, pg. 1463)

Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jager, Henry 1879 births Year of death missing People from Maywood, New Jersey Socialist Party of America politicians from New York (state) Politicians from Brooklyn Members of the New York State Assembly Romanian emigrants to the United States