John Thilman Hendrick (November 12, 1878 – November 12, 1944) was a businessman and the 13th president of the Board of Commissioners of the District of Columbia; he served from late 1920 to March 1921 during the end of the

Wilson Administration Woodrow Wilson's tenure as the 28th president of the United States lasted from 4 March 1913 until 4 March 1921. He was largely incapacitated the last year and a half. He became president after winning the 1912 election. Wilson was a Democrat ...

Early life

Hendrick was born in Clarksville, Tennessee, in 1878, the son of David Stewart Hendrick and a distant descendant of

Jonathan Edwards Jonathan Edwards may refer to: Musicians *Jonathan and Darlene Edwards, pseudonym of bandleader Paul Weston and his wife, singer Jo Stafford *Jonathan Edwards (musician) (born 1946), American musician ** ''Jonathan Edwards'' (album), debut album ...

, one of the first presidents of

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

. He studied at

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and rail magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided the school its initial $1-million ...

before getting his law degree at

George Washington University , mottoeng = "God is Our Trust" , established = , type = Private federally chartered research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.8 billion (2022) , preside ...

. He moved to Washington, D.C., in 1893. After graduation, he worked in his father's insurance and banking business. He eventually became general manager of the central eastern division of the

Manhattan Life Insurance Company ManhattanLife began as The Manhattan Life Insurance Company, a life insurance company domiciled in New York. It operates as a subsidiary of Manhattan Life Group in Houston, Texas. ManhattanLife is the brand name for plans, products, and services ...

and served as the director of several large banks. He was one of the founders of the ''

Washington Herald ''The Washington Herald'' was an American daily newspaper in Washington, D.C., from October 8, 1906, to January 31, 1939. History The paper was founded in 1906 by Scott C. Bone, who had been managing editor of ''The Washington Post'' from 1888 ...

'' and became involved in the stock market in 1915. He was a member of both the

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 * '' ...

and Washington Stock Exchanges.

Board of commissioners

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 ...

appointed him to finish he term of Louis Brownlow, who left to become manager of Petersburg, Virginia, on the D.C. Board of Commissioners. Hendrick was elected president of the board, and served for less than six months, the shortest term of any President in the Board's nearly 90-year history.

Later life

After leaving office, he became Chairman of the Board of the Lanston Monotype Company and was a senior partner in the W.B. Hibbs and Company stock brokerage firm. Hendrick died in 1944 in his home on Kalorama Avenue in Washington, D.C. He was buried in Rock Creek Cemetery.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hendrick, John Thilman 1878 births 1944 deaths Members of the Board of Commissioners for the District of Columbia People from Clarksville, Tennessee 20th-century American politicians Burials at Rock Creek Cemetery