Joseph A. Whitehorn (1879 – January 23, 1926) was an American lawyer and politician from

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Life

He was born in 1879 in

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

. After the death of his mother, when he was about ten years old he emigrated together with his three years older brother 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 territorie ...

. They lived in

New York City 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 ...

where Joseph became a

paperboy A paperboy is someoneoften an older child or adolescentwho distributes printed newspapers to homes or offices on a regular route, usually by bicycle or automobile. In Western nations during the heyday of print newspapers during the early 20th ...

, and some years later a clerk in a clothing factory. While working during the day, he attended the evening course at

New York University School of Law New York University School of Law (NYU Law) is the law school of New York University, a private research university in New York City. Established in 1835, it is the oldest law school in New York City and the oldest surviving law school in New ...

, graduated in 1904, was admitted to the bar, and began the practice of law in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

. The next year 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 ...

. Whitehorn was a member of the

Socialist Party of America The Socialist Party of America (SPA) was a socialist political party in the United States formed in 1901 by a merger between the three-year-old Social Democratic Party of America and disaffected elements of the Socialist Labor Party of Ameri ...

. In November 1916, he was elected to the

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 ...

(Kings Co., 21st D.), defeating the incumbent Democrat Isaac Mendelsohn. Whitehorn was a member of the

140th New York State Legislature The 140th New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from January 3 to October 2, 1917, during the third year of Charles S. Whitman's governorship, in Albany. Background Under the p ...

in 1917. Mendelsohn contested Whitehorn's election, but the Assembly decided in favor of Whitehorn. In November 1917, after re-apportionment, he was re-elected to the Assembly in the 14th District of Kings County, and was a member of the

141st New York State Legislature The 141st New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from January 2 to April 13, 1918, during the fourth year of Charles S. Whitman's governorship, in Albany. Background Under the p ...

in 1918. The

Citizens Union Citizens Union is a New York City-based good government group founded in 1897 to combat the influences of the Tammany Hall political machine. J. Pierpont Morgan, Benjamin Altman, Elihu Root, and Carl Schurz numbered among its 165 founders. In 198 ...

called Whitehorn an "able and effective" legislator. In November 1918, he ran for Congress in the 3rd District, but was defeated by Republican

John MacCrate John MacCrate (March 29, 1885 in Dumbarton, Scotland – June 9, 1976 in Brooklyn, New York (state), New York) was a lawyer, a politician, serving as a United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative from New York (state), New York, ...

who had also won the Democratic primary. In November 1925, Whitehorn ran unsuccessfully for the

New York Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the State of New York is the trial-level court of general jurisdiction in the New York State Unified Court System. (Its Appellate Division is also the highest intermediate appellate court.) It is vested with unlimited civ ...

(2nd D.), polling 17,568 votes. He died on January 23, 1926.Joseph A. Whitehorn
at Ancient Faces

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Whitehorn, Joseph A. 1879 births 1926 deaths Politicians from Brooklyn Members of the New York State Assembly Socialist Party of America politicians from New York (state) Romanian emigrants to the United States New York University School of Law alumni