Robert Lee Tudor (March 11, 1874 – May 14, 1949) was an American politician from New York.

Life

Tudor was born on March 11, 1874 in

Patrick County, Virginia Patrick County is a county located on the central southern border of the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 17,608. Its county seat is Stuart. It is located within both the rolling hills and valleys of the Pie ...

, the son of William Abram Tudor and Martha Jane Lee."Virginia, Death Certificates, 1912-1987," database with images, ''

FamilySearch FamilySearch is a nonprofit organization and website offering genealogical records, education, and software. It is operated by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), and is closely connected with the church's Family Histo ...

'' (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C958-1SGY-X?cc=2377565&wc=H96F-1CD%3A1506311965%2C1529106302 : 20 August 2018), Roanoke (Ind. City) > 1949 > image 323 of 575; from "Virginia, Marriage Records, 1700-1850," database and images, ''

Ancestry An ancestor, also known as a forefather, fore-elder or a forebear, is a parent or (recursively) the parent of an antecedent (i.e., a grandparent, great-grandparent, great-great-grandparent and so forth). ''Ancestor'' is "any person from whom ...

'' (http://www.ancestry.com : 2012); citing

Virginia Department of Health The Virginia Department of Health oversees public health throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia in 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 ...

, Richmond. His mother was a member of the

Lee family The Lee family of the United States is a historically significant Virginia and Maryland political family, whose many prominent members are known for their accomplishments in politics and the military. The family became prominent in colonial Bri ...

. He was born in Critz. After finishing public school, Tudor began working for the Southern Railroad as a telegrapher and station agent. He then moved to

New York City, New York 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 he worked as a city ticket agent for the

Long Island Railroad The Long Island Rail Road , often abbreviated as the LIRR, is a commuter rail system in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of New York, stretching from Manhattan to the eastern tip of Suffolk County on Long Island. With an average week ...

. He worked there until 1905, when he started working for the publishing house Taylor, Platt & Company. He was active in politics since around 1898, serving as a member of the

Tammany Hall Tammany Hall, also known as the Society of St. Tammany, the Sons of St. Tammany, or the Columbian Order, was a New York City political organization founded in 1786 and incorporated on May 12, 1789 as the Tammany Society. It became the main loc ...

General Committee, vice-president of the Tammany Central Club of the Fourteenth Assembly District, and a speaker of the Tammany Hall Speakers Bureau. In 1912, 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 ...

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 ...

, representing the

New York County 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 ...

14th District. He served in the Assembly 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 ...

(when he introduced and passed several important bills, including the "Tudor Bill" that required a prospective female employee whose employer required her to undergo a physical examination to be examined by a female physician, a "Dentistry Bill" that remedied abuses caused by irresponsible and unregistered people who concealed their identity under a corporation or trade name, and the "Juvenile Delinquency Measure),

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 ...

1915 Events Below, the events of World War I have the "WWI" prefix. January * January – British physicist Sir Joseph Larmor publishes his observations on "The Influence of Local Atmospheric Cooling on Astronomical Refraction". *January 1 ...

1916 Events Below, the events of the First World War have the "WWI" prefix. January * January 1 – The British Royal Army Medical Corps carries out the first successful blood transfusion, using blood that had been stored and cooled. * ...

, and

1917 Events Below, the events of World War I have the "WWI" prefix. January * January 9 – WWI – Battle of Rafa: The last substantial Ottoman Army garrison on the Sinai Peninsula is captured by the Egyptian Expeditionary Force's ...

. Tudor was Deputy Commissioner of Correction from 1918 to 1932 and Acting Commissioner of Correction from 1932 to 1933. In January 1938, he was appointed City Clerk by the

New York City Council The New York City Council is the lawmaking body of New York City. It has 51 members from 51 council districts throughout the five Borough (New York City), boroughs. The council serves as a check against the Mayor of New York City, mayor in a may ...

, which under the new

New York City Charter The New York City Charter is the municipal charter of New York City. As of January 2018, it includes a non-numbered introductory chapter, plus chapters identified by a number (1 through 75) or a number plus a letter suffix.New York City Board of Aldermen The New York City Board of Aldermen was a body that was the upper house of New York City's Common Council from 1824 to 1875, the lower house of its Municipal Assembly upon consolidation in 1898 until the charter was amended in 1901 to abolish t ...

. However, then-City Clerk Michael J. Cruise contested the validity of the appointment on the grounds that he still had two more years to serve as City Clerk, with Tudor arguing the new City Charter vacated the office. The two men took the case to court, and would both sign various documents that had to be signed by the City Clerk. Cruise was ultimately judged the duly elected City Clerk, and Tudor resigned from the office in January 1939. Tudor died from a

subdural hematoma A subdural hematoma (SDH) is a type of bleeding in which a Hematoma, collection of blood—usually but not always associated with a traumatic brain injury—gathers between the inner layer of the dura mater and the arachnoid mater of the meninges ...

at Jefferson Hospital in

Roanoke, Virginia Roanoke ( ) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. At the 2020 census, the population was 100,011, making it the 8th most populous city in the Commonwealth of Virginia and the largest city in Virginia west of Richmond. It is lo ...

on May 14, 1949. He was buried in the family cemetery in Critz.

References

External links

*
The Political Graveyard
' {{DEFAULTSORT:Tudor, Robert Lee 1874 births 1949 deaths People from Patrick County, Virginia Long Island Rail Road people American publishers (people) 20th-century American politicians Politicians from Manhattan Democratic Party members of the New York State Assembly Burials in Virginia Deaths from subdural hematoma