Samuel Aaron DeWitt (November 1, 1891 – January 22, 1963) was a businessman,

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

, and politician. He was a New York State Legislator who represented

Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

's 7th district from 1919 until his expulsion from the assembly in 1920 during the

First Red Scare The First Red Scare was a period during History of the United States (1918–1945), the early 20th-century history of the United States marked by a widespread fear of Far-left politics, far-left movements, including Bolshevik, Bolshevism and ...

Biography

DeWitt was born on November 1, 1891, 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 ...

. He worked as a machinery dealer and was an active

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 e ...

throughout his life. DeWitt first applied for membership in the Socialist Party on August 29, 1913.

Political career

Sam Dewitt is most famous for being expelled in 1920 from 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 ...

along with four fellow assemblymen for being members of the

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of th ...

. The five Socialists were barred from taking their seats at the beginning of the session of the

143rd New York State Legislature The 143rd New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from January 7 to September 1920, during the second year of Al Smith's governorship, in Albany. Background Under the provisions ...

and, after a protracted "trial" before the Assembly Committee on the Judiciary, defended by

Morris Hillquit Morris Hillquit (August 1, 1869 – October 8, 1933) was a founder and leader of the Socialist Party of America and prominent labor lawyer in New York City's Lower East Side. Together with Eugene V. Debs and Congressman Victor L. Berger, Hillqui ...

and

Seymour Stedman Seymour "Stedy" Stedman (July 4, 1871 – July 9, 1948) was an American from Chicago who rose from shepherd and janitor to become a prominent civil liberties lawyer and a leader of the Socialist Party of America. He is best remembered as the ...

, were expelled on April 1. All five were re-elected at a special election on September 16, and appeared to take their seats at the beginning of the special session on September 20. The next day, DeWitt and

Samuel Orr Samuel Orr (July 11, 1890 – August 29, 1981) was a socialist politician from New York City best remembered for being one of the five elected members of the Socialist Party of America expelled by the New York State Assembly during the First Red ...

were permitted to take their seats, but

August Claessens August "Gus" Claessens (June 17, 1885 – December 9, 1954) was a Swiss-born American socialist politician, best known as one of the five New York Assemblymen expelled from that body during the First Red Scare for their membership in the Sociali ...

, Charles Solomon and Louis Waldman were expelled again. Protesting against the re-expulsion of their comrades, DeWitt and Orr resigned their seats. Afterwards DeWitt was a frequent candidate for political office, without success. He ran in the Bronx 7th District in 1924 and 1926, for Bronx borough president in 1925, for the Bronx 3rd District in 1927 and 1929, and the

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

4th District in 1932. DeWitt made several unsuccessful campaigns for

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...

, running in the 22nd District of New York in 1928, the 2nd District of New York in 1934 and once again in 1935. During the bitter faction fights of the 1930s in the Socialist Party, DeWitt authored a weekly piece for ''The Socialist Call,'' a newspaper published each Saturday in New York City in opposition to the journal of the

Old Guard faction The Old Guard faction was an organized group in the Socialist Party of America (SPA) that sought to retain the organization's traditional orientation towards electoral politics by fighting the Militant faction of generally-younger party members who ...

, ''The New Leader.'' DeWitt authored a regular column called "Turn to the Left," in which he expounded upon his political beliefs. While not accepting the Old Guard's extreme gradualist approach, neither was DeWitt a communist. With regard to the Communist Party's efforts to establish a

united front A united front is an alliance of groups against their common enemies, figuratively evoking unification of previously separate geographic fronts and/or unification of previously separate armies into a front. The name often refers to a political a ...

in 1935, DeWitt wrote:

"I can only deplore he Communists'capacity for hatred. I can only distrust their sincerity when they call me to a 'united front.' I can only say to them: 'Lenin was a great teacher and undoubtedly a great leader. But he was a human.
"It is quite possible that he erred when he instructed you to treat Socialists who believed in achieving revolution through democracy in other lands, as enemies of the workers. It is also quite possible that he was wrong in his decision that all means, mostly foul, must be used against the enemies of the masses. ... It is also possible that Socialists have a right to question whether Lenin or you or any of your committees are God.'"

The battle between the Old Guard headed by Louis Waldman against a bloc of the

Militant faction The Militant faction was an organized grouping of Marxists in the Socialist Party of America (SPA) who sought to steer that organization from its orientation towards electoral politics and towards direct action and revolutionary socialism. The fa ...

of Jack Altman with the "Progressive" group headed by Norman Thomas came to a head in the last days of 1935. DeWitt sided decisively with the latter grouping, breaking ranks with his long-time comrades of the Old Guard. DeWitt stood as a candidate for the New York State Committee of the SPA as part of the Progressive/Militant slate in the April 2, 1936, New York primaries and he won election in Queens County Assembly District 4."New York Primary Results," ''The Socialist Call,'' vol. 2, whole no. 57 (April 18, 1936), pg. 6. The Progressive/Militant bloc won a comfortable majority of seats on the State Committee in this election. In a last-gasp effort to retain power, New York Socialist Party State Chairman Waldman called a snap reorganizational meeting on 3 days' notice after the certification of the primary results, to be held in the distant city of Buffalo, as was his prerogative under that state constitution. The Old Guard was defeated in this effort to outmaneuver their opposition with timing and geography, however, and

Harry W. Laidler Harry Wellington Laidler (February 18, 1884 – July 14, 1970) was an American socialist writer, magazine editor, and politician. He is best remembered as executive director of the League for Industrial Democracy, successor to the Intercollegiate ...

defeated Waldman in his bid for re-election at the April reorganizational meeting by a vote of 60-42."Old Guard Suffers Defeat in NY State Committee," ''The Socialist Call,'' vol. 2, whole no. 58 (April 25, 1936), pg. 2. DeWitt was elected State Treasurer of the Socialist Party of New York at this session.

Literary endeavors

DeWitt was a long-time friend of

left wing Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...

writer

Upton Sinclair Upton Beall Sinclair Jr. (September 20, 1878 – November 25, 1968) was an American writer, muckraker, political activist and the 1934 Democratic Party nominee for governor of California who wrote nearly 100 books and other works in seve ...

. In Sinclair's famous

muckraking The muckrakers were reform-minded journalists, writers, and photographers in the Progressive Era in the United States (1890s–1920s) who claimed to expose corruption and wrongdoing in established institutions, often through sensationalist publ ...

novel ''

The Jungle ''The Jungle'' is a 1906 novel by the American journalist and novelist Upton Sinclair. Sinclair's primary purpose in describing the meat industry and its working conditions was to advance socialism in the United States. However, most readers wer ...

,'' published in 1906, one of the main characters, Nicolas Schliemann, is said to be based on Sam DeWitt. Throughout his life, DeWitt was a poet and a playwright, publishing books in both genres.

Later years, death and legacy

In late 1919, Sam DeWitt founded the DeWitt Tool Company, located in the machine tool district of New York City. The firm bought and sold used machinery and equipment, and included among its services the liquidation of defunct industrial plants. Early on the company had for its slogan "The House of a Thousand Bargains." The business is still in the family - now DeWitt Bros Tool Company - in Kenilworth NJ. It is a wholesaler of metal cutting tools, and is the home of Drill America. DeWitt died on January 22, 1963, in

Yonkers, New York Yonkers () is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States. Developed along the Hudson River, it is the third most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City and Buffalo. The population of Yonkers was 211,569 as enu ...

. He was survived by his wife Augusta, who died in 1985.

Legacy

DeWitt's great grandson is

Sky Dayton Sky Dylan Dayton (born August 8, 1971) is an American entrepreneur and investor. He is the founder of Internet service provider EarthLink, co-founder of eCompanies, and the founder of Boingo. Early life Dayton's father was the sculptor Wend ...

, founder of EarthLink.

Footnotes

Books by Samuel A. DeWitt

* ''Idylls of the Ghetto and Other Poems.'' New York: Rand Book Store, 1927. * ''Riding the Storm: Poems.'' New York: Academy Press, n.d. . 1930 * ''Rhapsodies in Red: Songs for the Social Revolution.'' New York: Rand School Press, 1933. * ''Harvest: Collected Poems.'' New York: Burmond Press, 1937. * ''The Shoemaker of the Stars and Other Poems.'' New York: Parnassus Press, 1940. * ''Where are the Snows? A Drama of Mediæval France (in two acts & nine scenes).'' New York: Parnassus Press, 1941. * ''Rhyme without Reason: A Comedy without Manners, in Three Acts and Six Scenes.'' New York: Parnassus Press, 1941. * ''More Sonnets to a Dark Lady, and Others.'' New York: Parnassus Press, 1942. * ''Where Are the Snows? A Play in Two Acts and Nine Scenes.'' New York: Parnassus Press, 1942. * ''Words for Music: A Book of Lyrics.'' New York: Parnassus Press, 1942. * ''Shoes for the Stars: A Play in Three Acts for Children of All Ages.'' New York: Parnassus Press, 1944. * ''No Road Back: Poems.'' With Walter Mehring. New York: Curl, 1944. * ''The Sermon on the Mount: Set to Rhyme and Rhythm out of the King James Version of the New Testament, the Gospel According to Matthew.'' New York: Strathmore Press, 1948. * ''Tomorrow sings: For Voice and Piano.'' With Jacques Wolfe. New York: C. Fischer, 1949. * ''Three Plays for Non-Puritans: Where Are the Snows? Shoes for the Stars; Rhyme without Reason.'' New York: Strathmore Press, 1951. * ''François Villon: A Drama for Music in Two acts and Nine Scenes (an opera libretto in search of a composer).'' New York: Greenberg, 1956. * ''The Agony of St. Joan: A Drama for Music in Two Acts and Four Scenes. (An opera libretto in search of a composer).'' New York: Greenberg, 1957. * ''The Song of Songs.'' New York: Greenberg, 1957. * ''Songs and Sonnets.'' New York: M. Loeb, 1963.