William Brookfield (May 24, 1844 – May 13, 1903) was an American businessman and politician from New York.

Life

Brookfield was born on May 24, 1844, in

Green Bank, New Jersey Green Bank is an unincorporated community located within Washington Township, in Burlington County, New Jersey, United States. It is located on the Mullica River. In the 19th century, Green Bank was important to the economy of Washington Towns ...

, the son of glass-cutter James M. Brookfield and Catherine A. Brandiff. Brookfield attended academies in

Bethany Bethany ( grc-gre, Βηθανία,Murphy-O'Connor, 2008, p152/ref> Syriac: ܒܝܬ ܥܢܝܐ ''Bēṯ ʿAnyā'') or what is locally known as Al-Eizariya or al-Azariya ( ar, العيزرية, " laceof Lazarus"), is a Palestinian town in the West B ...

and

Honesdale, Pennsylvania Honesdale is a borough in and the county seat of Wayne County, Pennsylvania, United States. The borough's population was 4,458 at the time of the 2020 census. Honesdale is located northeast of Scranton in a rural area that provides many recrea ...

. He then went to the Cayuga Lake Academy in Aurora, New York. In 1861, he left the school and spent six months working as a clerk in a county store. When he was 16, he entered business with his father in the State Street Glass Works and later the South Brooklyn Glass Works. In 1864, they started the Bushwick Glass Works in Williamsburg, Brookfield later become its sole proprietor. He was also president of the Sheldon Axle Company in

Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania Wilkes-Barre ( or ) is a city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, Luzerne County. Located at the center of the Wyoming Valley in Northeastern Pennsylvania, it had a population of 44,328 in th ...

, and the Franklin Loan and Improvement Company of New Jersey, vice-president of the Addison and Pennsylvania Railway Company, and a director of the Augusta Manganese Company, the Greenwich Insurance Company, and the Kings County Fire Insurance Company. He was a member of the

New York Chamber of Commerce The New York Chamber of Commerce was founded in 1768 by twenty New York City merchants. As the first such commercial organization in the United States, it attracted the participation of a number of New York's most influential business leaders, in ...

, the

Consolidated Stock and Petroleum Exchange The Consolidated Stock Exchange of New York, also known as the ''New York Consolidated Stock Exchange'' or ''Consolidated'',See ''Brooklyn Daily Eagle'', Saturday, January 13, 1912, p. 18 was a stock exchange in New York City, New York in direct ...

, the Board of Trade and Transportation, and the

New York Produce Exchange The New York Produce Exchange was a commodities exchange headquartered in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It served a network of produce and commodities dealers across the United States. Founded in 1861 as the New Yo ...

. He was also president of the National Association of Glass Manufacturers for five years, a trustee of

Wells College Wells College is a private liberal arts college in Aurora, New York. The college has cross-enrollment with Cornell University and Ithaca College. For much of its history it was a women's college. Wells College is located in the Finger Lakes reg ...

, and president of St. John's Guild. In 1873, Brookfield moved from

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 ...

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 ...

. He was a supporter of the

Republican Party Republican Party is a name used by many political parties around the world, though the term most commonly refers to the United States' Republican Party. Republican Party may also refer to: Africa *Republican Party (Liberia) * Republican Part ...

all his life, becoming a Republican leader in his Assembly District and chairman of the Republican County Committee. He was a member of the

New York Republican State Committee The New York Republican State Committee, established in 1855, is the New York State affiliate of the United States Republican Party (GOP). The party has headquarters in Albany, Buffalo, and New York City.

for several years, becoming Chairman of the Committee from 1892 to 1894. He was a supporter of

Thomas C. Platt Thomas Collier Platt (July 15, 1833 – March 6, 1910), also known as Tom Platt

until 1893, when he broke with Platt and became leader of an independent organization known as the Brookfield Republicans. In 1894, he joined the

Committee of Seventy The Committee of Seventy is an independent, non-partisan advocate for better government in Philadelphia that works to achieve clean and effective government, better elections, and informed and engaged citizens. Founded in 1904, it is a nonprofit ...

that nominated a Fusion ticket that defeated

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 ...

. In 1895,

Mayor Strong William Lafayette Strong (March 22, 1827 – November 2, 1900) was the 90th Mayor of New York City from 1895 to 1897. He was the last mayor of New York City before the consolidation of the City of Greater New York on January 1, 1898. Early lif ...

appointed him Commissioner of Public Works, an office he resigned from a few months later. He was a

presidential elector The United States Electoral College is the group of presidential electors required by the Constitution to form every four years for the sole purpose of appointing the president and vice president. Each state and the District of Columbia appo ...

in the 1888 presidential election, and was a delegate to the

1888 In Germany, 1888 is known as the Year of the Three Emperors. Currently, it is the year that, when written in Roman numerals, has the most digits (13). The next year that also has 13 digits is the year 2388. The record will be surpassed as late ...

and 1892 Republican National Conventions. Brookfield was a vice-president of the

Union League Club The Union League Club is a private social club in New York City that was founded in 1863 in affiliation with the Union League. Its fourth and current clubhouse is located at 38 East 37th Street on the corner of Park Avenue, in the Murray Hill ...

and a member of the

Down Town Association The Down Town Association in the City of New York, usually referred to as the Down Town Association, is a private club in the Financial District of Manhattan, New York City. Located at 60 Pine Street, between William and Pearl Streets, it is t ...

, the

Lotos Club The Lotos Club was founded in 1870 as a gentlemen's club in New York City; it has since also admitted women as members. Its founders were primarily a young group of writers and critics. Mark Twain, an early member, called it the "Ace of Clubs". ...

, and the

New York Athletic Club The New York Athletic Club is a private social club and athletic club in New York state. Founded in 1868, the club has approximately 8,600 members and two facilities: the City House, located at 180 Central Park South in Manhattan, and Travers ...

. He was a member of Rev. John Hall's

Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church is a Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) church in New York City. The church, on Fifth Avenue at 7 West 55th Street in Midtown Manhattan, has approximately 2,200 members and is one of the larger PCUSA congregations. The ...

. In 1870, he married Kate Morgan of Aurora. Their children were Henry M., Frank, J. H., and Edwin Morgan. Kate was the niece of

Edwin B. Morgan Edwin Barber Morgan (May 2, 1806 – October 13, 1881) was an entrepreneur and politician from the Finger Lakes region of western New York. He was the first president of Wells Fargo & Company, founder of the United States Express Company, and di ...

and Christopher Morgan. Brookfield died at home from

endocarditis Endocarditis is an inflammation of the inner layer of the heart, the endocardium. It usually involves the heart valves. Other structures that may be involved include the interventricular septum, the chordae tendineae, the mural endocardium, or the ...

on May 13, 1903. He was buried in Woodlawn Cemetery.

References

External links

*
The Political Graveyard
'
William Brookfield
at ''

Find a Grave Find a Grave is a website that allows the public to search and add to an online database of cemetery records. It is owned by Ancestry.com. Its stated mission is "to help people from all over the world work together to find, record and present fin ...

'' 1844 births 1903 deaths People from Washington Township, Burlington County, New Jersey 19th-century American businesspeople Businesspeople from Brooklyn Politicians from Manhattan New York (state) Republicans 1888 United States presidential electors Presbyterians from New York (state) Deaths from endocarditis Burials at Woodlawn Cemetery (Bronx, New York) {{DEFAULTSORT:Brookfield, William