Chauncey Depew | |
|---|---|
 Depewc. 1908 | |
| United States Senator fromNew York | |
| In office March 4, 1899 – March 3, 1911 | |
| Preceded by | Edward Murphy Jr. |
| Succeeded by | James Aloysius O'Gorman |
| Secretary of State of New York | |
| In office January 1, 1864 – December 31, 1865 | |
| Governor | Horatio Seymour Reuben Fenton |
| Preceded by | Horatio Ballard |
| Succeeded by | Francis C. Barlow |
| Member of theNew York State Assembly from the 3rdWestchester district | |
| In office January 1, 1862 – December 31, 1863 | |
| Preceded by | Benjamin F. Camp |
| Succeeded by | George A. Brandreth |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Chauncey Mitchell Depew (1834-04-23)April 23, 1834 |
| Died | April 5, 1928(1928-04-05) (aged 93) New York City, US |
| Political party | Republican Liberal Republican (1872) |
| Spouses | |
| Parent(s) | Isaac Depew Martha Minot Mitchell |
| Education | Peekskill Military Academy |
| Alma mater | Yale College |
| Profession | Politician |
| Signature | .png) |
Chauncey Mitchell Depew (April 23, 1834 – April 5, 1928) was an American attorney, businessman, andRepublican politician. He is best remembered for his two terms as United States Senator from New York and for his work forCornelius Vanderbilt, as an attorney and as president of theNew York Central Railroad System.[1]
Depew was born inPeekskill, New York, on April 23, 1834, to Isaac Depew (1800–1869) and Martha Minot (Mitchell) Depew (1810–1885).[2]
Depew's father was a merchant and farmer who pioneered river transportation between Peekskill and New York and was descended from François DuPuy, a French Huguenot who purchased land from natives at the present site of Peekskill.[citation needed] Through his mother, Depew was descended from Rev. Josiah Sherman, who served as a chaplain with rank of captain in the Revolutionary War and who was the brother of American founding fatherRoger Sherman and Rev.Charles Chauncy, the second president ofHarvard College.[citation needed]
Depew attendedPeekskill Military Academy for 12 years before matriculating atYale College in 1852. At Yale, Depew joined many clubs and won several honors. He won second dispute appointments in his junior and senior years and was an honored speaker at Junior Exhibition and Commencement. He joined the Thulia Boat Club, Kappa Sigma Epsilon, Kappa Sigma Theta,Psi Upsilon, andSkull and Bones. He served as third president of theLinonian Society.[3]: 165 At Yale, he was a classmate of two future United States Supreme Court Justices,David Josiah Brewer andHenry Billings Brown. He graduated in 1856.
After graduating from Yale, Depew apprenticed in the office of Edward Wells in Peekskill andread law with William Nelson. He was admitted to the New York state bar in March 1858 and opened an office in Peekskill, where he practiced until 1861. For a few months, Depew engaged in the brokerage business inNew York City as a member of the firm Depew & Potter, but then resumed his law practice in Peekskill. Depew later moved to New York City. During theAmerican Civil War, Depew served as Adjutant of the 18th Regiment of the New York National Guard,[4] and later Colonel and Judge Advocate of the 5th Division on the staff of Major GeneralJames W. Husted of the New York Guard.[5]
In 1865, Depew was appointed and confirmed to the position ofUnited States Minister to Japan, but he declined the appointment to pursue his career as a railroad and business lawyer.[6]
In 1866, Depew became the attorney forNew York & Harlem Railroad, owned by Cornelius Vanderbilt. Three years later, he took the same position for Vanderbilt'sNew York Central and Hudson River Railroad. Having earned recognition for his work with subsidiary companies, Depew became general counsel and director of the entire "Vanderbilt System" in 1876. He joined the executive board of the New York Central & Hudson River Railroad in 1882 and became its second vice president. In 1885, Depew was elected the railroad's president and served in that capacity until 1898 when he was succeeded bySamuel R. Callaway.[7][8] Depew then became chairman of board of directors ofNew York Central Railroad Company until his death in 1928.
While Depew was primarily active in the Vanderbilt railroads, he held concurrent positions with many other railroads and companies. He was president ofWest Shore Railroad and served on the boards of directors for theNew York and Harlem Railroad, theChicago and North Western Railway, theChicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis and Omaha Railway, theCleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad, theDelaware and Hudson Railroad, theNew Jersey Junction Railroad, theSt. Lawrence and Adirondack Railroad, theWallkill Valley Railroad, and theCanada Southern Railroad.
Aside from railroads, Depew also served on the boards of directors forWestern Union, theHudson River Bridge Company, the Niagara River Bridge Company, the New York State Realty & Terminal Company, the Union Trust Company, Equitable Life Assurance Company, and Kensico Cemetery Association.
As a young student and lawyer, Depewstumped the state of New York forJohn C. Frémont in1856 and forAbraham Lincoln in1860.
Depew represented Westchester County in theNew York State Assembly in1862 and1863. During the latter year, he sometimes acted asSpeaker of the New York State Assembly pro tempore while SpeakerTheophilus C. Callicot was under investigation.[9] In 1863, he was electedSecretary of State of New York on the Union ticket and served from 1864 to 1865.
In 1867, Depew became clerk ofWestchester County but resigned after a short service. In 1870, the New York Legislature named Depew Immigration Commissioner, but he declined to serve. Depew had also been commissioner of quarantine and president of Court of Claims of New York City as well as commissioner of taxes and assessments for the city and county of New York. Depew was one of the commissioners appointed to build the state capitol in 1874 and a member of the state's boundary commission in 1875.
In 1872, Depew ran forLieutenant Governor of New York on theLiberal Republican-Democratic ticket but was defeated.
In 1886, Depew gave an oration at the unveiling of theStatue of Liberty.[10]
On October 7, 1897, Depew inaugurated theNew York pneumatic tube mail, declaring: "This is the age of speed. Everything that makes for speed contributes to happiness and is a distinct gain to civilization. We are ahead of the old countries in almost every respect, but we have been behind in methods of communication within our cities. In New York this condition of communication has hitherto been barbarous. If the Greater New York is to be a success, quick communication is absolutely necessary. I hope this system we have seen tried here to-day will soon be extended over all the Greater New York."[11]
In 1898, Depew nominatedTheodore Roosevelt for Governor of New York at the Republican state convention.
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Depew served as a delegate-at-large to each Republican National Convention from 1888 to 1904 and was elected delegate to all following conventions, including 1928, being elected the day before he died. At theconvention in 1888, Depew received 99 votes for the presidential nomination. He made presidential nominating speeches forBenjamin Harrison in 1892 and GovernorLevi Morton in 1896. In 1904, he made the re-nominating speech for Vice PresidentCharles Fairbanks.
Depew was a candidate forUnited States Senator in an1881 special election, but withdrew his name from consideration after the 41st ballot. He also declined nomination as a senator in 1885.
In 1899, Depew was elected to the Senate from New York and was re-elected in1905. He served from March 4, 1899, to March 3, 1911.
In 1906,David Graham Phillips began amuckraking series entitled "The Treason of the Senate" for William Randolph Hearst's newCosmopolitan magazine, and targeted Depew in the first article. The article's sensational charges included labeling Depew a "boodler" owned "mentally and morally" by railroad magnatesCornelius andWilliam Vanderbilt. The piece provoked outrage from President Roosevelt, theNew York Sun and SenatorHenry Cabot Lodge.[12]
In spring 1928, Depew became ill while returning from Florida to Manhattan. He died ofbronchial pneumonia inManhattan on April 5, 1928.[1] He was buried in the family mausoleum in Hillside Cemetery,Peekskill. In his honor, the huge concourse ofGrand Central Terminal was draped in mourning.
Depew married twice. On November 9, 1871, he married Elise Ann Hegeman (1848–93) in New York City. She was the daughter of William and Eliza Jane (Nevin) Hegeman. Before her death on May 7, 1893, they had one son, Chauncey Mitchell Depew Jr. (1879–1931),[13] who died unmarried.[14]
On December 27, 1901, he re-married to May Eugenie Palmer (1866–1940) inNice, France. She was the daughter of Henry and Alice (Hermann) Palmer. In 1904, he was one of several high-profile investors who backed theIntercontinental Correspondence University,[15] but the institution folded by 1915.
He attendedSaint Thomas Episcopal Church in New York.
Depew was a member of theYale Corporation (1888–1906). In 1887, Yale conferred him an honorary doctorate of letters. He was a founding member of the Yale Alumni Association of New York and served as its third president from 1883–92. He was also among those founding members of theYale Club of New York City in 1897. He was a vice chairman of the $20,000,000 Yale Endowment Campaign and was elected an honorary member of Yale Class of 1889 in 1923. In his will, he left $1,000,000 to Yale without restrictions as to its use.[citation needed]
He served as trustee of his alma mater, thePeekskill Military Academy.
In 1877, Depew became a regent of theUniversity of the State of New York and served until 1904.
Depew became a member of theNew York Chamber of Commerce in 1885 and served as its vice president from 1904–08.
In 1918, Depew was made life member of Lawyers' Club of New York.
Depew was active in a number of patriotic and hereditary societies. He served as president of Empire State Society of theSons of the American Revolution from 1890–99, thePilgrims Society from 1918 until his death, and theSaint Nicholas Society. He joined theUnion League in 1868 and served as its president for seven years. He was elected an honorary life member at the close of his presidency. He was also a member of the ConnecticutSociety of the Cincinnati, the New YorkSociety of Colonial Wars,Holland Society, Huguenot Society and theNew England Society of New York. Other cultural memberships included theMetropolitan Museum of Art, American Association for the Advancement of Science, France-America Society,New York Historical Society, Historical Society of St. Augustine, Florida,American Scenic and Historic Preservation Society, National Horse Show, Lafayette Post of theGrand Army of the Republic, and the citizens' committee to complete theCathedral of St. John the Divine.
Depew used to smoke 25 cigars a day but gave up smoking aged 65 upon the advice of his secretary.[16] He gave up drinking alcohol at aged 88. Depew stated that he had worked "practically every day" of his life. He avoided stress and slept 7 and half hours a day.[16] In 1908, it was widely reported in newspapers that Depew had become avegetarian.[17][18] In a 1925 interview aged 90, Depew clarified that he had never been a vegetarian but in his early 60s removedred meat from his diet but consumedpoultry. He commented that "Beefsteaks and roast butcher's meat figured too much in my diet, I concluded. Out they went, never to return. I'm not a vegetarian; wouldn't be one –that's going to extremes– but I don't eat need red meat and don't eat it. For thirty years the only meat I've eaten has been poultry."[16]
Depew received the FrenchLégion d'honneur in the rank of Officer.[citation needed][when?]
Depew was an honorary member of theNew York Genealogical and Biographical Society.
In 1887, Depew became an honorary member of Columbia chapter ofPhi Beta Kappa.
Depew was a distinguished orator andafter-dinner speaker and published many of those speeches. Recordings of his speeches were commercially issued as gramophone discs byZonophone Records in the late 1890s.[19] Depew was remembered as a prodigious speaker years after his death; many years after his death, SenatorRobert S. Kerr of Oklahoma quoted Depew in an attack on a Senator from Indiana: "As I gaze on the ample figure of my friend from Indiana, and as I listen to him, I am reminded of Chauncey Depew who said to the equally obeseWilliam Howard Taft at a dinner before the latter became President, 'I hope, if it is a girl, Mr. Taft will name it for his charming wife.' "To which Taft responded, 'if it is a girl, I shall, of course, name it for my lovely helpmate of many years. And if it is a boy, I shall claim the father's prerogative and name it Junior. But if, as I suspect, it is only a bag of wind, I shall name it Chauncey Depew.'"[20]
In 1929, May Palmer-Depew donated her late husband's papers and $120,000 to establish a department of public speaking toGeorge Washington University.[21] The collection is currently cared for by the university's Special Collections Research Center, located in theEstelle and Melvin Gelman Library.[22]
In 1908, Depew gave land toPeekskill, New York, which became Depew Park. A decade later he expanded the donation by 10 acres (40,000 m2) and paid for a statue of himself for display in that park.
The Village ofDepew, New York was incorporated in 1894 along the New York Central Railroad main line.[23] The town ofDepew, Oklahoma, is also named for him.[24]
The shipChauncey M. DePew was built for theMaine Central Railroad Company in 1913 to carry passengers to Bar Harbor. She worked along the Maine coast until 1925 when she was sold to theDay Line as an excursion boat between New York and Albany. In 1940 she was drafted to carry men and supplies between New York City andFort Hancock onSandy Hook. In 1950, she was sold to the government of Bermuda and spent the next 20 years as aship's tender, harbor ferry, cruise ship andpilot boat. Back in the States, in 1971, a storm slammed her against a breakwater inChesapeake Bay, where she lay for three years. She was refurbished and moored in theHackensack River betweenHarmon Cove and theHackensack River Route 3 Bridge,[25][26][27][28] Another boat, a tugboat owned by the New York Central, was also named for him.[29]
Many artists painted Depew, includingGeorge Burroughs Torrey. The Swiss-born American artistAdolfo Müller-Ury painted Depew numerous times. A three-quarter length portrait of Depew seated on a bale of furs was exhibited at the Paris Salon in 1890 and is now in the Yale Club of New York City.[citation needed] Several other portraits followed including a portrait painted for the New York State Capitol atAlbany showing Depew as he was in 1863 (now New York State Museum). The artist gave a bust-length portrait to the Museum atPeekskill in 1918. Copies of an etching Müller-Ury made of Depew, signed by the artist and the sitter, are in the American National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC, the collection of the Newport Preservation Society of Rhode Island, and the University of Cincinnati College of Design. Müller-Ury also painted Depew's first wife in 1893, and his second wife in 1902 in 18th-century costume. In 1896, sculptorVictor D. Brenner created a small plaque in honor of his 60th birthday (which was two years earlier).
Chauncey M. Depew died at his home, 27 West Fifty-fourth Street, at 4:20 o'clock this morning. He would have been 94 years old on April 23.
west shore railroad ridgefield park.
| New York State Assembly | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | New York State Assembly Westchester County, 3rd District 1862–1863 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | New York Secretary of State 1864–1865 | Succeeded by |
| U.S. Senate | ||
| Preceded by | U.S. senator (Class 1) from New York 1899–1911 Served alongside:Thomas C. Platt andElihu Root | Succeeded by |
| Honorary titles | ||
| Preceded by | Oldest living U.S. senator November 3, 1924 – April 5, 1928 | Succeeded by |
| Awards and achievements | ||
| Preceded by | Cover ofTime magazine 1 December 1924 | Succeeded by |
| Class 1 |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Class 3 | ||
