Elbridge Thomas Gerry | |
|---|---|
 Gerry in 1896 | |
| Born | December 25, 1837 |
| Died | February 18, 1927 (aged 89) New York City, U.S. |
| Alma mater | Columbia College (1857) |
| Spouse | |
| Children | Angelica L. Gerry Mabel Gerry Drury Robert Livingston Gerry, Sr. Peter Goelet Gerry |
| Parent(s) | Thomas Russell Gerry Hannah G. Goelet |
| Relatives | Elbridge Gerry (grandfather) Ann Gerry (grandmother) Robert L. Gerry Jr. (grandson) Peter P. Goelet (grandfather) |
Elbridge Thomas Gerry (December 25, 1837 – February 18, 1927) was an American lawyer andreformer. He was the Commodore of theNew York Yacht Club from 1886 to 1892. His paternal grandfather was U.S. Vice PresidentElbridge Gerry.
Gerry was born on December 25, 1837, InCharlestown, Rhode Island, the son ofThomas Russell Gerry, who was active in theSons of the American Revolution, and Hannah Green Goelet, of another prominent family. In 1857, Gerry graduated fromColumbia College, with honors.[1] During his time there he also joined theChi Psi fraternity, eventually becoming its national president.
His paternal grandfather wasFounding Father,Massachusetts Governor and U.S. Vice PresidentElbridge Gerry. His cousins includedElbridge Gerry, who was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromMaine,[2][3]George Goelet Kip, andRobert Walton Goelet, who was a financier and real estate developer in New York City. His maternal grandfather was the merchant and landownerPeter P. Goelet and his great-grandfather wasPeter Goelet.[4]
In 1879, he inherited $500,000 after the death of his unmarried uncle, Peter Goelet.[5]
After graduation from Columbia, he read law withWilliam Curtis Noyes and was admitted to theNew York bar in 1860. He later became partner with Noyes until his death, after which he joined William F. Allen and Vaughn Abbot, practicing as Allen, Abbott & Gerry.[1]
In 1874, Gerry took up the case ofMary Ellen McCormack, who had been abused by her foster parents, which he eventually argued before theSupreme Court of New York.[6]
In 1875, as a result of Mary Ellen McCormack's case, he co-founded theNew York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children "SPCC", sometimes called theGerry Society, together with Quaker philanthropistJohn D. Wright andHenry Bergh, who he had previously helped found theAmerican Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. SPCC was known as one of the first child protection societies in the country and he helped pass numerous laws to protect children.[7]
Gerry served as vice-president of SPCC, then as Wright's successor from 1879 to 1901, and finally as legal advisor until his death. The Society's deputies, nicknamed "Gerry men" or "the cruelty," aroused controversy by enforcing various laws, including child labor laws concerning public performances and were allowed to remove children from homes. Some criticized their activities as interfering with family life, or for imposing aristocratic white Protestant values upon immigrants, many of whom were Catholic or black.[8]
After 1903, many such child protection societies changed their focus from police to welfare work, following a Massachusetts model.[8] The U.S. Supreme Court, in the widely reviled 1918 caseHammer v. Dagenhart, found the new federal child protection law, theKeating-Owen Act of 1916, violated theCommerce Clause of the United States Constitution, in a case now known for its dissent by JusticeOliver Wendell Holmes Jr.[9] Two years later, with Gerry as the organization's legal advisor, SPCCC bought the former House of Mercy for use as a temporary facility to house juveniles awaiting judicial action, since they had previously either been held at stationhouses or jailed with adult prisoners, where they were often victimized. House of Mercy had been organized in 1863 byHarriet Starr Cannon to assist abandoned and delinquent women and girls.[10]
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In 1884 Gerry commissioned Harlan & Hollingsworth of Wilmington to build a 173 footsteam yacht named SY Electra. This was perhaps the first such yacht to have electric lighting comprising 58 individual lights plus a strong searchlight. She was also the first yacht to have an icemaker on board, capable off creating 56 pounds of ice per day, to chill Gerry's champagne. The ship was broken in 1912.[11]
Gerry wasCommodore of theNew York Yacht Club. He held office from 1886 to 1892. The pilot boatElbridge T. Gerry was named in honor of him.[12][13]
Gerry was a notable member ofTammany Hall, the Democratic political machine ofBoss Tweed, for more than 35 years. In 1867, he served as a delegate toNew York State Constitutional Convention, but never again sought elective office.
From 1878 until 1912, he served as governor of the New York Hospital and was also a trustee of theNew York Life Insurance Company. From 1886 until 1888, Gerry served as chairman of theNew York State Commission on Capital Punishment, which replacedhanging with theelectric chair. For this decision, a proposed name for this method before "electrocution" was adopted was "gerrycide".[14] He was also chairman of the New York City Commission on Insanity in 1892.
In 1867, Gerry married Louisa Matilda Livingston. Louisa was the daughter ofRobert James Livingston and Louisa Matilda Storm and the granddaughter ofMaturin Livingston and Margaret Lewis. Margaret was the only child and sole heiress of Gov.Morgan Lewis.[15] Together, Elbridge and Louisa had six children:
In 1904, the Swiss-born American artistAdolfo Müller-Ury (1862–1947) painted Gerry's portrait, which still hangs in theNew York Yacht Club.
Gerry died on February 18, 1927, about two weeks after breaking his hip in a fall, outliving his wife by seven years. He was entombed in the churchyard ofSt. James Church inHyde Park, New York.[20] The associatedEpiscopal church is best known for its association withFranklin D. Roosevelt, who served on the vestry and as senior warden,[21] and tours of the cemetery continue to be offered.[22] At his death, Gerry was reputed to be worth $26 million, primarily in landholdings, making him one of the city's wealthiest men.
His family's New York mansion at 2 East 61st Street had long been a center of cultivated and fashionable life, even as it came to be surrounded by skyscrapers.[1] When he built it, he told architectRichard Morris Hunt specifically about needing to house his collection of 30,000 law books and cost a reported $3,000,000.[18] After his death, the family mansions in Manhattan were soon demolished, to make way for thePierre Hotel.[23]
Gerry maintained a summer home named "Seaverge" onBellevue Avenue inNewport, Rhode Island. His wife's estate in theCatskill Mountains was called "Aknusti", supposedly from an American Indian word meaning "expensive proposition."[24]
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