Abram Stevens Hewitt was an American politician, educator, ironmaking industrialist, and lawyer who was mayor of New York City for two years from 1887 to 1888.
20 Facts About Abram Hewitt
2.
Abram Hewitt twice served as a US Congressman from and chaired the Democratic National Committee from 1876 to 1877.
3.
The son-in-law of the industrialist and philanthropist Peter Cooper, Hewitt is best known for his work with the Cooper Union, which he aided Cooper in founding in 1859, and for planning the financing and construction of the first line of what would eventually develop into the New York City Subway, for which he is considered the "Father of the New York City Subway System".
4.
From 1843 to 1844, Abram Hewitt traveled to Europe with his student, Edward Cooper, the son of industrialist entrepreneur Peter Cooper, and another future New York City mayor.
5.
Abram Hewitt's younger brother, Charles, was a manager at the iron mill.
6.
Abram Hewitt invested in other companies, in many case serving on their boards.
7.
Abram Hewitt was known for dedicated work for the US government and exceptionally good relations with his employees.
8.
Abram Hewitt first ventured into electoral politics in 1874, when he won a seat in the US House of Representatives, where he initially served two terms representing, from March 4,1875 to March 3,1879.
9.
Abram Hewitt was considered a defender of sound money practices and civil service reform.
10.
Abram Hewitt developed a plan to fund and construct the New York City Subway system.
11.
Abram Hewitt had many investments in natural resources, including considerable holdings in West Virginia, where William Nelson Page was one of his managers.
12.
Abram Hewitt was an associate of Henry Huttleston Rogers, a financier and industrialist who was a key man in the Standard Oil Trust, and a major developer of natural resources.
13.
One of Abram Hewitt's investments handled by Rogers and Page was the Loup Creek Estate in Fayette County, West Virginia.
14.
Abram Hewitt was a trustee of Barnard College and of the American Museum of Natural History.
15.
Abram Hewitt died at his New York City home on January 18,1903, and was interred at Green-Wood Cemetery.
16.
Abram Hewitt's son, Peter Cooper Hewitt, was a successful inventor, while another son, Edward Ringwood Hewitt, was an inventor, a chemist and an early expert on fly-fishing.
17.
Abram Hewitt published Telling on the Trout, among other books.
18.
Abram Hewitt's youngest son, Erskine Abram Hewitt, was a lawyer and philanthropist in New York City.
19.
Abram Hewitt donated Ringwood Manor to the State of New Jersey in 1936.
20.
On February 18,1909, Erskine Abram Hewitt was named a director of the newly formed National Reserve Bank of the City of New York.