10 Facts About Franklin Edson

Franklin Edson was an American merchant who served as the 85th Mayor of New York from 1883 to 1884.

Franklin Edson was educated at the local schools and at the Chester Academy in Vermont.

At age twenty, Franklin Edson moved to Albany to work in his brother Cyrus' distillery, becoming a partner three years later.

Franklin Edson left the distillery after his brother's death and started a produce business, which he relocated to New York City in 1866.

Franklin Edson's venture proved successful during the American Civil War, making Edson wealthy and enabling him to engage in civic, religious and charitable causes.

Franklin Edson was an active Episcopalian and a member of Saint James Church, Fordham, in the Bronx.

Franklin Edson appointed the commission responsible for the selection and location of public lands for parks in the Bronx, which came to include Van Cortlandt, Bronx, Pelham Bay, Crotona, Claremont and St Mary's Parks, and the Mosholu, Bronx River, Pelham, and Crotona Parkways.

In 1856, Franklin Edson was married to Frances Cameron "Fannie" Wood, the daughter of Benjamin Howland Wood.

Franklin Edson died at his home in Manhattan on September 24,1904.

Franklin Edson was buried in Section 15, Lot 16 at Albany Rural Cemetery, Menands, New York.