11 Facts About Rhinelander Waldo

Rhinelander Waldo was appointed the seventh New York City Fire Commissioner by Mayor William Jay Gaynor on January 13,1910.

Rhinelander Waldo resigned on May 23,1911, less than two months after the deadly Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, to accept an appointment as the eighth New York City Police Commissioner.

Rhinelander Waldo was born on May 24,1877, in New York City to Francis William "Frank" Waldo, a stockbroker, and Gertrude Rhinelander Waldo, an American heiress.

Rhinelander Waldo was educated at the Berkeley School and the Columbia School of Mines before attending the United States Military Academy at West Point.

Rhinelander Waldo resigned from the Army in 1905 with the rank of captain and became New York's First Deputy Commissioner of Police in January 1906, at the age of 28.

Rhinelander Waldo, who had served as New York City Fire Commissioner since the beginning of Mayor Gaynor's term in January 1910, was in office at the time of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire which occurred on March 25,1911, and killed 146 people.

On June 9,1911, only 17 days after taking office as Police Commissioner, Rhinelander Waldo founded the motor-cycle squad, organized under the Office of Street Traffic Regulation Bureau.

Rhinelander Waldo tendered his resignation effective at midnight December 31,1913, after transferring or accepting resignations from most of the department's senior officers and specialists.

In 1916, Rhinelander Waldo held a commission as Major in the Infantry Officers Reserve Corps.

Rhinelander Waldo went into World War I as a major in the 301st Infantry of the National Army in 1917.

Rhinelander Waldo died on August 13,1927, in his home in Philipse Road in Garrison, New York, of sepsis.