Depew, Chauncey M. (Chauncey Mitchell), 1834-1928

Charles Ranlett Flint (1850-1934) was a financial capitalist, merchant and industrial consolidator. He entered the shipping business and worked for commission merchants in New York City. Popularly known as the "Father of Trusts", he was responsible for many industrial consolidations and mergers.

Chauncey Mitchell Depew (1834-1928) was a lawyer, railroad executive, and U.S. Senator from New York. He was Secretary of State of New York in 1863; worked for the New York & Harlem Railroad, the New York City & Hudson River Railroad, and the West Shore Railroad; and served on the board of directors of numerous railway, banking and other corporations. He was active in the Republican Party and was elected to the U.S. Senate for two terms, 1899 to 1911.

Epithet: American lawyer and politician

Lawyer and politician; in 1858 admitted to New York Bar; 1861, elected to New York State Assembly; 1863, elected Secretary of State of New York; 1866, appointed attorney for the New York and Harlem Railroad; 1869, attorney for the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad; 1882, vice-president of the New York Central Railroad; 1885-1898, president; 1899-1911, U.S. Senator from New York; active in Republican politics.

U.S. senator, railroad official, author, and lecturer from New York.

American lawyer, senator and railway magnate.

Executive of New York Central Railroad,1886-1926, serving as president, 1885-1898; politician, served in New York state legislature, 1862-1865, Senator from New York, 1899-1911.

American lawyer, senator, and railway magnate.

American lawyer, Senator, Pres. N.Y. Central R.R.

Chauncey Mitchell Depew (1834-1928) was a lawyer, railroad executive, and U.S. Senator from New York.

He was Secretary of State of New York in 1863; worked for the New York? and served on the board of directors of numerous railway, banking and other corporations. He was active in the Republican Party and was elected to the U.S. Senate for two terms, 1899 to 1911.

Lawyer and politician; in 1858 admitted to New York Bar; 1861, elected to New York State Assembly; 1863, elected Secretary of State of New York; 1866, appointed attorney for the New York and Harlem Railroad; 1869, attorney for the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad; 1882, vice-president of the New York Central Railroad; 1885-1898, president; 1899-1911, U.S. Senator from New York; active in Republican politics.

Chauncey Mitchell Depew (1834-1928) was an American lawyer, politician, and railroad man. He served as a United States Senator from New York State from 1899 to 1911.

Depew was born April 23, 1834 in Peekskill, New York to Isaac and Martha (Mitchell) Depew. His mother was the great-niece of Roger Sherman, signer of the Declaration of Independence. Depew went to a classically-based private school before attending the Peekskill Academy for high school. In 1852, Depew enrolled at Yale University. When he graduated in 1856, Depew was asked to be an orator at the Commencement Day activities.

The future senator went on to have a successful career. He began by studying as a lawyer under the direction of Edward Wells in Peekskill. An active Republican, Depew attended the New York state convention in 1858 as a delegate, served on the New York State Assembly in 1862 and 1863, and filled the role of New York Secretary of State from 1863 to 1865. While in this position, Depew had the honor of escorting President Lincoln's body from the New York State border to Buffalo, New York on its way to Springfield, Illinois to be interred. In 1866, Depew was appointed minister to Japan by President Andrew Johnson. However, Depew shortly left the position in favor of an offer to be attorney for the Hudson River and Harlem railroad lines. In 1882, Depew began serving on the executive board of the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad lines. Three years later he served as president of the railroad, before taking a position as chairman of the board of directors in 1898. Remaining involved in politics, Depew was elected U.S. Senator for the state of New York, serving from 1899-1911.

Depew married Elise A. Hegeman in 1871, with whom he had one son, Chauncey Mitchell Depew, Jr. After being widowed in 1893, Depew was remarried to May Palmer. He died on April 5, 1928 at 27 West 54th Street, New York.

The Honorable Jacob A. Brenner, born on April 8, 1857 to Simon Brenner (1820-1898), an Orthodox Jewish rabbi, and Caroline Alexander (1830-1900), resided and worked in Brooklyn and Amityville, N.Y. his entire life. The Brenner family's financial circumstances prohibited Brenner from attending college after graduating at the age of 14 from Public School #27, also known as the Agnes Y. Humphrey School, on Nelson Street in the Red Hook neighborhood of Brooklyn. Brenner instead entered the Manhattan law offices of Smith, Woodward & Buckley in 1871 and "read" law under General Jesse S. Smith, the firm's senior partner and former Surrogate of Brooklyn. Brenner passed the bar exam in 1879 and soon formed a partnership with William J. G. Bearns. They opened their own law offices on Court Street under the name of Bearns & Brenner, specializing in civil and real estate law, on February 1, 1891.

Brenner had a highly successful career within the Kings County judicial and political systems. Mayor Charles A. Schieren (1842-1915) appointed Brenner counsel to the Brooklyn Police and Excise Board in 1893. He resigned this post when elected to the bench in 1897. Elected Kings County Commissioner of Jurors in 1902, Brenner held the position until his death in 1921, and the Brooklyn Police and Excise Board reappointed Brenner as counsel in 1911. Brenner became very active in Brooklyn politics beginning in the late 1880s. He served as the Republican leader of the Tenth Ward in South Brooklyn, an area bounded by Bergen Street, Fourth Avenue, First Street, the Gowanus Canal, Second Avenue, Fifth Street, Fourth Place, and Court Street. Brenner held the position of chairman of the Republican Executive Committee of New York State from 1897 on and served through the terms of New York State Lieutenant Governor Timothy L. Woodruff (c.1858-1913) and United States Senator Chauncey M. Depew (1834-1928), both of whom became close personal friends. The New York State Executive Committee of the Republican Party named Brenner as a state delegate to the Republican National Convention from 1904-1916 as well as a delegate to the New York State Constitutional Convention in 1915.

Brenner became prominent in Jewish communal and philanthropic activities, serving as president and Hebrew school teacher at Temple Beth-Elohim, a Reform congregation also known as the Eighth Avenue Temple, located on Eighth Avenue and Garfield Place for many years, as well as on the board of the Hebrew Orphan Asylum, the Young Men's Hebrew Association, the Federation of Jewish Charities, and as the first president of the Jewish Hospital on Prospect Place. His club memberships included the Euclid Lodge, a Masonic chapter in Kings County, the Royal Arcanum, as well as the Brooklyn, Montauk, and Unity Clubs. Brenner also served as vice-president of the Brooklyn Bar Association, and director of the First National Bank, then located at Fulton Street and Red Hook Lane.

Brenner married Louise Blumenau (ca. 1860-1902), the daughter of prominent Brooklyn real estate developer Levi Blumenau, on June 27, 1883. The couple had two sons, Arthur and Mortimer, and four daughters, Rose, Rica, Selma, and Caroline. The family resided at 252 Carroll Street in the present-day Brooklyn neighborhood of Carroll Gardens. Both Arthur and Mortimer Brenner became prominent lawyers and Republican Party members in Brooklyn. Rose Brenner became a well-known activist in Brooklyn for her work during World War I as president of the National Council of Jewish Women.

A quick succession of deaths within a period of four years marked the Brenner family: Simon Brenner (September 7, 1898), Caroline Brenner (September 22, 1900), and Louise Brenner (February 21, 1902). Jacob Brenner died on October 17, 1921 of heart disease while giving a speech at Temple Beth-Elohim. He is buried at Mount Neboh Cemetery in the Cypress Hills neighborhood of Brooklyn.