Elliott Danforth

Elliott Danforth (born March 6, 1850 in Middleburgh , New York , † January 7, 1906 in New York City ) was an American lawyer and politician . He was Treasurer of State of New York from 1890 to 1894 .

Career

Elliott Danforth, son of Peter S. Danforth, a New York Supreme Court judge , was born in Schoharie County about two years after the end of the Mexican-American War . Nothing is known about his youth. He studied law with his father and was admitted to the bar in 1871. On December 17, 1874, he married Ida Prince. The couple had a son named Edward Danforth and a daughter. The family then moved to Bainbridge, New York , in 1878 , where his father-in-law was President of the First National Bank . Danforth practiced there as a lawyer in a group practice with George H. Winsor. He subsequently became President of the Corporation of Bainbridge.

Danforth belonged to the Democratic Party . He participated as a delegate to the Democratic National Conventions in 1880, 1884, 1888, 1892, 1896, 1900 and 1904 . From 1885 to 1889 he was Deputy Treasurer of State of New York under Lawrence J. Fitzgerald . Danforth followed him into office. He was elected Treasurer of State in 1889 and re-elected in 1891. In November 1891 he sat on the Board of Canvassers of New York, which included the Secretary of State , Treasurer, Comptroller , Attorney General, and State Engineer . They committed electoral fraud in the Dutchess County Senate election, which resulted in Governor David B. Hill gaining control of the New York Senate . The Republican candidate Gilbert A. Deane received in the election to the Senate District 78 votes over Democrat Edward B. Osborne. However, the board changed 92 votes and then declared Osborne the winner with a majority of 14 votes. The New York Supreme Court issued an injunction against Danforth, ordering him to confirm Deane's election, but Danforth refused to obey. As a result, he and other members of was Board of Judges D-Cady Herrick to pay a fine of 500  US dollars condemned. The verdict was later upheld by the New York Court of Appeals . In August 1893, it was announced that Danforth had received a loan of $ 50,000, then seven times the annual salary of a treasurer, from Madison Square Bank in New York City in exchange for holding large amounts of government funds with the Bank. Danforth managed to withdraw US $ 250,000 in government funds from the bank in the early hours of August 9, 1893, even though the bank was closed that day. Fitzgerald was the director of that bank.

After retiring as Treasurer of State, he practiced as a lawyer in New York City. From 1896 to 1898 he chaired the New York State Democratic Committee. He campaigned successfully in 1897 for Alton B. Parker when he was elected Chief Judge at the New York Court of Appeals. In 1898 Danforth ran for the office of lieutenant governor of New York and Augustus Van Wyck for the office of governor of New York. Both suffered defeat to Theodore Roosevelt and Timothy L. Woodruff .

Danforth died in 1906 of complications from pneumonia at his home at 51 East 58th Street in Manhattan and was then buried in Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx .

literature

• Elliot Danforth Dead; Once Power In Politics , The New York Times, Jan. 8, 1906