William Lafayette Strong

William Lafayette Strong
Born	March 22, 1827 Richland County, Ohio
Died	November 2, 1900(1900-11-02) (aged 73)
Resting place	Woodlawn Cemetery
Title	Mayor of New York (1895-1897)
Political party	Republican

William Lafayette Strong (March 22, 1827 – November 2, 1900)^[1] was the Mayor of New York from 1895 to 1897. He was the last mayor of New York before the Consolidation of the City of New York on January 1, 1898.

Biography

A Republican, elected on a Fusion Party ticket by Republican and anti-Tammany Democrats, the reform-minded Strong established the Board of Education, created small parks, and is credited as the "father" of the Department of Correction. The Department of Public Charities and Correction had been abolished by Governor Levi Morton in 1894 to become separate departments. Strong appointed former U.S. Civil Service Commissioner Theodore Roosevelt as Police Commissioner.

He was born in Richland County, Ohio; was a dry-goods salesman in Wooster and then in Manchester, Ohio; in 1853 went to New York City, where he engaged in similar business, and in 1869 became the head of the firm of William L. Strong & Co. Strong was president of the Central National Bank, president of the Homer Lee Bank Note Company, Vice President of the New York Security and Trust Company, Director for the Erie Railroad, and the Plaza Bank.^[2]

He is interred at Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx.

He is an ancestor of Matthew A. Morgan, an Upstate New York Politician.

References

1. ^ [1]
2. ^ New York Times, October 6, 1894. "Sketches of The Nominees"

External links

• New York Times article, January 2, 1895, on Strong's inauguration

Political offices
Preceded by Thomas Francis Gilroy	Mayor of New York City 1895–1897	Succeeded by Robert Anderson Van Wyck

Persondata
Name	Strong, William L.
Alternative names
Short description	Mayor of New York City
Date of birth	March 22, 1827
Place of birth	Richland County, Ohio
Date of death	November 2, 1900
Place of death