Edwin Corning
Edwin Corning | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Lieutenant Governor of New York | |
| In office January 1, 1927 – December 31, 1928 | |
| Governor | Al Smith |
| Preceded by | Seymour Lowman |
| Succeeded by | Herbert H. Lehman |
| New York State Democratic Committee chairman | |
| In office January 1926 – August 1928 | |
| Preceded by | Herbert C. Pell |
| Succeeded by | M. William Bray |
| Personal details | |
| Born | September 30, 1883 Albany, New York, US |
| Died | August 7, 1934 (aged 50) Bar Harbor, Maine, US |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Relations | Parker Corning (brother) Erastus Corning (grandfather) Amasa J. Parker (grandfather) |
| Children | Erastus Corning 2nd Louise Corning Harriet Corning Edwin Corning Jr. |
| Alma mater | Yale University |
| Profession | Business executive |
Edwin Corning (September 30, 1883 – August 7, 1934) was an American businessman and politician from New York. He was the lieutenant governor of New York from 1927 to 1928.
Early life
[edit]Corning was born on September 30, 1883, in Albany, New York. He was a son of Erastus Corning (1827–1897) and Mary (née Parker) Corning (1845–1899).[1] His brother, Parker Corning served as a member of the United States House of Representatives.[2]
Both of his grandfathers, Erastus Corning and Amasa J. Parker, served in Congress, and Parker was also a justice of the New York Supreme Court and founder of Albany Law School.[3]
He was educated at The Albany Academy and the Groton School,[4] and graduated from Yale University in 1906.[5]
Career
[edit]After graduating from Yale, Corning served as an executive at the Ludlum Steel Company in Watervliet, New York, and became its president in 1910.[6] He was also an officer of the Albany Felt Company, and served on the board of directors of several Albany banks. Corning was also a gentleman farmer, and bred prize winning horses, sheep and cows. In addition, he was a dog breeder, and became known for his champion Irish wolfhounds.[7]
Political career
[edit]In the years immediately after World War I, Corning collaborated with Daniel P. O'Connell to create a Democratic organization in Albany that could wrest control of the city from the Republican organization run by William Barnes Jr.; their strategy was to run wealthy non-ethnic Protestants like Edwin Corning, William Stormont Hackett, Parker Corning, and Erastus Corning 2nd for major offices including mayor and Congressman to enhance the respectability and credibility of a Democratic organization run by working class Irish-American, Catholic figures like O'Connell.[8] Corning became chairman of the Albany County Democratic Committee in 1912 and chairman of the county committee's executive committee in 1919. In the 1921 contest for mayor, the O'Connell/Corning organization succeeded in electing Hackett, the beginning of Democratic control of city hall that has remained in place ever since.[7]
Corning was chairman of the New York State Democratic Committee from 1926 to 1928.[9] He was Lieutenant Governor of New York from 1927 to 1928, elected on the Democratic ticket with Governor Alfred E. Smith in 1926.[10] In 1928, when Smith planned to run for president, the Albany Democratic organization intended to run Hackett for governor. After Hackett's death in a car accident, Corning considered making the campaign, but declined because of ill health. After his term as lieutenant governor he retired from his business and political interests.[11]
Personal life
[edit]On November 25, 1908, he married Louise Maxwell,[12] who was born to American parents in Cawnpore, India, where her father was serving as a missionary. Together, Louise and Edwin were the parents of:[13]
- Erastus Corning 2nd (1909–1983), who served as Mayor of Albany for over 40 years.[14][15]
- Louise Corning (1911–1954), who married Andrew Hamilton Ransom.[16]
- Harriet Corning (1916–1966), who married Wharton Sinkle Jr. (1914–1953) in 1937.[17] She later married Samuel E. Ewing.[18]
- Edwin Corning Jr. (1919–1964), who was serving in the New York State Assembly when he was involved in a 1959 car accident.[19] He resigned his Assembly seat, and died without recovering fully.[20][21][22]
Corning died at a hospital in Bar Harbor, Maine on August 7, 1934, during a second leg amputation that was necessary because of gangrene derived from diabetes.[7] He was buried at Albany Rural Cemetery in Menands, New York.[23]
References
[edit]- ^ The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography. Vol. 25. University Microfilms. 1967. p. 428. Retrieved July 29, 2019.
- ^ Schenectady Gazette, Parker Corning Dies at 69, May 25, 1943
- ^ Office, New York (State) Secretary's (1927). New York Manual for the Use of the Legislature. p. 297. Retrieved July 29, 2019.
- ^ The Grotonian, Vol. 32. Groton School. 1915. p. 29. Retrieved July 29, 2019.
- ^ Catalogue of the Officers and Graduates of Yale University in New Haven Connecticut. Yale University. 1910. p. 226. Retrieved July 29, 2019.
- ^ Steel magazine, Vol. 95. Penton Publishing Company. 1934. p. 153. Retrieved July 29, 2019.
- ^ a b c "Edwin Corning, 50, is Dead In Maine" (PDF). The New York Times. August 8, 1934. Retrieved July 29, 2019.
- ^ Kennedy, William (1983). O Albany!: Improbable City of Political Wizards, Fearless Ethnics, Spectacular Aristocrats, Splendid Nobodies, and Underrated Scoundrels. New York, NY: Viking Press. p. 282. ISBN 978-0-14-007416-1.
- ^ "Corning Quits Post As Committee Head" (PDF). The New York Times. August 15, 1928. Retrieved July 29, 2019.
- ^ "Bray Picked by Democrats". Rochester Evening Journal. August 23, 1928. Retrieved July 29, 2019.
- ^ Robinson, Frank S. (1973). Machine Politics: A Study of Albany's O'Connells. Transaction Publishers. pp. 55–56. ISBN 9781412827751. Retrieved July 29, 2019.
- ^ "Mrs. Edwin Corning" (PDF). The New York Times. May 25, 1976. Retrieved July 29, 2019.
- ^ Jackson, Robert H. (2004). That Man: An Insider's Portrait of Franklin D. Roosevelt. OUP USA. p. 200. ISBN 9780195177572. Retrieved July 29, 2019.
- ^ Grondahl, Paul (2007). Mayor Erastus Corning: Albany Icon, Albany Enigma. SUNY Press. ISBN 9780791472941. Retrieved July 29, 2019.
- ^ Oreskes, Michael (June 2, 1983). "Erastus Corning and His Era Are Laid to Rest in Albany". The New York Times. Retrieved July 29, 2019.
- ^ "Miss Louise Corning Engaged To Be Wed" (PDF). The New York Times. May 20, 1935. Retrieved July 29, 2019.
- ^ "Harriet Corning An Albany Bride" (PDF). The New York Times. June 13, 1937. Retrieved July 29, 2019.
- ^ "Mrs. Sinkler's Wedding" (PDF). The New York Times. March 24, 1947. Retrieved July 29, 2019.
- ^ Troy Record, Lester H. Knapp Dies Suddenly, March 4, 1960
- ^ Associated Press, Oneonta Star, Lawmaker Hurt, Resigns Post, August 27, 1959
- ^ Troy Record, Hudson Seated in Assembly as Legislature Convenes, January 6, 1960
- ^ Burial record, Edwin Corning, Jr., Albany Rural Cemetery. Retrieved January 8, 2013
- ^ "Corning Funeral Today; Former Lieutenant Governor's Body Taken to Estate at Albany" (PDF). The New York Times. August 9, 1934. Retrieved July 29, 2019.
External links
[edit]- Political Graveyard Archived December 3, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
- Bio at NY History, USGenNet
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
- 1883 births
- 1934 deaths
- Lieutenant governors of New York (state)
- New York (state) Democrats
- Politicians from Albany, New York
- Burials at Albany Rural Cemetery
- Groton School alumni
- Yale University alumni
- Deaths from diabetes in the United States
- 20th-century New York (state) politicians
- The Albany Academy alumni
- Corning family