Gov. Charles Seymour Whitman

CHARLES S. WHITMAN, the forty-fourth governor of New York, was born in Hanover, Connecticut on September 29, 1868. His education was attained at Amherst College in Massachusetts, where he graduated in 1890, and then at New York University, where he earned an LL.B. degree in 1894. He established a successful legal career, serving as the assistant corporation counsel of New York, a position he held from 1901 to 1903. In 1907 he served as a New York City municipal judge; and from 1910 to 1914 he was the Manhattan district attorney. Whitman next secured the Republican gubernatorial nomination, and was elected governor by a popular vote on November 3, 1914. He won reelection to a second term in 1916. During his tenure, the state constabulary was established; construction on the Catskill Aqueduct was finished; the New York State Barge Canal was initiated; and World War I issues were dealt with. After running unsuccessfully for reelection, Whitman later served as commander of the Port Authority of New York. Afterwards he returned to his legal practice, as well as serving as president of the American Bar Association. Governor Charles S. Whitman passed away on March 29, 1947, and was buried in the Westlawn Cemetery in Williamstown, Massachusetts.