Edward Long Hedden (December 24, 1828 – February 6, 1893) was

Collector of the Port of New York The Collector of Customs at the Port of New York, most often referred to as Collector of the Port of New York, was a federal officer who was in charge of the collection of import duties on foreign goods that entered the United States by ship at ...

from 1885 to 1886.

Early life

Hedden was born in 1828, in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

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, to Josiah Hedden (who had studied law under

Alexander Hamilton Alexander Hamilton (January 11, 1755 or 1757July 12, 1804) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the first U.S. secretary of the treasury from 1789 to 1795 dur ...

) and Elizabeth June Hedden. In 1855, he married Elizabeth Caroline Apgar.

Career

From 1859 to 1884, Hedden worked for the shipping firm of Wetmore, Cryer, and Co. He was also a director of the North River Bank and of the Niagara Insurance Company. Hedden was appointed

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Grover Cleveland Stephen Grover Cleveland (March 18, 1837June 24, 1908) was the 22nd and 24th president of the United States, serving from 1885 to 1889 and from 1893 to 1897. He was the first U.S. president to serve nonconsecutive terms and the first Hist ...

on June 27, 1885. The appointment was made largely due to the influence of Hubert O. Thompson, the Commissioner of Public Works of the City of New York and local Democratic leader, as Hedden's son-in-law, Charles Campbell Worthington, was a contractor for the Department of Public Works. Other candidates for the post included J. Edward Simmons, president of the

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, who was supported by

Samuel Tilden Samuel Jones Tilden (February 9, 1814 – August 4, 1886) was an American politician who served as the 25th governor of New York and was the Democratic nominee in the disputed 1876 United States presidential election. Tilden was born in 1814 i ...

, and J. J. O'Donohue, a member of

Tammany Hall Tammany Hall, also known as the Society of St. Tammany, the Sons of St. Tammany, or the Columbian Order, was an American political organization founded in 1786 and incorporated on May 12, 1789, as the Tammany Society. It became the main local ...

. Hedden ran into controversy when he removed George B. Bacon, a Republican appointee, from his post as chief weigher of the Brooklyn Customs House and replaced him with George H. Sterling, without administering a civil service exam, as this was not required by law. The decision was attacked by civil service reformers, who believed the appointment was politically motivated and that Sterling was incompetent, although Hedden defended his choice. Eventually, President Cleveland demanded a competitive examination and Sterling lost the post. On August 7, 1886, Hedden resigned his post and was replaced by Daniel Magone. In 1887, Hedden was named as the defendant in the case '' Nix v. Hedden'', in which fruit importer John Nix sued Hedden to recover duties Nix believed were unnecessary. Nix wished to exempt his tomato imports from a vegetable tariff included in the Tariff of 1883, as tomatoes are botanically considered fruit. In 1893, the Supreme Court ruled against Nix, stating that tomatoes were generally considered vegetables and thus should be taxed as such.149 U.S. at 305.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hedden, Edward L. 1828 births 1893 deaths Businesspeople from New York City Collectors of the Port of New York 19th-century American businesspeople