Hiram Haskell Edgerton (April 19, 1847 – June 18, 1922) was an American businessman and politician who served as the 49th mayor of

Rochester, New York Rochester () is a city in the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Monroe County, and the fourth-most populous in the state after New York City, Buffalo, and Yonkers, with a population of 211,328 at the 2020 United States census. Located i ...

from 1908 to 1921.

Biography

Early life

Edgerton was born on April 19, 1847, in

Belfast, New York Belfast (/ˈbɛl.fæst/ or /bəlˈfɑːst/) is a town in Allegany County, New York, United States. The town is in what is called the Southern Tier of the state. Its population was 1,656 at the 2020 census. It was named in 1825 after the city of ...

. When he was 11 years old, his family moved to Rochester, where his father ran a lumber business and construction firm. In 1868, he married Medora L. DeWitt. The couple had two daughters. In 1880, he inherited the construction firm. Under his direction, the firm constructed several churches, government buildings, and commercial buildings like the

Sibley's, Lindsay and Curr Building Sibley's, Lindsay and Curr Building is a historic commercial building located at Rochester in Monroe County, New York. It was designed by noted Rochester architect J. Foster Warner and built for Sibley's in 1904. The original wing of the buildi ...

in Rochester.

Political career

Edgerton entered local politics in the 1870s, serving as a board of education member from 1872 to 1876. He became an ally of

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or again ...

boss

George W. Aldridge George Washington Aldridge II (December 28, 1856 – June 13, 1922) was a prominent politician from New York state. After serving as the Mayor of Rochester, New York, he became the boss of the Republican Party in Rochester and was influential in ...

, who backed him for nominations to higher offices. In 1895, Edgerton was recruited by Aldridge to succeed him as mayor. He lost the close election to George E. Warner, a Democrat. Edgerton was elected to the common council in 1900, becoming its president. In 1907 he made a second run for mayor and was elected, succeeding James G. Cutler. He then served for seven consecutive two-year terms before retiring in 1921. During this long tenure, the city constructed its first public library and numerous infrastructure projects, including a flood wall along the

Genesee River The Genesee River is a tributary of Lake Ontario flowing northward through the Twin Tiers of Pennsylvania and New York in the United States. The river provided the original power for the Rochester area's 19th century mills and still provides ...

and a conduit to bring water from

Hemlock Lake Hemlock Lake is one of the minor Finger Lakes. It is mostly located in Livingston County, New York, south of Rochester, with a portion overlapping into Ontario County. Hemlock is a translation of the Seneca name for the lake, ''O-neh-da Te-ca ...

to the city. Edgerton received criticism for his decision to close the city's social centers, which frequently featured socialist speakers and other opponents of the Republican machine. While Edgerton was in office, Rochester's industry and population rapidly expanded. To coordinate the expansion of city services, he sought to annex several neighborhoods from surrounding towns directly into the city. In 1914, the city annexed new residential developments in the towns of

Gates Gates is the plural of gate, a point of entry to a space which is enclosed by walls. It may also refer to: People * Gates (surname), various people with the last name * Gates Brown (1939-2013), American Major League Baseball player * Gates McFa ...

, Brighton, and Irondequoit; in 1916, the village of Charlotte and its port were annexed; and in 1919, a large industrial district in the towns of Gates and

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders wit ...

was annexed. When the

New York Barge Canal The New York State Canal System (formerly known as the New York State Barge Canal) is a successor to the Erie Canal and other canals within New York. Currently, the system is composed of the Erie Canal, the Oswego Canal, the Cayuga–Seneca Cana ...

opened in 1918, the old section of the

Erie Canal The Erie Canal is a historic canal in upstate New York that runs east-west between the Hudson River and Lake Erie. Completed in 1825, the canal was the first navigable waterway connecting the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes, vastly redu ...

running through the city was abandoned. Edgerton and other city officials pursued the construction of a subway system in the abandoned canal bed. Construction was unanimously approved by the common council on November 9, 1921, and the Rochester subway would later begin operations in 1927. In 1910, the issue of a city flag arose at an industrial exhibition. A committee recommended a design by David E. Spear to be adopted as an official flag. Edgerton issued a pronouncement for the adoption of the flag, which was officially approved by the city council in 1934.

Death and legacy

Edgerton died on June 18, 1922, in Rochester, and he was buried in Mount Hope Cemetery. Edgerton Park in Rochester is named for him.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Edgerton, Hiram Mayors of Rochester, New York New York (state) Republicans 1847 births 1922 deaths School board members in New York (state) People from Allegany County, New York 20th-century American politicians Rochester City Council members (New York)