James Coats Auchincloss (January 19, 1885 – October 2, 1976) was an American businessman and

Republican Party Republican Party is a name used by many political parties around the world, though the term most commonly refers to the United States' Republican Party. Republican Party may also refer to: Africa *Republican Party (Liberia) * Republican Part ...

politician who represented northern coastal region of New Jersey in the United States House of Representatives from 1943–1965. His district consisted of Monmouth County, Ocean County, and the part of Middlesex County south of the Raritan River.

Early life

Auchincloss was born in

Manhattan, New York City Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the List of co ...

on January 19, 1885. He was one of eight children, seven sons and one daughter, born to Edgar Stirling Auchincloss (1847–1892) and Maria LeGrange (

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Sloan) Auchincloss (1847–1929), who married in 1872. Among his uncles were Hugh Dudley Auchincloss (father of Hugh D. Auchincloss, Jr.) and John Winthrop Auchincloss (grandfather of Louis Auchincloss). His maternal aunt Sarah Auchincloss (d. 1887) married

Sir James Coats, 1st Baronet The Coats Baronetcy, of Auchendrane in the parish of Maybole in the County of Ayr, is a title in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 7 December 1905 for James Coats, Director of J. and P. Coats Ltd, sewing cotton manufacture ...

of the Scottish thread-manufacturing family (and his namesake), and they were the parents of Sir Stuart Coats, 2nd Baronet and British Member of Parliament. His maternal grandparents were Mary (née Elmendorf) Sloan and New York State Senator Samuel Sloan, who served as president of the

Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad The Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad (also known as the DL&W or Lackawanna Railroad) was a U.S. Class 1 railroad that connected Buffalo, New York, and Hoboken, New Jersey (and by ferry with New York City), a distance of . Incorporated in ...

for 26 years. He attended the Cutler School in

; and

Groton School Groton School (founded as Groton School for Boys) is a private college-preparatory boarding school located in Groton, Massachusetts. Ranked as one of the top five boarding high schools in the United States in Niche (2021–2022), it is affiliated ...

in Groton, Massachusetts. He graduated from Yale University in 1908.

Career

From 1908 until 1940, he engaged in financial and stock brokerage business with Auchincloss, Joost & Company located at 60 Broadway in New York City. He was a governor of the New York Stock Exchange from 1921 to 1938 (after buying his seat on the Exchange on January 27, 1910, for $92,000, the highest price paid up to that time). He was also the founder, treasurer, president, and chairman of the board of the New York Better Business Bureau. From 1909 to 1913, Auchincloss served in the Seventh Regiment of the

New York National Guard The New York State Division of Military and Naval Affairs (NYS DMNA) is responsible for the state's New York Army National Guard, New York Air National Guard, New York Guard and the New York Naval Militia. It is headed by Adjutant General of New ...

and as Deputy Police Commissioner of New York City. During World War I, he served as captain, Military Intelligence.

Political career

He was a member of the Rumson, New Jersey, borough council from 1930 to 1937, and served as the borough's mayor from 1938 to 1943. Auchincloss was elected as a Republican to the Seventy-eighth United States Congress, as well as the ten succeeding Congresses serving from January 3, 1943, until January 3, 1965. Auchincloss voted in favor of the Civil Rights Acts of 1957,

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Ja ...

, and

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarch ...

, as well as the 24th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. He was not a candidate for reelection in 1964 to the

Eighty-ninth Congress The 89th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from January 3, 1965, ...

. While in Congress, he founded the

Capitol Hill Club The National Republican Club of Capitol Hill, commonly known as the Capitol Hill Club, is a private club for Republicans in Washington, D.C. History It was established in 1951 by former New Jersey Congressman James C. Auchincloss, who with 100 ...

in Washington, D.C., in 1951.

Personal life

On October 23, 1909, he was married to Lee Frances Alexander (1888–1959) by the Rev. Dr. Endicott Peabody at the Chapel of the Intercession in New York. Lee, a 1909 graduate of Barnard College, was a daughter of Dr. Welcome T. Alexander and Aimee G. (née Thayer) Alexander. Together, they resided at various residences, including first at 772 Park Avenue in New York and then in Rumson, New Jersey, and were the parents of: * James Douglas Auchincloss (1913–2000), who married Lily van Ameringen (1922–1996) in 1956. They divorced in 1979. * Gordon Auchincloss (1917–1998), who became a writer, director and communications executive. After her death in 1959, he married Vera Rogers Brown, a daughter of Dr. and Mrs. David T. Brown of Chicago, on November 18, 1960. He died at a nursing home in Alexandria, Virginia, on October 2, 1976, aged 91. After a funeral service at the

Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church is a Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) church in New York City. The church, on Fifth Avenue at 7 West 55th Street in Midtown Manhattan, has approximately 2,200 members and is one of the larger PCUSA congregations. The ...

, he was interred in Woodlawn Cemetery, the Bronx, New York City.

Notes

References

External links

Political Graveyard bio for James C. Auchincloss
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Auchincloss, James C. 1885 births 1976 deaths Politicians from Manhattan United States Army personnel of World War I Military personnel from New York City Burials at Woodlawn Cemetery (Bronx, New York) Groton School alumni Politicians from Alexandria, Virginia People from Rumson, New Jersey Yale University alumni Auchincloss family Mayors of Rumson, New Jersey Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from New Jersey 20th-century American politicians Businesspeople from Alexandria, Virginia 20th-century American businesspeople United States Army officers New York National Guard personnel