Samuel Aaron DeWitt (November 1, 1891 – January 22, 1963) was an American businessman,

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes play (theatre), plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between Character (arts), characters and is intended for Theatre, theatrical performance rather than just Readin ...

, and politician. He was a New York State Legislator who represented

Bronx The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

's 7th district from 1919 until his expulsion from the assembly in 1920 during the

First Red Scare The first Red Scare was a period during History of the United States (1918–1945), the early 20th-century history of the United States marked by a widespread fear of Far-left politics, far-left movements, including Bolsheviks, Bolshevism a ...

Biography

DeWitt was born on November 1, 1891, 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 ...

. He worked as a machinery dealer and was an active

Socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

throughout his life. DeWitt first applied for membership in the Socialist Party on August 29, 1913.

Political career

Sam Dewitt is most famous for being expelled in 1920 from the

New York State Assembly The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature, with the New York State Senate being the upper house. There are 150 seats in the Assembly. Assembly members serve two-year terms without term limits. The Ass ...

along with four fellow assemblymen for being members of the

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of th ...

. The five Socialists were barred from taking their seats at the beginning of the session of the

143rd New York State Legislature The 143rd New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from January 7 to September 1920, during the second year of Al Smith's governorship, in Albany. Background Under the provision ...

and, after a protracted "trial" before the Assembly Committee on the Judiciary, defended by Morris Hillquit and

Seymour Stedman Seymour "Stedy" Stedman (July 4, 1871 – July 9, 1948) was an American from Chicago who rose from shepherd and janitor to become a prominent civil liberties lawyer and a leader of the Socialist Party of America. He is best remembered as the 192 ...

, were expelled on April 1. All five were re-elected at a special election on September 16, and appeared to take their seats at the beginning of the special session on September 20. The next day, DeWitt and Samuel Orr were permitted to take their seats, but August Claessens, Charles Solomon and Louis Waldman were expelled again. Protesting against the re-expulsion of their comrades, DeWitt and Orr resigned their seats. Afterwards DeWitt was a frequent candidate for political office, without success. He ran in the Bronx 7th District in 1924 and 1926, for Bronx borough president in 1925, for the Bronx 3rd District in 1927 and 1929, and the

Queens Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...

4th District in 1932. DeWitt made several unsuccessful campaigns for

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature, legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, including a Lower house, lower body, the United States House of Representatives, ...

, running in the New York's 22nd district in

1928 Events January * January – British bacteriologist Frederick Griffith reports the results of Griffith's experiment, indirectly demonstrating that DNA is the genetic material. * January 1 – Eastern Bloc emigration and defection: Boris B ...

and the 2nd district in

1934 Events January–February * January 1 – The International Telecommunication Union, a specialist agency of the League of Nations, is established. * January 15 – The 8.0 1934 Nepal–Bihar earthquake, Nepal–Bihar earthquake strik ...

1935 Events January * January 7 – Italian premier Benito Mussolini and French Foreign Minister Pierre Laval conclude an agreement, in which each power agrees not to oppose the other's colonial claims. * January 12 – Amelia Earhart ...

, and

1936 Events January–February * January 20 – The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King Edward VIII, following the death of his father, George V, at Sandringham House. * January 28 – Death and state funer ...

. During the bitter faction fights of the 1930s in the Socialist Party, DeWitt authored a weekly piece for ''The Socialist Call,'' a newspaper published each Saturday in New York City in opposition to the journal of the Old Guard faction, ''The New Leader.'' DeWitt authored a regular column called "Turn to the Left," in which he expounded upon his political beliefs. While not accepting the Old Guard's extreme gradualist approach, neither was DeWitt a communist. With regard to the Communist Party's efforts to establish a

united front A united front is an alliance of groups against their common enemies, figuratively evoking unification of previously separate geographic fronts or unification of previously separate armies into a front. The name often refers to a political and/ ...

in 1935, DeWitt wrote:

"I can only deplore he Communists'capacity for hatred. I can only distrust their sincerity when they call me to a 'united front.' I can only say to them: 'Lenin was a great teacher and undoubtedly a great leader. But he was a human.
"It is quite possible that he erred when he instructed you to treat Socialists who believed in achieving revolution through democracy in other lands, as enemies of the workers. It is also quite possible that he was wrong in his decision that all means, mostly foul, must be used against the enemies of the masses. ... It is also possible that Socialists have a right to question whether Lenin or you or any of your committees are God.'"

The battle between the Old Guard headed by Louis Waldman against a bloc of the Militant faction of Jack Altman with the "Progressive" group headed by Norman Thomas came to a head in the last days of 1935. DeWitt sided decisively with the latter grouping, breaking ranks with his long-time comrades of the Old Guard. DeWitt stood as a candidate for the New York State Committee of the SPA as part of the Progressive/Militant slate in the April 2, 1936, New York primaries and he won election in Queens County Assembly District 4."New York Primary Results," ''The Socialist Call,'' vol. 2, whole no. 57 (April 18, 1936), pg. 6. The Progressive/Militant bloc won a comfortable majority of seats on the State Committee in this election. In a last-gasp effort to retain power, New York Socialist Party State Chairman Waldman called a snap reorganizational meeting on 3 days' notice after the certification of the primary results, to be held in the distant city of

Buffalo Buffalo most commonly refers to: * True buffalo or Bubalina, a subtribe of wild cattle, including most "Old World" buffalo, such as water buffalo * Bison, a genus of wild cattle, including the American buffalo * Buffalo, New York, a city in the n ...

, as was his prerogative under that state constitution. The Old Guard was defeated in this effort to outmaneuver their opposition with timing and geography, however, and Harry W. Laidler defeated Waldman in his bid for re-election at the April reorganizational meeting by a vote of 60-42."Old Guard Suffers Defeat in NY State Committee," ''The Socialist Call,'' vol. 2, whole no. 58 (April 25, 1936), pg. 2. DeWitt was elected State Treasurer of the Socialist Party of New York at this session.

Literary endeavors

DeWitt was a long-time friend of

left wing Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social hierarchies. Left-wing politic ...

writer

Upton Sinclair Upton Beall Sinclair Jr. (September 20, 1878 – November 25, 1968) was an American author, muckraker journalist, and political activist, and the 1934 California gubernatorial election, 1934 Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party ...

. In Sinclair's famous

muckraking The muckrakers were reform-minded journalists, writers, and photographers in the Progressive Era in the United States (1890s–1920s) who claimed to expose corruption and wrongdoing in established institutions, often through sensationalist publ ...

novel ''

The Jungle ''The Jungle'' is a novel by American author and muckraking-journalist Upton Sinclair, known for his efforts to expose corruption in government and business in the early 20th century. In 1904, Sinclair spent seven weeks gathering information ...

,'' published in 1906, one of the main characters, Nicolas Schliemann, is said to be based on Sam DeWitt. Throughout his life, DeWitt was a poet and a playwright, publishing books in both genres.

Later years, death and legacy

In late 1919, Sam DeWitt founded the DeWitt Tool Company, located in the machine tool district of New York City. The firm bought and sold used machinery and equipment, and included among its services the liquidation of defunct industrial plants. Early on the company had for its slogan "The House of a Thousand Bargains." The business is still in the family - now DeWitt Bros Tool Company - in Kenilworth NJ. It is a wholesaler of metal cutting tools, and is the home of Drill America. DeWitt died on January 22, 1963, in

Yonkers, New York Yonkers () is the List of municipalities in New York, third-most populous city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and the most-populous City (New York), city in Westchester County, New York, Westchester County. A centrally locate ...

. He was survived by his wife Augusta, who died in 1985.

Legacy

DeWitt's great grandson is

Sky Dayton Sky Dylan Dayton (born August 8, 1971) is an American entrepreneur and investor. He is the founder of Internet service provider EarthLink, co-founder of eCompanies, the founder of Boingo, and co-founder of City Storage Systems and CloudKitchen ...

, founder of EarthLink.

References

Books by Samuel A. DeWitt

* ''Idylls of the Ghetto and Other Poems.'' New York: Rand Book Store, 1927. * ''Riding the Storm: Poems.'' New York: Academy Press, n.d. . 1930 * ''Rhapsodies in Red: Songs for the Social Revolution.'' New York: Rand School Press, 1933. * ''Harvest: Collected Poems.'' New York: Burmond Press, 1937. * ''The Shoemaker of the Stars and Other Poems.'' New York: Parnassus Press, 1940. * ''Where are the Snows? A Drama of Mediæval France (in two acts & nine scenes).'' New York: Parnassus Press, 1941. * ''Rhyme without Reason: A Comedy without Manners, in Three Acts and Six Scenes.'' New York: Parnassus Press, 1941. * ''More Sonnets to a Dark Lady, and Others.'' New York: Parnassus Press, 1942. * ''Where Are the Snows? A Play in Two Acts and Nine Scenes.'' New York: Parnassus Press, 1942. * ''Words for Music: A Book of Lyrics.'' New York: Parnassus Press, 1942. * ''Shoes for the Stars: A Play in Three Acts for Children of All Ages.'' New York: Parnassus Press, 1944. * ''No Road Back: Poems.'' With Walter Mehring. New York: Curl, 1944. * ''The Sermon on the Mount: Set to Rhyme and Rhythm out of the King James Version of the New Testament, the Gospel According to Matthew.'' New York: Strathmore Press, 1948. * ''Tomorrow sings: For Voice and Piano.'' With Jacques Wolfe. New York: C. Fischer, 1949. * ''Three Plays for Non-Puritans: Where Are the Snows? Shoes for the Stars; Rhyme without Reason.'' New York: Strathmore Press, 1951. * ''François Villon: A Drama for Music in Two acts and Nine Scenes (an opera libretto in search of a composer).'' New York: Greenberg, 1956. * ''The Agony of St. Joan: A Drama for Music in Two Acts and Four Scenes. (An opera libretto in search of a composer).'' New York: Greenberg, 1957. * ''The Song of Songs.'' New York: Greenberg, 1957. * ''Songs and Sonnets.'' New York: M. Loeb, 1963.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dewitt, Samuel Aaron 1891 births 1963 deaths Members of the New York State Assembly American male poets Socialist Party of America politicians from New York (state) Expelled members of the New York State Assembly 20th-century American poets 20th-century American male writers Politicians from the Bronx 20th-century members of the New York State Legislature