Ashbel P. Fitch : Champion of Old New York / David F. Remington ; with a foreword by Joanne Reitano.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Remington, David F.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Legislators--New York--Biography.

Legislators.

Legislators--United States--Biography.

United States. Congress. House--Biography.

United States.

Fitch, Ashbel P. (Ashbel Parmelee), 1848-1904.

Fitch, Ashbel P.

Genre:

Electronic books.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xvii, 331 p. ) ill. ;

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Syracuse, New York : The Adirondack Museum : Syracuse University Press, 2011.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

The concept of an "honest Tammany man" sounds like an oxymoron, but it became a reality in the curious career of Ashbel P. Fitch, who served New York City as a four-term congressman and a one-term city comptroller during the late nineteenth century. Although little known today, Fitch was well respected in his own day and played a pivotal role on both national and local stages. In the U.S. Congress, Fitch was a passionate advocate of New York City. His support of tariff reform and his efforts to have New York City chosen as the site for an 1892 World Exposition reflected his deep interest in issues of industrialization and urbanization. An ardent defender of immigrant rights, Fitch opposed the xenophobia of the times and championed cosmopolitan diversity. As New York's comptroller, he oversaw the city's finances during a time of terrible economic distress, withstanding threats from Tammany Hall on one side and from Mayor William L. Strong's misguided reform administration on the other. In Ashbel P. Fitch, Remington succeeds in illuminating the independence and integrity of this unsung hero against the backdrop of the Gilded Age's corrupt politics and fierce party loyalty.

Contents:

Forebears and early years, 1848-1885

Politics and the road to Washington

National prominence, tariff speech : fiftieth congress, 1886-1888

New York's world's fair lost : fifty-first congress, 1888-1890

Republican overreach, democratic momentum : fifty-first congress, 1888-1890

Silver beckons : fifty-second congress, 1890-1892

New York and the election law in Cleveland's victory : fifty-second congress, 1890-1892

Repeal of the election law and Sherman Act : fifty-third congress, 1892-1894

New York City's watershed

Reformers in charge, 1895

A crash and a bang

Silver and the New York elections of 1896 and 1897

Passage.

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9780815651642

0815651643

OCLC:

794700205