Lewis Stuyvesant Chanler

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Lewis Stuyvesant Chanler (1869 - 1942) was a New York Politician and Bahá'í, expelled by Shoghi Effendi in the 1920s.

1 Biography
2 Marriages and Children
3 See also
4 External links
5 References

[edit] Biography

Born Sep 24, in Newport, Rhode Island the son of John Winthrop Chanler and Margaret Astor Ward [1], Lewis came from a very well-placed family of New York. The family was wealthy and influential, and quite a large volume of work has been devoted to the Astor family.

He attended Columbia University where he received his LL.B. in 1891. Then he went to Cambridge, matriculating in 1894. He became a lawyer, and practiced in New York.

Lewis rose to become Lieutenant Governor of New York in 1907-08 and then Democratic nominee for Governor in 1908. His run for Governor was opposed by Hearst, who lampooned him in a series of cartoons. While a resident of Barrytown, Dutchess County, he became a member of the New York State Assembly from Dutchess County's 2nd District in 1910-12. Franklin Roosevelt had at first thought of running for this seat in the assembly, but Chanler refused to give it up, hence Franklin ran for the senate.

About 1920, Lewis and his first wife divorced and the next year he married Julia (Olin) Benkard, also a recent divorcee, with two daughters of her own. The family bought a new home at 132 East 65th Street, in New York City. This house was later christened Caravan House.

Julie was first introduced to the Bahá'í Faith in 1925, and joined after a short time. Becoming on intimate terms with Mirza Ahmad Sohrab, the three of them formed the New History Society. Several works were published by the Society both before, during and after the events which led to their expulsion from the Bahá'í community in 1939.

Sohrab taught classes on the Bahá'í Faith and when the local New York administration stated that these classes must be under their authority, the group challenged and then were expelled from the movement. During this time they created the Caravan of East and West which was an educational organization designed to prepare members for membership in the Bahá'í Faith.

They continued and greatly expanded their work in New York City. After the deaths of Sohrab and Julie, the Society appears to have vanished, but the Caravan lived on and still exists as a non-profit, at the same address.

Lewis died on Feb 28, 1942 at his home in New York City. His obituary appeared in the New York Times on Mar 4. His funeral was conducted at St Mark's-in-the-Bouwerie by Rev. C.A.W. Brocklebank. After the scriptural reading, 'Mirza Ahmad Sohrab read from "the service for the departed" of the Bahai cult'. Lewis was buried at St Paul's Churchyard in Glen Cove, Long Island.

[edit] Marriages and Children

Lewis Stuyvesant Chanler (1869-1942) m.1st 1890 (div) Alice Chamberlain (1868-1955), m.2nd 1921 Julie (Olin) Benkard (1882-1961) (she had previously married a Benkard).

Lewis Stuyvesant Chanler Jr. (1891-1963), m.1st around 1920 Leslie Murray, m.2nd after 1940 Mary Kroehle
1. Clare Chanler, m.Baynard Forster
2. Bronson Winthrop Chanler (*1922), m. Evelyn Williams Rogers (*1931)
Alida Chanler (1894-1983), m. William Christian Bohn
William Chamberlain Chanler (1895-1981), m. Frances Randall Williams

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

His picture at NYPL, Click to enlarge, bottom-right.
Biography of his wife Julie Olin

[edit] References

Summary of "From Gaslight to Dawn" by Julie Chanler
Harpers Magazine
One part of family tree
Venn, J. A., comp. Alumni Cantabrigienses. London: Cambridge University Press, 1922-1954.
Who's Who in America, 1920-1
Eleanor Roosevelt
Obituary, New York Times, Mar 4, 1942, pg. 19