Cornelius Van Wyck Lawrence

Cornelius Van Wyck Lawrence (February 28, 1791 – February 20, 1861) was a politician from New York. He became the first popularly elected Mayor of New York City after the law was changed in 1834.[1]

Biography

He was born in Flushing, New York on February 28, 1791. Lawrence attended the public schools and moved to New York City in 1812, he engaged in mercantile pursuits. He had a son, James O. Lawrence.

Lawrence was elected as a Jacksonian to the Twenty-third Congress, serving from March 4, 1833, to May 14, 1834, when he resigned, becoming mayor of New York (1834–1837). He also served as director in several banks and trust companies and Collector of the Port of New York (1845–1849).

Lawrence died in Flushing on February 20, 1861. He was interred in the family burying ground in Bayside, New York.

References

  1. ^ "Mayor: Stick With Me, The Best Is Yet To Be". New York Times. December 30, 1997. http://articles.nydailynews.com/1997-12-30/news/18047850_1_mayor-giuliani-new-yorkers-welfare-rolls. Retrieved 2011-05-12. "The change, which would require revising the City Charter, passing legislation in Albany or both, would radically transform a political system that dates to 1834, when Mayor Cornelius Lawrence, a Democrat, became the first candidate of a political party elected by New Yorkers." 
Includes text from the public domain Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present.
United States House of Representatives
Preceded by
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Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from New York

? – ?
Succeeded by
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