Hewitt, Abram Stevens definition of Hewitt, Abram Stevens in the Free Online Encyclopedia.

Hewitt, Abram Stevens (hy

`ĭt), 1822–1903, American industrialist and political leader, b. Haverstraw, N.Y. He became a lawyer, and friendship with a son and marriage to a daughter of Peter Cooper Cooper, Peter, 1791–1883, American inventor, industrialist, and philanthropist, b. New York City. After achieving success in the glue business, Cooper, with two partners, erected (1829) the Canton Iron Works in Baltimore.
..... Click the link for more information. shaped his career. Together he and Edward Cooper became (1847) iron manufacturers with Peter Cooper's backing. Hewitt promoted advanced methods of iron making and steel making and was interested in railroad development and mining. He built up one of the great fortunes of his day. Elected as a Democratic Representative to Congress in 1874, he served continuously, except for one term, until 1886. As chairman of the Democratic National Committee he directed Samuel J. Tilden's presidential campaign in 1876. During Rutherford Hayes's administration he led a Democratic House majority in securing the repeal of a number of radical Reconstruction measures. In 1886 he was elected mayor of New York City on a Tammany ticket, defeating Henry George George, Henry, 1839–97, American economist, founder of the single tax movement, b. Philadelphia. Of a poor family, his formal education was cut short at 14, and in 1857 he emigrated to California; there he worked at various occupations before turning to
..... Click the link for more information. and Theodore Roosevelt. As a reform mayor, he did not suit Tammany and was not renominated. He became a trustee of Columbia Univ. and was for many years connected with Cooper Union. Selections of his writings, edited by Allan Nevins, appeared in 1937.

Bibliography

See study by A. Nevins (1935, repr. 1967).