Franklin Edson

Franklin Edson (April 5, 1832 – September 24, 1904) was the 85th Mayor of New York from 1883 to 1884.

Born in Chester, Vermont, he was educated at the local schools and the academy in Chester.

At age 20 Edson moved to Albany to work in his brother Cyrus' distillery, becoming a partner three years later.

He left the distillery after his brother's death and started a produce business, which he relocated to New York City in 1866. His venture proved successful during the American Civil War, making Edson wealthy and enabling him to engage in civic, religious and charitable causes. He was an active Episcopalian and a member of Saint James Church Fordham, in the Bronx.

In 1873 he became one of the city's most important business leaders when he was appointed President of the New York Produce Exchange.

An anti-Tammany Democrat, in 1882 he was nominated for Mayor through the efforts of Tammany Hall boss John Murphy to avoid a Democratic Party split between organization loyalists and reformers. Upon taking office in 1883, he angered reformers by appointing Tammany men to key jobs, but he soon embraced civil service reform and other honest government measures.

During his term the Brooklyn Bridge was dedicated, the Manhattan Municipal Building was constructed, and work was completed on the city's new water supply, the Croton Aqueduct. He appointed the commission responsible for the selection and location of public lands for parks in the Bronx, which came to include Van Cortlandt, Bronx, Pelham Bay, Crotona, Claremont and St. Mary's Parks, and the Mosholu, Bronx River, Pelham, and Crotona Parkways.

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