{{Short description|American politician (1825–1911)}} {{Lead too short|date=January 2023}} {{use mdy dates|date=January 2018}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Smith Ely Jr. | office = 83rd Mayor of New York City | term_start = 1877 | term_end = 1878 | preceded = William H. Wickham | succeeded = Edward Cooper | state1 = New York | district1 = 7th | term_start1 = March 4, 1875 | term_end1 = December 11, 1876 | preceded1 = Thomas J. Creamer | succeeded1 = David Dudley Field II | term_start2 = March 4, 1871 | term_end2 = March 3, 1873 | preceded2 = Hervey C. Calkin | succeeded2 = Thomas J. Creamer | office4 = Member of the New York State Senate from the 5th District | term_start4 = 1858 | term_end4 = 1859 | preceded4 = Mark Spencer | succeeded4 = Bernard Kelly | image = Smith Ely Jr. - Brady-Handy.jpg | birth_date = April 17, 1825 | birth_place = Hanover Township, New Jersey, US | death_date = July 1, 1911 (aged 86) | death_place = Livingston, New Jersey, US | party = Democrat | spouse = | children = }}
'''Smith Ely Jr.''' (April 17, 1825 – July 1, 1911) was an American politician, the 83rd Mayor of New York City, and a member of the United States House of Representatives from New York in the 19th century.
==Early life== He was born in Hanover Township, New Jersey on April 17, 1825. His father, Smith Ely Sr., was a leather merchant who had been a soldier in the War of 1812 and his paternal grandfather was Moses Ely, who fought under George Washington in the American Revolutionary War.<ref name="nyc2007">{{cite web|title=488 GREENWICH STREET HOUSE, Manhattan|url=http://www.nyc.gov/html/lpc/downloads/pdf/reports/488GreenwichStreet.pdf|website=nyc.gov|publisher=Landmarks Preservation Commission|accessdate=December 19, 2017|date=July 24, 2007|archive-date=April 13, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180413190837/http://www.nyc.gov/html/lpc/downloads/pdf/reports/488GreenwichStreet.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> His maternal grandfather was Ambrose Kitchell.<ref name="SEJrObit1911"/> His siblings lived together in their adulthood, including elder brother, Ambrose Kitchell Ely,<ref name="AKEObit1907">{{cite news|title=DIED. Ely|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1907/02/08/archives/obituary-1-no-title.html|accessdate=December 19, 2017|work=The New York Times|date=February 8, 1907}}</ref> William Henry Ely and his wife, Maria Josephine Rogers, Edwin Augustus Ely,<ref name="EAEObit1927">{{cite news|title=DIED. Ely|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1927/06/21/archives/obituary-2-no-title.html|accessdate=December 19, 2017|work=The New York Times|date=June 21, 1927}}</ref><ref name="1926Birthday">{{cite news|title=BROTHER OF EX-MAYOR IS 90; Edwin Ely Celebrates at Hewlett, L.I., With His Neighbors.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1926/06/16/archives/brother-of-exmayor-is-90-edwin-ely-celebrates-at-hewlett-li-with.html|accessdate=December 19, 2017|work=The New York Times|date=June 16, 1926}}</ref> and Maria Louise Ely, who married George Burritt Vanderpoel.<ref name="GBVObit1925">{{cite news|title=DIED. Vanderpoel|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1925/10/17/archives/obituary-1-no-title.html|accessdate=December 19, 2017|work=The New York Times|date=October 17, 1925}}</ref><ref name="nyc2007"/>
He completed preparatory studies and was graduated from the University of the City of New York (now New York University) and, in 1845, from New York University School of Law.<ref>[http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=E000167 Smith Ely, Jr.], ''Biographical Directory of the United States Congress''. Accessed February 23, 2011.</ref>
==Career== He studied in the law office of Frederic de Peyster,<ref name="SEJrObit1911"/> and was admitted to the bar in 1845, but never practiced law. Instead, he engaged in mercantile pursuits in New York with Ely, Vanderpoel & Kitchell which was founded in 1868.<ref name="nyc2007"/> Like his father, he was a leather merchant in the Swamp district until the Leather Trust bought him out and he retired to his farm in New Jersey.<ref name="SEJrObit1911"/>
===Early political career === He was active in various public offices including, School Commissioner for the 17th Ward from 1856 until 1860; a New York State Senator from 1858 and 1859; the New York County Supervisor from 1860 to 1870; and the Commissioner of Public Instruction in 1867.
=== Congress === From March 4, 1871 until March 3, 1873 he served as a Democratic Representative to the Forty-second Congress. He was not a candidate for renomination in 1872, however he was again elected as a Representative to the Forty-fourth Congress serving from March 4, 1875, until the date of his resignation on December 11, 1876. While in Congress, he served as chairman of Committee on Expenditures in the Department of the Treasury. While in office, he gave a speech on July 29, 1876, regarding the method of manufacturing the circulating notes and securities of the Government.<ref name="Ely1876">{{cite book|last1=Ely|first1=Smith|title=Speech of Hon. Smith Ely, Jr. in the House of Representatives, July 29, 1876 [microform]|date=1876|publisher=[S.l : s.n.]|url=https://archive.org/details/speechofhonsmith00elys|accessdate=December 19, 2017}}</ref>
=== New York City mayor === Following his resignation from Congress, Ely served as the Mayor of New York City from 1877 to 1878,<ref name="1876Misrep">{{cite news|title=The Great Misrepresented.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1876/11/03/archives/the-great-misrepresented.html|accessdate=December 19, 2017|work=The New York Times|date=November 3, 1876}}</ref> beating former New York Governor Gen. John Adams Dix by 55,000 votes.<ref name="SEJrObit1911"/> In 1895, he was appointed commissioner of parks and served until 1897, when he retired from public life.
==Death and burial == Ely, who never married, died at the age of 86 on July 1, 1911, in Livingston, Essex County, New Jersey. He was interred in a private cemetery called "Ely Cemetery" on his farm in Livingston.<ref name="SEJrObit1911">{{cite news|title=SMITH ELY, EX-MAYOR, DIES, 86 YEARS OLD; As Democratic Head of City Government, He Fought John Kelly and Tammany. ENEMY OF OLD BOSS TWEED Refused Political Bait Rather Than Favor Jake Sharp's Broadway Railway Job—Reduced Taxation and Debt|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1911/07/02/archives/mithelnexmayor-dies-86-yearsold-as-democratic-head-of-city.html|accessdate=December 19, 2017|work=The New York Times|date=July 2, 1911}}</ref>
== Legacy == His estate, valued in excess of $1,000,000, was almost entirely left to charity, including $50,000 to a fund for juveniles to "help offending youths get a better start in the world," $100,000 to the American Sunday School, $100,000 to United Charities, as well as funds to Orange and Morristown Memorial Hospitals.<ref name="1911Estate">{{cite news|title=ELY'S MONEY TO CHARITY.; Former Mayor Leaves $1,000,000 to Many Institutions – Fund to Aid Boys.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1911/07/09/archives/elys-money-to-charity-former-mayor-leaves-1000000-to-many.html|accessdate=December 19, 2017|work=The New York Times|date=July 9, 1911}}</ref> His bequests were in addition to the millions he gave away to charities during his lifetime.<ref name="1911Estate"/> His siblings also gave generously to charity upon their deaths.<ref name="1928Estate">{{cite news|title=EDWIN ELY ESTATE PUT AT $2,982,963; New Jersey Man's Niece Gets Life Interest in $2,532,445-- Bequests to Charities. STATE SOCIETY GETS BOOKS Debts Cut A.H. Wolff Property to $307,650—W.M. Barnum Left $745,933.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1928/04/01/archives/edwin-ely-estate-put-at-2982963-new-jersey-mans-niece-gets-life.html|accessdate=December 19, 2017|work=The New York Times|date=April 1, 1928}}</ref>
Ely Avenue in the Bronx is named in honor of Ely.<ref name="Bronx2014">{{cite news|title=Bronx Street Names: Ely Avenue – The Bronx Chronicle|url=http://thebronxchronicle.com/2014/08/20/bronx-street-names-ely-avenue/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160224034444/http://thebronxchronicle.com/2014/08/20/bronx-street-names-ely-avenue/|url-status=usurped|archive-date=February 24, 2016|accessdate=December 19, 2017|work=The Bronx Chronicle|date=August 20, 2014}}</ref>
==References== '''Notes''' {{reflist|30em}}
'''Sources''' {{CongBio|E000167}}
==External links== * {{find a Grave|13248676}}
{{s-start}} {{s-par|us-ny-sen}} {{succession box | before = Mark Spencer | title = New York State Senate <br>5th District | years = 1858–1859 | after = Bernard Kelly}} {{s-par|us-hs}} {{US House succession box | state= New York | district= 7 | before= Hervey C. Calkin | after= Thomas J. Creamer | years= 1871–1873}} {{US House succession box | state= New York | district= 7 | before= Thomas J. Creamer | after= David Dudley Field II | years= 1875—1876}} {{s-off}} {{succession box | before = William H. Wickham | title=Mayor of New York City | years = 1877–1878 | after = Edward Cooper}} {{s-end}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ely, Smith}} Category:1825 births Category:1911 deaths Category:Businesspeople from New York (state) Category:County legislators in New York (state) Category:Mayors of New York City Category:New York (state) lawyers Category:New York University School of Law alumni Category:People from Hanover Township, New Jersey Category:People from Livingston, New Jersey Category:Democratic Party United States representatives from New York (state) Category:19th-century American businesspeople Category:19th-century American lawyers Category:19th-century mayors of places in New York (state) Category:19th-century members of the New York State Legislature Category:19th-century United States representatives Category:Businesspeople from Essex County, New Jersey Category:American people of English descent