Edwin Corning

Edwin Corning (September 30, 1883 – August 7, 1934) was an American businessman and politician from New York. He was Lieutenant Governor of New York from 1927 to 1928.

Edwin Corning
Lieutenant Governor of New York
In office
January 1, 1927 – December 31, 1928
GovernorAl Smith
Preceded bySeymour Lowman
Succeeded byHerbert H. Lehman
New York State Democratic Committee Chairman
In office
January 1926 – August 1928
Preceded byHerbert C. Pell
Succeeded byM. William Bray
Personal details
Born(1883-09-30)September 30, 1883
Albany, New York
DiedAugust 7, 1934(1934-08-07) (aged 50)
Bar Harbor, Maine
Political partyDemocratic
RelationsParker Corning (brother)
Erastus Corning (grandfather)
Amasa J. Parker (grandfather)
ChildrenErastus Corning 2nd
Louise Corning
Harriet Corning
Edwin Corning Jr.
Alma materYale University
ProfessionBusiness executive

Early life

Corning was born on September 30, 1883 in Albany, New York. He was a son of Erastus Corning (1827–1897) and Mary (née Parker) Corning (1845–1899).[1] His brother, Parker Corning served as a member of the United States House of Representatives.[2]

Both of his grandfathers, Erastus Corning and Amasa J. Parker, served in Congress, and Parker was also a justice of the New York Supreme Court and founder of Albany Law School.[3]

He was educated at The Albany Academy and the Groton School,[4] and graduated from Yale University in 1906.[5]

Career

After graduating from Yale, Corning served as an executive at the Ludlum Steel Company in Watervliet, New York, and became its President in 1910.[6] He was also an officer of the Albany Felt Company, and served on the board of directors of several Albany banks. Corning was also a gentleman farmer, and bred prize winning horses, sheep and cows. In addition, he was a dog breeder, and became known for his champion Irish wolfhounds.[7]

Political career

In the years immediately after World War I, Corning collaborated with Daniel P. O'Connell to create a Democratic organization in Albany that could wrest control of the city from the Republican organization run by William Barnes Jr.; their strategy was to run wealthy non-ethnic Protestants like Edwin Corning, William Stormont Hackett, Parker Corning, and Erastus Corning 2nd for major offices including mayor and Congressman to enhance the respectability and credibility of a Democratic organization run by working class Irish-American, Catholic figures like O'Connell.[8] Corning became chairman of the Albany County Democratic Committee in 1912 and chairman of the county committee's executive committee in 1919. In the 1921 contest for mayor, the O'Connell/Corning organization succeeded in electing Hackett, the beginning of Democratic control of city hall that has remained in place ever since.[7]

Corning was Chairman of the New York State Democratic Committee from 1926 to 1928.[9] He was Lieutenant Governor of New York from 1927 to 1928, elected on the Democratic ticket with Governor Alfred E. Smith in 1926.[10] In 1928, when Smith planned to run for President, the Albany Democratic organization intended to run Hackett for governor. After Hackett's death in a car accident, Corning considered making the campaign, but declined because of ill health. After his term as lieutenant governor he retired from his business and political interests.[11]

Personal life

On November 25, 1908, he married Louise Maxwell,[12] who was born to American parents in Cawnpore, India, where her father was serving as a missionary. Together, Louise and Edwin were the parents of:[13]

He died on a hospital operating table in Bar Harbor, Maine during a second leg amputation, which was necessary because of gangrene derived from diabetes.[7] He was buried at the Albany Rural Cemetery in Menands, New York.[23]

References
  1. The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography: Being the History of the United States as Illustrated in the Lives of the Founders, Builders, and Defenders of the Republic, and of the Men and Women who are Doing the Work and Moulding the Thought of the Present Time, Vol. 25. University Microfilms. 1967. p. 428. Retrieved July 29, 2019.
  2. Schenectady Gazette, Parker Corning Dies at 69, May 25, 1943
  3. Office, New York (State) Secretary's (1927). New York Manual for the Use of the Legislature. p. 297. Retrieved July 29, 2019.
  4. The Grotonian, Vol. 32. Groton School. 1915. p. 29. Retrieved July 29, 2019.
  5. Catalogue of the Officers and Graduates of Yale University in New Haven Connecticut. Yale University. 1910. p. 226. Retrieved July 29, 2019.
  6. Steel magazine, Vol. 95. Penton Publishing Company. 1934. p. 153. Retrieved July 29, 2019.
  7. "EDWIN CORNING, 50, IS DEAD IN MAINE Former Lieutenant Governor of New York Succumbs at Bar Harbor. HEAD Of STEEL COMPANY Held Post of Democratic State Chairman While in Office at Albany, 1927–28" (PDF). The New York Times. August 8, 1934. Retrieved July 29, 2019.
  8. Kennedy, William (1983). O Albany!: Improbable City of Political Wizards, Fearless Ethnics, Spectacular Aristocrats, Splendid Nobodies, and Underrated Scoundrels. New York, NY: Viking Press. p. 282. ISBN 978-0-14-007416-1.
  9. "CORNING QUITS POST AS COMMITTEE HEAD; Too III to Serve, He Sends Resignation as Chairman of State Democrats to Smith.LETTER NOT MADE PUBLIC Lieutenant-Governor Not to Seek Re-election in Fall—Mrs. Carolyn O'Day to Direct Committee" (PDF). The New York Times. August 15, 1928. Retrieved July 29, 2019.
  10. "Bray Picked by Democrats". Rochester Evening Journal. August 23, 1928. Retrieved July 29, 2019.
  11. Robinson, Frank S. (1973). Machine Politics: A Study of Albany's O'Connells. Transaction Publishers. pp. 55–56. ISBN 9781412827751. Retrieved July 29, 2019.
  12. "MRS. EDWIN CORNING" (PDF). The New York Times. May 25, 1976. Retrieved July 29, 2019.
  13. Jackson, Robert H. (2004). That Man: An Insider's Portrait of Franklin D. Roosevelt. OUP USA. p. 200. ISBN 9780195177572. Retrieved July 29, 2019.
  14. Grondahl, Paul (2007). Mayor Erastus Corning: Albany Icon, Albany Enigma. SUNY Press. ISBN 9780791472941. Retrieved July 29, 2019.
  15. Oreskes, Michael (June 2, 1983). "Erastus Corning and His Era Are Laid to Rest in Albany". The New York Times. Retrieved July 29, 2019.
  16. "MISS LOUISE CORNING ENGAGED TO BE WED; Daughter of the Late Lieutenant Governor to Be the Bride of Andrew H. Ransom" (PDF). The New York Times. May 20, 1935. Retrieved July 29, 2019.
  17. "HARRIET CORNING AN ALBANY BRIDE; Wed There to Wharton Sinkle Jr. in Afternoon Ceremony in-All Saints Cathedral" (PDF). The New York Times. June 13, 1937. Retrieved July 29, 2019.
  18. "MRS. SINKLER'S WEDDING; Daughter of Mrs. Edwin Corning Married to Samuel Ewing Jr" (PDF). The New York Times. March 24, 1947. Retrieved July 29, 2019.
  19. Troy Record, Lester H. Knapp Dies Suddenly, March 4, 1960
  20. Associated Press, Oneonta Star, Lawmaker Hurt, Resigns Post, August 27, 1959
  21. Troy Record, Hudson Seated in Assembly as Legislature Convenes, January 6, 1960
  22. Burial record, Edwin Corning, Jr., Albany Rural Cemetery. Retrieved January 8, 2013
  23. "CORNING FUNERAL TODAY; Former Lieutenant Governor's Body Taken to Estate at Albany" (PDF). The New York Times. August 9, 1934. Retrieved July 29, 2019.

External sources
Party political offices
Preceded by
Herbert C. Pell		 New York State Democratic Committee Chairman
January 1926 – August 1928		 Succeeded by
M. William Bray
Political offices
Preceded by
Seymour Lowman		 Lieutenant Governor of New York
January 1, 1927 – December 31, 1928		 Succeeded by
Herbert H. Lehman
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