George Opdyke

George Opdyke
Born	John Opdyke 1805 Kingwood Township, Hunterdon County, New Jersey
Died	June 12, 1880 New York
Resting place	Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Newark New Jersey
Title	Mayor of New York
Political party	Republican

George Opdyke (1805 – June 12, 1880) as an entrepreneur and the 76th Mayor of New York City (1862 to 1863) during the American Civil War. The New York City draft riots occurred during his tenure. After his term as mayor expired, Opdyke attempted to forbid blacks from participating in President Abraham Lincoln's funeral processional.

Early life

Opdyke was born in Kingwood Township in Hunterdon County, New Jersey.^[1] During the 1820s he lived in Cleveland, Ohio and New Orleans, Louisiana.

Career

Opdyke's tomb

Opdyke was a member of the Republican Party on its anti-slavery platform. He was a delegate to the Buffalo Free Soil Party convention in 1848, and served on its committee on resolutions, as well as standing as a candidate for the U.S. Congress on the Free Soil ticket in New Jersey.

In 1859, he was a member of the New York State Assembly (New York Co., 14th D.), and was a delegate to the 1860 Republican National Convention, where he played a role in the nomination of Abraham Lincoln.

As mayor of New York, Opdyke recruited and equipped troops for the war and responded to draft riots. His company was the largest clothing manufacturing and merchandiser in the area.

Opdyke died in New York in 1880 and was buried in the Mount Pleasant Cemetery in Newark, New Jersey.

References

1. Mooney, James E. George Opdyke, Encyclopedia of New York City. Accessed May 29, 2013. "(b Kingwood Township, near Frenchtown, N.J., 7 Dec 1805; d New York City, 12 June 1880)."

External links

• Mr. Lincoln and New York: George Opdyke
• Biographical Sketches of the State Officers and Members of the Legislature in the State of New York in 1859 by Wm. D. Murphy (pages 202f; C. Van Benthuysen, Albany NY, 1859)