Evening Republican, Volume 14, Number 296, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 14 December 1910 — DEATH OF EX-MAYOR GRANT [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

DEATH OF EX-MAYOR GRANT

Twice Chief Executive of New York and a Man of Great Prominence. New York. —One of the most prominent figures in the political life of New York City 20 years ago was Hugh J. Grant, who died in the metropolis recently, at the age of 55. He was a native of the metropolis and received his education at St. Francis Xavier College and in France and Germany, where he studied languages and music. Afterward he studied law at the Columbia Law School and engaged In real estate and legal business. In 1883 he entered politics, being elected alderman, and his course In the board the following year in opposition to boodle legislation made him a candidate for mayor on the Tammany ticket in 1884. He was defeated,

however. In 1885 he was elected sheriff and three years later was chosen mayor, and was re-elected in 1890. It was Mayor Grant who made the telephone and telegraph companies take down their overhead wires. The wires formed a network over the city, interfering with firemen and forming a danger and a nuisance. When the subways were ready and the wires did not come down Mayor Grant settled the controversy in a characteristic way. He went out with gangs of linemen, laborers and axmen and chopped down the poles and tore down the wires. In 1894 he was again a candidate for mayor, but met with defeat at the polls, fie then withdrew from active participation in politics. Mayor Grant was a man of fine physical proportions and was big intellectually. He was fond of outdoor life, took a deep interest In trotting horses and was a member of several golf clubs. He married a daughter of exSenator Murphy, of Troy. In business he amassed a large fortune and was charitable during his life In its disposition. At Christmas time he spent large sums in charity. While Mayor Grant like his great namesake, Gen. Grant, was a man of silence, he was not in the least morose.

Hugh J. Grant.