Thomas Sturgis (April 6 or 30, 1846 – February 25, 1914) was a businessman, soldier and financier. He was appointed the second New York City Fire Commissioner by Mayor Seth Low on January 1, 1902, and served in that position until the end of the Low Administration on December 31, 1903. Prior to this he served as a fire commissioner under William Lafayette Strong, replacing Austin E. Ford.[1] Sturgis was also developer of Cheyenne, Wyoming, and financier.[2] In the Pacific Historical Review, Gene M. Gressley wrote that Sturgis was "one of the few young easterners who came west in search of a fortune and stayed long enough to become one of the most respected men in the cattle industry."[3]
Biography
Thomas Sturgis was born on April 6 or 30, 1846, to Wiliam and Elizabeth Sturgis,[4][5] in New York City. He attended New York City public schools,[4] including Grammar School No. 40. When he was 16, Sturgis began working as a clerk at a wholesale dry goods house.[5]
Upon the outbreak of the American Civil War, Sturgis joined the twenty-second regiment of the New York State Militia. When he turned 18 in 1864, Sturgis enlisted in the Sixtieth Massachusetts Regiment, commissioned as a first lieutenant and adjutant of the Sixtieth regiment. Sturgis served as post-adjutant of a prisoner-of-war camp near Camp Morton in Indiana in the summer and fall of 1864. After the Sixtieth was mustered out, he was commissioned as a first lieutenant in the Fifty-seventh, serving in various capacities as an aide-de-camp and an assistant adjutant general at the army camp, rising to be assistant adjutant general of the First Division of the Ninth Army Corps, attached to the Army of the Potomac. At the Battle of Fort Stedman (March 25, 1865), Sturgis was taken prisoner, held in Libby Prison, and exchanged,[5]: 338 serving until the end of the war in 1865.[5]
Sturgis returned to New York City in 1887 or 1888,[4][5] opening a building company, Sturgis & Hill.[4] Sturgis soon became prominent in New York City business, owning stock or being a director of the Consolidated Ice Company, the Knickerbocker Ice Company, the American Ice Company, the Wyoming Development Company, and the Cheyenne Gas and Electric Light Company.[5] He became treasurer of the Union Stock Yards. He was appointed to the Civil Service Commission of New York in 1896 and was made a trustee of the Elmira Correctional Facility in 1899,[4] being elected president of the latter's board.[5] Sturgis served as New York City Fire Commissioner from January 1, 1902, to December 31, 1903.[4] He died February 25, 1914, in Eastbourne, England.[1][4]
References
^ ab"To Succeed Austin E. Ford. Thomas Sturgis Made a Fire Commissioner by the Mayor". The New York Times. September 27, 1896. p. 11. Retrieved July 18, 2023 – via Newspapers.com. Mayor Strong yesterday announced the appointment of Thomas Sturgis as a Commissioner of the Fire Department, in place of Austin E. Ford, who died Sept. 17. Mr. Sturgis, accompanied by his wife, went to the Mayor's office at 11 o'clock. After the usual preliminaries Mr. Sturgis took the oath of office and received his commission.