Stuyvesant Wainwright

Stuyvesant Wainwright II (March 16, 1921 – March 6, 2010) was a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from New York.[1]

Stuyvesant Wainwright
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York's 1st district
In office January 3, 1953 – January 3, 1961
Preceded by	Ernest Greenwood
Succeeded by	Otis G. Pike
Personal details
Born	March 16, 1921 New York City, New York
Died	March 6, 2010 (aged 88) Wainscott, New York
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Janet Isabel Parsons ​ ​ (m. 1941)​
Children	4
Parents	Carroll Livingston Wainwright Edith Catherine Gould
Relatives	Loudon Wainwright Jr. (cousin) George Jay Gould (grandfather)
Education	Westminster School
Alma mater	Yale Law School
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Branch/service	United States Army
Years of service	1942–1945
Rank	Lieutenant Colonel
Battles/wars	World War II

Early life

Wainwright was born in New York City, the son of Carroll Livingston Wainwright (1899–1967) and Edith Catherine Gould (d. 1937),[2] daughter of financier George Jay Gould (1864-1923) and Edith M. Kingdon (1864-1921). His siblings were Carroll L. Wainwright Jr. (1925–2016)[3] and Caroline Wainwright (d. 1969), and his paternal grandparents were Stuyvesant Wainwright (d. 1975)[4] and Caroline Smith Snowden. His grandmother later married Carl F. Wolff.[2] He was a great-nephew of General Jonathan Mayhew Wainwright (1883–1953), a four star-general who was the hero of Bataan and commander of the U.S. forces in the Philippines during World War II.[5] His uncle, Loudon Wainwright, was the father of Loudon Wainwright Jr. (his cousin), and the grandfather of Loudon Wainwright III, the singer and songwriter, himself the father of Rufus Wainwright, Martha Wainwright, and Lucy Wainwright Roche.[3]

In 1927, his family moved to East Hampton, New York where they built an imposing house called "Gulf Crest," that was valued at $350,000 in 1937. His parents divorced in 1932 and his mother married Sir Hector MacNeal, the Scottish shipowner.[2][6] He attended the Westminster School, Simsbury, Connecticut and, later, graduated from Yale Law School in 1947.[7]

Career

On January 30, 1942, at the age of 20, he left Yale and enlisted as a private in the United States Army. He attended officers candidate school and on December 30, 1943, went overseas during World War II. He rose through the ranks, and was commanding officer of Office of Strategic Services, a wartime intelligence agency during World War II that was a predecessor of the modern Central Intelligence Agency.[8] He returned to the U.S. on June 10, 1945, and spent the last three months of his service as adviser on intelligence coordination in the War Department in Washington, D.C. He was honorably discharged as a Captain from the Army on December 13, 1945. After the War, he served in the Active Army Reserve,[7] and retired as a Lieutenant Colonel in 1960.[5]

He resumed his legal studies at Yale, graduated in 1947, was admitted to the New York State Bar in 1948, and began practicing in New York City, where he was a partner in the firm of Walker, Beale, Wainwright & Wolf.[5]

United States Congress

In 1952, he was elected to Congress in the Republican wave that flipped the House, Senate and Presidency from Democrat to Republican.[9] Wainwright went on to serve three consecutive terms as the Representative for New York's 1st congressional district[10] from January 3, 1953 until January 3, 1961, in the 83rd, 84th, and 85th United States Congresses.[7]

While serving in Congress, he was a member of the House Armed Services Committee,[11] Foreign Affairs Committee, the Education and Labor Committee and the Merchant Marine Committee.[5] Wainwright voted in favor of the Civil Rights Acts of 1957 and 1960.[12][13]

He narrowly lost a re-election bid in 1960 against Democrat Otis G. Pike.[14][15]

Later career

After leaving the House of Representatives, he taught political science at Rutgers University from 1960 to 1961. Afterwards, he resumed the practice of law with the firm Battle, Fowler, Lidstone, Jaffin, Pierce & Kheel.[5] From 1975 until 1979, he was president of the Miltope Corporation, and a director of the Corporation from 1975–1985.[7]

Personal life

In 1941, Wainwright was married to Janet Isabel Parsons (1920–2000),[16] the daughter of Thomas Crouse Parsons.[17][18] Before their divorce, they were the parents of:[5]

• Stuyvesant Wainwright III
• Jonathan Mayhew Wainwright (b. 1944)[19]
• Janet Snowden Wainwright, who married Charles Brandon Waring in 1967.[20]
• Laura Wainwright

Until his death he was a resident of Wainscott, New York and lived on Georgica Pond.[5] a census-designated place that roughly corresponds to the hamlet with the same name in the Town of East Hampton in Suffolk County, New York, on the South Fork of Long Island.[21]

He served on the Boards of the Southampton Hospital, Guild Hall of East Hampton, the vestry of St. Luke's Church in East Hampton, the Maidstone Club of East Hampton and the Union Club of the City of New York. He was also a member of The New York Young Republican Club,[22] Cruising Club of America and Royal Bermuda Yacht Club.[5]

References

Notes

1. "Obituaries - March 11, 2010 Stuyvesant Wainwright II, Former United States Representative". Archived from the original on April 1, 2010. Retrieved 2010-03-20.
2. "Carroll Wainwright, Artist and Member Of L.I. Family, Dies". The New York Times. 7 July 1967. Retrieved 25 April 2017.
3. Fox, Margalit (1 October 2016). "Carroll Wainwright Jr., 'Silk-Stockinged Stowaway,' Dies at 90". The New York Times. Retrieved 25 April 2017.
4. Times, Special To The New York (5 February 1975). "Stuyvesant Wainwright Dead; Bridge Player and Broker, 84". The New York Times. Retrieved 25 April 2017.
5. "WAINWRIGHT, STUYVESANT II". The New York Times. 14 March 2010. Retrieved 25 April 2017.
6. Times, Special To The New York (12 September 1937). "LADY M'NEAL DIES; WAS EDITH GOULD; Granddaughter of Financier, 36, Succumbs at Estate in East Hampton; WIFE OF BRITISH KNIGHT; Wrote Autobiography Telling of Family Life as a Child -- Niece of Duchess". The New York Times. Retrieved 25 April 2017.
7. "WAINWRIGHT, Stuyvesant, II - Biographical Information". bioguide.congress.gov. Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved 25 April 2017.
8. Clancey, Patrick. "Office of Strategic Services (OSS) Organization and Functions". HyperWar. Retrieved Nov 10, 2016.
9. "Statistics of the Presidential and Congressional election of November 4, 1952" (PDF). U.S. House of Reps, Office of the Clerk. Retrieved 27 December 2011.
10. Rosenthal, Howard L.; Poole, Keith T. "Stuyvesant Wainwright, former Representative for New York's 1st Congressional District - GovTrack.us". GovTrack.us. GovTrack. Retrieved 25 April 2017.
11. Times, Special To The New York (1 May 1959). "Wainwright to Parachute". The New York Times. Retrieved 25 April 2017.
12. "HR 6127. CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1957". GovTrack.us.
13. "HR 8601. PASSAGE".
14. Porterfield, Byron (14 October 1958). "State's First and 28th Districts Are G. O. P. Strongholds; Pike Is Challenging Wainwright on L.I. for Congress Seat". The New York Times. Retrieved 25 April 2017.
15. Porterfield, Byron (19 October 1960). "Pike, in First, Tries Again to Unseat Wainwright". The New York Times. Retrieved 25 April 2017.
16. "WAINWRIGHT, JANET PARSONS". The New York Times. 21 May 2000. Retrieved 25 April 2017.
17. "TROTH ANNOIJHCED OF JANET PARSONS; Texas Girl to Become Bride of Stuyvesant Wainwright 2d, Yale University Student SHE ATTENDED BREARLEY Also Studied at Miss Porter's Her Fianoe Grandson of Late George J, Goulds". The New York Times. 17 April 1941. Retrieved 25 April 2017.
18. Times, Special To The New Tors (13 June 1941). "JANET PARSONS WED TO S. WAINWRIGHT 2D; Former Hew York Girl Bride of Jay Gonld's Descendant". The New York Times. Retrieved 25 April 2017.
19. "Son to the S. Wainwrights 2d". The New York Times. 6 April 1944. Retrieved 25 April 2017.
20. "Miss Wainwright Engaged to Wed Charles Waring; George Washington U. Students Planning to Marry in Autumn". The New York Times. 16 February 1967. Retrieved 25 April 2017.
21. "Geographic Identifiers: 2010 Demographic Profile Data (G001): Wainscott CDP, New York". U.S. Census Bureau, American Factfinder. Archived from the original on 2020-02-12. Retrieved 2013-01-10.
22. https://nyyrc.com/history/

Sources

• United States Congress. "Stuyvesant Wainwright (id: W000024)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.