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Bird Sim Coler

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Bird Sim Coler
Coler in 1908
New York City Comptroller
In office
1898–1901
Preceded byAshbel P. Fitch
(pre-consolidation)
Succeeded byEdward M. Grout
4th Brooklyn Borough President
In office
January 1, 1906 – December 31, 1909
Preceded byMartin W. Littleton
Succeeded byAlfred E. Steers
Personal details
BornOctober 9, 1867
Urbana, Illinois, U.S.
DiedJune 12, 1941(1941-06-12) (aged 73)
Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
Municipal Ownership League
SpouseEmily Moore Coler
ChildrenEugene Bird Coler

Bird Sim Coler (October 9, 1867 Urbana, Illinois – June 12, 1941 Brooklyn, New York) was an American stockbroker and politician from Brooklyn, New York. He served as the first New York City Comptroller after the city's 1898 consolidation and was the Democratic nominee for Governor of New York in 1902. He narrowly lost the election to Governor Benjamin Odell Jr.

Biography

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Personal

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Coler was born on October 9, 1868, in Urbana, Illinois, the son of William N. Coler and wife. The elder Coler established a banking house after the Civil War and brought his family to Brooklyn.[1]

Bird S. Coler and Emily Coler as sketched by artist-reporter Marguerite Martyn at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, 1908

The younger Coler was educated at Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute.[1]

Coler and Emily Moore, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin Moore, were married on October 1, 1888. He died on June 12, 1941, in Brooklyn, and she died on August 23, 1941, in the same hospital. They had a son, Eugene Bird Coler.[2][3]

Career

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He established himself as a stockbroker in New York City, became prominent in municipal and State politics, and was first Comptroller of Greater New York, from 1897 to 1901. In 1902, he was the Democratic nominee for Governor of New York, but lost to Benjamin B. Odell Jr., by a small plurality in spite of his enormous lead in New York City. In 1905 he was elected president of the Borough of Brooklyn, on the Municipal Ownership ticket. In 1918, he ran unsuccessfully on the Democratic ticket for New York State Comptroller.

He was the author of Commercialism in Politics, Two and Two Make Four, He Made Them Twain, and other sociological works.[1]

In 1927, Coler, then the commissioner for public welfare in New York City, investigated "The Santa Claus Association" of John Duval Gluck. The association became embroiled in controversy as a result of dubious fundraising and accounting practices.[4]

Legacy

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Coler-Goldwater Specialty Hospital on Roosevelt Island bears his name.

References

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  1. ^ a b c "The Brooklyn Daily Eagle 13 Jun 1941, page Page 15". Newspapers.com. Retrieved May 17, 2023.
  2. ^ "The Brooklyn Daily Eagle 24 Aug 1941, page Page 11". Newspapers.com. Retrieved May 17, 2023.
  3. ^ "Campbell–Coler". Brooklyn Eagle. September 21, 1942. p. 4.
  4. ^ Alex Palmer (September 20, 2015). "Meet the con artist who popularized writing to Santa Claus". New York Post. Retrieved May 17, 2023.
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Media related to Bird Sim Coler at Wikimedia Commons

Party political offices
Preceded by Democratic nominee for Governor of New York
1902
Succeeded by
Preceded by
Joseph W. Masters
Democratic nominee for New York State Comptroller
1918
Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by
New office
New York City Comptroller
1898–1901
Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by Borough President of Brooklyn
1906–1909
Succeeded by