Truman Handy NEWBERRY, Congress, MI (1864-1945)

NEWBERRY, Truman Handy, (son of John Stoughton Newberry), a Senator from Michigan; born in Detroit, Mich., November 5, 1864; attended public and private schools; graduated from Yale College in 1885; superintendent of construction, paymaster, general freight and passenger agent, and eventually manager of the Detroit, Bay City & Alpena Railway 1885-1887; president and treasurer of the Detroit Steel & Spring Co. 1887-1901; engaged in various other manufacturing activities; organizer of the Michigan State Naval Brigade; served in the Navy during the Spanish-American War; Assistant Secretary of the Navy 1905-1908; Secretary of the Navy in the Cabinet of President Theodore Roosevelt 1908-1909; lieutenant commander United States Navy Fleet Reserve in 1917 and assistant to the commandant third naval district of New York until 1919; elected as a Republican to the United States Senate and served from March 4, 1919, until his resignation on November 18, 1922; in 1921, Newberry was tried and convicted of election “irregularities”; the conviction was reversed by the Supreme Court, and, following an investigation, the Senate declared Newberry entitled to his seat but expressed disapproval of the sum spent on his election; in the face of a new movement to unseat him, Newberry resigned; engaged in manufacturing; died in Grosse Pointe, Mich., October 3, 1945; interment in Elmwood Cemetery, Detroit, Mich.

Bibliography

American National Biography; Dictionary of American Biography; Ervin, Spencer. Henry Ford vs. Truman H. Newberry: The Famous Senate Election Contest. 1935. Reprint. New York: Arno Press, 1974.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present