View source for Jacob A. Cantor

{{Short description|American lawyer and politician (1854–1921)}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name           = Jacob A. Cantor
| image          = Jacob A. Cantor.jpg
| state=[[New York (state)|New York]]
| district=[[United States House of Representatives, New York District 20|20th]]
| party=[[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]]
| term_start=November 4, 1913
| term_end=March 3, 1915
| preceded=[[Francis Burton Harrison|Francis B. Harrison]]
| succeeded=[[Isaac Siegel]] 
| office2 = 3rd [[List of borough presidents of New York City#Manhattan|Borough President of Manhattan]]
| term_start2 = January 1, 1902
| term_end2 = December 31, 1903
| predecessor2 = [[James J. Coogan]]
| successor2 = [[John F. Ahearn]]
| office3=[[Majority Leader of the New York State Senate|President pro tempore of the New York State Senate]]
| term_start3 = 1892
| term_end3 = 1893
| predecessor3 = [[Jacob Sloat Fassett]]
| successor3 = [[Charles T. Saxton]]
| office4 = Member of the [[New York State Senate]]
| term_start4 = January 1, 1888
| term_end4   = December 31, 1898
| constituency4 = [[New York's 10th State Senate district|10th district]] (1888–1893)<br>[[New York's 14th State Senate district|14th district]] (1894–1895)<br>[[New York's 20th State Senate district|20th district]] (1896–1898)
| predecessor4 = William C. Traphagen
| successor4 = Thomas F. Donnelly
| state_assembly5 = New York
| district5= 23rd
| term_start5 = January 1, 1885
| term_end5   = December 31, 1887
| predecessor5 = Daniel M. Van Cott
| successor5   = Nicholas R. O'Connor
| birth_date= {{birth date|1854|12|6}}
| birth_place= [[New York City]], US
| death_date= {{Death date and age|1921|7|2|1854|12|6}}
| death_place=New York City, US
| spouse= Julia Lewenthal, Lydia Greenbaum
| children= 3
| occupation= Lawyer
| residence= 
| education = [[City College of New York]]
}}

'''Jacob Aaron Cantor''' (December 6, 1854 &ndash; July 2, 1921) was an American lawyer and politician from [[New York (state)|New York]] who served as a [[United States representative]] from 1913 to 1915.

==Early life and education==
Cantor was born at 19 Second Street in New York, the son of Henry Cantor and Hannah Cantor, both natives of [[London]]. He was a reporter for the ''[[New York World]]'' from 1872 to 1877. At the same time, he studied law at the [[City College of New York]], graduated in 1875.

== Family ==
On November 2, 1891, his first wife Julia (Lewenthal) Cantor died. On September 25, 1897, he married Lydia Greenbaum, and they had three children: Margaret, Ruth and John.

== Career ==
Cantor was [[Admission to the bar in the United States|admitted to the bar]] and commenced practice in New York City.

=== Early political career ===
He was a delegate to the [[1884 Democratic National Convention]]. He was a member of the [[New York State Assembly]] (New York Co., 23rd D.) in [[108th New York State Legislature|1885]], [[109th New York State Legislature|1886]] and [[110th New York State Legislature|1887]]. He was a member of the [[New York State Senate]] from 1888 to 1898, sitting in the [[111th New York State Legislature|111th]] through [[121st New York State Legislature]]s (all three 20th D.); and was [[Majority Leader of the New York State Senate|President pro tempore]] from 1892 to 1893.

He was [[Borough President]] of Manhattan from 1902 to 1903, elected on the [[electoral fusion|fusion ticket]] headed by [[Seth Low]] for [[Mayor of New York City]], nominated by the anti-[[Tammany Hall]] Democrats, [[United States Republican Party|Republicans]] and the [[Citizens Union]].

=== Congress ===
Cantor was elected as a [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrat]] to the [[63rd United States Congress]] to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of [[Francis Burton Harrison]], and served from November 4, 1913, to March 3, 1915. He unsuccessfully contested the election of [[Isaac Siegel]] to the [[64th United States Congress]].

=== Later career and death ===
Afterwards he resumed the practice of law in New York City.

He was president of the New York City Department of Taxes and Assessments from 1918 until his death.

== Personal life ==
Cantor died at his home at 2345 [[Broadway (Manhattan)|Broadway]], in [[Manhattan]], and was buried at the Mt. Hope Cemetery in [[Hastings-on-Hudson, New York]].

==See also==
*[[List of Jewish members of the United States Congress]]

==Sources==
{{CongBio|C000125}}
*[http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/canon-caplis.html] Political Graveyard
*[https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1921/07/03/107018695.pdf] Obit in NYT on July 3, 1921 (stating wrong years of his majority leadership)
*[https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1891/11/03/103347070.pdf] Obit of his first wife, in NYT on November 3, 1891

{{s-start}}
{{s-par|us-ny-hs}}
{{succession box | title = [[New York State Assembly]] <br>New York County, 23rd District | before = [[Daniel M. Van Cott]] | years = 1885–1887 | after = [[Nicholas R. O'Connor]]}}
{{s-par|us-ny-sen}}
{{succession box | before = [[William C. Traphagen]] | title = [[New York State Senate]] <br>10th District | years = 1888–1893 | after = [[Frank A. O'Donnel]]}}
{{succession box | before = [[Clarence E. Bloodgood]] | title = [[New York State Senate]] <br>14th District | years = 1894–1895 | after = [[Thomas F. Grady]]}}
{{succession box | before = [[Harvey J. Donaldson]] | title = [[New York State Senate]] <br>20th District | years = 1896–1898 | after = [[Thomas F. Donnelly (New York)|Thomas F. Donnelly]]}}
{{s-off}}
{{succession box | before = [[Jacob Sloat Fassett]] | title = [[Majority Leader of the New York State Senate|President pro tempore of the State Senate]] | years = 1892–1893 | after = [[Charles T. Saxton]]}}
{{s-off}}
{{succession box | before=[[James J. Coogan]]| title= [[Borough President]] of [[Manhattan]] | after=[[John F. Ahearn]]| years=1902-1903| }}
{{US House succession box | state = New York | district = 20 | before = [[Francis B. Harrison]] | after = [[Isaac Siegel]] | years = 1913–1915}}
{{s-end}}

{{Manhattan Borough President}}
{{MajorityLeaderNYSSenate}}
{{USCongRep-start|congresses= 63rd [[United States Congress]] |state=[[United States congressional delegations from New York|New York]]}}
{{USCongRep/NY/63}}
{{USCongRep-end}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cantor, Jacob Aaron}}
[[Category:1854 births]]
[[Category:1921 deaths]]
[[Category:Democratic Party New York (state) state senators]]
[[Category:Majority leaders of the New York State Senate]]
[[Category:Manhattan borough presidents]]
[[Category:Jewish members of the United States House of Representatives]]
[[Category:Democratic Party members of the New York State Assembly]]
[[Category:American people of British-Jewish descent]]
[[Category:Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from New York (state)]]