Clayton E. Freeman

Clayton Eugene Freeman (October 26, 1872 – August 31, 1959) was an American businessman and Republican Party politician who served as chairman of the New Jersey Republican State Committee.

Biography

Freeman was born in Essex Junction, Vermont, on October 26, 1872.

He moved to Massachusetts at the age of 17. He graduated from Adams Academy and spent 20 years in the jewelry business in Boston. He assisted in organizing the W. T. Grant chain of stores, eventually serving as the company's president.^[1]

Freeman moved to New Jersey to organize the W. T. Grant chain there. He also served as a director of the Newark-based L. Bamberger & Company. He settled in Glen Ridge, where he became involved in the Essex County Republican organization, serving as the chairman of the county's Board of Chosen Freeholders.^[1]

Freeman served on the financial committee of the New Jersey Republican State Committee, and in 1937 he was selected by Lester H. Clee, Republican candidate for Governor of New Jersey that year, to be chairman of the State Committee.^[2] He declined a second term in the party chairmanship and was replaced by Howard Alexander Smith.^[3]

He died at his home in Glen Ridge, New Jersey in 1959 at the age of 87.^[1]

References

1. "Clayton E. Freeman Dead at 87". The New York Times, September 1, 1959. Accessed March 29, 2008.
2. "Jersey Democrats Rally to New Deal". The New York Times, September 29, 1937. Accessed March 29, 2008.
3. "Gets Republican Post; H.A. Smith Elected Chairman of Jersey State Committee". The New York Times, June 25, 1941. Accessed March 29, 2008.

External links

• Biographical information for Clayton E. Freeman from The Political Graveyard