Salem Howe Wales

Salem Howe Wales (October 4, 1825 – December 2, 1902) was an American journalist, politician, and philanthropist who held various leadership offices in the government of New York City, served as managing editor of the Scientific American, and co-founded the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Wales was father-in-law to U.S. Senator and Secretary of War Elihu Root, who served as President of the Union League of New York, while Wales served as Vice-president.

Early life and education Wales was born in Wales, Massachusetts, to parents Oliver Wales and Lucy Tiffany. His father was a woolen manufacturer. Wales attended local public schools before moving to New York, where he attended the Academy of Attica and then clerked for a New York City importer from 1846 to 1848. After Massachusetts natives Orson Desaix Munn and Alfred Ely Beach purchased the Scientific American, Wales became its managing editor from 1848 to 1871. He was New York State's commissioner to the Paris Exposition of 1855 and executive committee member of the United States Christian Commission during the Civil War.

Political career An opponent of Tammany Hall, Wales was appointed president of the New York City Department of Parks when reform-minded Republican mayor William Frederick Havemeyer took office in 1873. After Havemeyer died in office, Wales ran for mayor on the Republican ticket, losing the 1874 general election to Democratic nominee William H. Wickham. Immediately after the election, acting mayor Samuel B. H. Vance appointed Wales president of the New York City Department of Docks, where he served from 1874 to 1876. He returned to the parks department commission from 1880 to 1885, serving as the commission's president for several of those years.

Wales was a delegate to the Republican National Conventions in 1872 and 1876.

Personal life Wales married Frances Elizabeth Johnson of Bridgeport, Connecticut, in 1851. They had four children: Edith, Clara Frances, Edward Howe, and Joseph Howe. In 1878, Clara married Elihu Root, Secretary of State, and President and Chairman of many foundations for Andrew Carnegie. Edward's daughter, Ruth Wales, married horticulturist and collector Henry Francis du Pont in 1916, a member of the du Pont family.