Where the Streets All Have Names: Fenton Street

Reuben Fenton (Photo from the Library of Congress)

Originally Van Buren Street, or F Street, the 6th road west of Sheridan was renamed after Reuben Fenton as part of the Supreme Court Justices and US Senators alphabet naming system in 1903.

The son of a farmer and a schoolteacher, Fenton was born in New York in 1819. Educated in the local schools, Fenton would go on to study law, while also working as a merchant and a logger.

He entered politics in 1846 when he became the Supervisor of Carrol, New York which was his hometown. It was a position he held for the next 6 years. He was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives as a Democrat in 1853. After losing his bid for re-election, he left the Democratic Party and helped organize the new Republican Party. He was elected as a Republican to the House and served 4 more terms from 1857 to 1865.

In 1864, he successfully ran for Governor of New York. He would serve 2 terms. Under his tenure Cornell University was established, and a free public school system for the state was created. He ran for a 3rd term, but lost to John T Hoffman, a Tammany Hall-backed Democrat. In 1869 Fenton was elected to the U.S. Senate and served one 6 year term.

Post-politics Fenton was involved in helping veterans of the Civil War. He also worked towards making public school tuition-free and helped to establish 6 teaching colleges. He passed away in 1868 and was survived by his 3 children.