Matthew Bender Jr.(1868 – 1958) [Section 30 Lot 2]
President of Matthew Bender Law Publishing Company (1920- 1941)
Matthew Bender, Jr. was the eldest son to Matthew Bender, founder of Matthew Bender Law Books and Hannah Louisa Bender, born on May 4, 1868.
Matthew Jr. and his brother, John, joined their father with the opening of Matthew Bender Law Publishing Company in 1887. Due to the success of their first publication “Fiero On Special Proceedings.” they went on to publish “Collier on Bankruptcy; Nichols on Eminent Domain; both Rabkin and Johnson’s publications, Current Legal Forms and Federal Income, Gift & Estate Taxation; Powell on Real Property; and Moore’s Federal Practice.” The first office was originally located on the third floor on the corner of State Street and Broadway. As the company prospered it moved to the Douw Building at 36 State Street, and later 511 – 513 Broadway, which also operated as a retail store.
The early twentieth century was a period of growth. As publishing houses dissolved or closed, Matthew Bender & Company benefited from this. In 1905, Matthew and his brother were brought on as co-partners, with Matthew Jr. serving in the capacity of Vice President. He worked on gaining more clientele, expanding their markets in California, Texas, and Oklahoma, while John worked in Florida and the Carolinas. In 1915 the Company moved into the Matthew Bender Company Building at 109 State Street. It was on this site, in the basement of the original building, that Benjamin Butler and John Spencer compiled the first edition of the New York revised statutes issued in 1829. This was a successful attempt to bring the whole common law of England and all existing colonial and state statutes affecting New York State, into a complete and systematic code.
Matthew Bender, Jr. became the President in October of 1920, following the death of his father earlier that year. He held this role until 1941, when his brother, John T. Bender took over as President. During his time as President, he was able to withstand issues that many companies had during the Depression, but was able to acquire Fallon Law Books Company. Founded in 1907 out of New York City, they had a very loyal client base, which made it profitable.
Additionally, with the decline of the traveling salesman and the rise of mail-order sales, Matthew Bender & Company was able to grow its clientele during the mid-twentieth century; especially during World War II when the Federal Government imposed paper rationing, and travel restrictions.
Matthew married Cora W. Cutler on November 8, 1899. Together they had one son, Matthew Bender III. Matthew Bender Jr. died on March 8, 1958, of Generalized Arteriosclerosis at the age of 89. He is interred in the Matthew, Jr. & John T. Bender family Plot which is adorned with a row of boxwoods around the perimeter.
Matthew Bender & Company continued to be prosperous, in the 1940s and 1950s as it began to develop more national publications, acquiring Hanna Legal Publications in 1959. However, the late 1950s saw a string of death for the Bender family. John T. passed away in 1957, Matthew Bender, Jr. in 1958, and Matthew Bender III in 1959, who had been serving as President since 1956. John T. Bender, Jr. served as the President until 1963, when the Company was purchased by The Time Mirror Company, an American newspaper and print media company. Matthew Bender & Company moved to Menands, where they operated for the next few decades. The Time Mirror Company oversaw the company until April 1998 when they sold it to the Anglo-Dutch company, Reed Elsevier, who also acquired the New York City-based legal research company, LexisNexis a couple of years later. LexisNexis operated out of Broadway in Menands up until 2014 when consolidations in departments lead to layoff and the closure of the Albany location.