Matthew Bender (1845 – 1920) [Section 80 Lot 2]
President and Founder of Matthew Bender Law Publishing Company
At one time Albany was the chief law-book center of the United States, with several independent law-publishing houses in active operation at the same time. These publishing houses include William Gould & Sons; Banks and Bros.; W. C. Little & Co.; Weed, Parsons and Co.; H. B. Parsons; James B. Lyon, and Matthew Bender & Company.
Matthew Bender was one of thirteen children of Wendell Melvin Bender and Mary Brown, born on December 2, 1845, in Albany. Though not much is known about his early years, his roots to the Albany area go back generations.
Matthew’s great-grandfather Christian Bender was a Palatine migrant who immigrated to America from Stuttgart, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany in 1746. Christian settled in the Albany area and served in the Continental Army, first under the Albany County Militia, 3rd Regiment under Philip P. Schuyler, and later in the Teunis A. Slingerland Company, Schuyler Regiment, New York 5th Regiment, 3rd Rensselaerwyck Battalion. After the war, he settled in Bethlehem with his wife, Elizabeth Cramer.
In 1867 at the age of 22, Matthew married Hannah Louis Thomas, daughter of John Thomas Jr. owner of John Thomas Jr. Premium Mills Coffee & Spices, located on Dean Street. They had three children together.
In 1887 Matthew left William Gould & Sons where he had been working establishing his law publishing firm, Matthew Bender & Company. Gould was a relative of Stephen Gould who was the first law book publisher in the United States, operating out of New York City in 1790.
The company’s first book, “Fiero On Special Proceedings.” Due to the success of their first publication they soon 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.
In 1905, a co-partnership was established between him and two of his sons, Matthew Bender, Jr., and John T. Bender under the firm name of Matthew Bender and Company. During this period of growth, the company focused mainly on the New York State, Pennsylvania, New England, and New Jersey. As the other firms went out of business or dissolved, Matthew Bender & Company benefited taking over existing accounts or staff. Fred Platt, who was formerly of part of Bank & Bros. Law, came onto the staff, serving as secretary and operating the New York City location
.By 1915, Matthew Bender, Jr. was expanding the markets in California, Texas, and Oklahoma, with John T. Bender, Sr. expanding into Florida and the Carolinas. Also during this time of prosperity, 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 died on April 23, 1920, at his home of 108 South Lake Avenue at the age of 74. He is interred in the Sarah A. Thomas family plot.