Harold Hoffman
| Harold G. Hoffman | |
|---|---|
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| 41st Governor of New Jersey | |
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In office January 15, 1935 – January 18, 1938 |
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| Preceded by |
Horace Griggs Prall Acting Governor |
| Succeeded by | A. Harry Moore |
| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New Jersey's 3rd district |
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In office March 4, 1927 – March 3, 1931 |
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| Preceded by | Stewart H. Appleby |
| Succeeded by | William H. Sutphin |
| Member of the New Jersey General Assembly | |
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In office 1923–1924 |
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| Personal details | |
| Born |
Harold Giles Hoffman February 7, 1896 South Amboy, New Jersey |
| Died | June 4, 1954 (aged 58) New York City, New York |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse(s) | Lillie Moss |
| Religion | Methodist |
| Signature |  |
Harold Giles Hoffman (February 7, 1896 – June 4, 1954) was an American politician, a Republican who served as the 41st Governor of New Jersey, from 1935 to 1938. He also served two terms representing New Jersey's 3rd congressional district in the United States House of Representatives, from 1927 to 1931.
Hoffman was born in South Amboy, New Jersey to Frank Hoffman and Ada Crawford Thom. Ada was the daughter of the painter James Crawford Thom and the granddaughter of Scottish sculptor James Thom. Hoffman also had two ancestors who were soldiers in the American Revolutionary War. His father's side of the family were among some of the early settlers in New Amsterdam, now known as New York City, but originated in Sweden; Hoffman's father's family were the descendents of Dutch nobility.
Hoffman attended public schools and graduated from South Amboy High School in 1913. He worked with a local newspaper until enlisting on July 25, 1917, as a private in the Third Regiment of the New Jersey Infantry. He served overseas in World War I as a captain and advanced to the rank of lieutenant colonel until he was discharged with the rank of colonel in 1946. After World War I, Hoffman returned to South Amboy and became an executive with the South Amboy Trust Company. He later became the bank's president, a position he held until 1942.
As governor, Hoffman secretly visited convicted Lindbergh kidnapper Bruno Hauptmann in his death row cell on the evening of October 16, 1935, with Anna Bading, a stenographer and fluent speaker of German. Hoffman urged the other members of the New Jersey Court of Errors and Appeals, then the state's highest court, to visit Hauptmann. Despite Governor Hoffman's doubt regarding Hauptmann's guilt, Hoffman was unable to convince the other members of the court to re-examine the case, and Hauptmann was executed on April 3, 1936.
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