William Jennings Demorest

William Jennings Demorest (1822–1895) was an American magazine publisher, prohibition leader, and businessman from New York City. In collaboration with his second wife, Ellen Demorest, née Curtis, he attained international success from his wife's development of paper patterns for sewing fashion apparel of the day. Together, they built a fashion manufacturing and merchandising empire from it.

He and his wife launched five magazines and started a cosmetics company. He individually patented a sewing machine and a velocipede.

Demorest harbored lifelong political and religious aspirations. He is widely known for being a Prohibition activist and ran for Mayor of New York City on the Prohibition ticket. He also organized the Anti-Nuisance League.[1][2][3]

Demorest series of medals

The Demorest Medal Contests were a system of public oratorical competitions, founded as a means of Prohibition propaganda by Demorest in April, 1886. At the time of his death (1895) it was estimated that he had expended on medals (silver, gold, and diamond) and in maintaining the Medal Bureau more than US$100,000. After his death, the Demorest medal system was merged with that of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union, and Mrs. Demorest was placed in charge of the Medal Department.[4]

  1. ^ Ishbel Ross (1895-1975), Crusades and Crinolines: The Life and Times of Ellen Curtis Demorest and William Jennings Demorest, Harper & Row, New York (1963).
  2. ^ The National Statesman (Prohibition Party newsletter, discontinued 2003), p.4., December 2003.
  3. ^ Lane, Mary C. (1997). A Centennial History of Piedmont College: 1897-1997. Demorest,Ga: Piedmont College. pp. 4–5.
  4. ^ Cherrington, Ernest Hurst (1924). Standard Encyclopedia of the Alcohol Problem. Westerville, Ohio: American Issue Publishing Company. p. 790. Retrieved 3 April 2024 – via Internet Archive. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.