Redfern, Samuel E.

Submitted by Mike Miller

Redfern, Samuel Edward, commissioner of immigration, was born in Washington, D. C., Oct. 14, 1865, the son of Joseph Redfern, a native of Washington, D. C. , who lived and died there, and Josephine (Vivans) Redfern, also a native of the same place. Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Redfern had 3 children, namely: Joseph Louis, Samuel Edward, the subject of this sketch, and Marie Clotilde Redfern. Samuel E. Redfern spent his youth in Washington, D. C., attending a private school and later spending 3 years at Georgetown university in general scholastic work. At the close of his 3 years' university work he went to Chicago in 1880 and engaged in the grain, stock and brockerage business, in which he continued for 10 years, and then, in 1890, he returned to Washington, D. C., and entered the real estate business with his father, which business engaged his attention until 1898, when he retired to accept the position of chief clerk of the Nicaraguan Canal Commission, which position he held as long as this commission was in existence. This commission was merged into the Isthmian Canal Commission, charged with investigating all routes across the isthmus, and this later was succeeded by other commissions as the subject took on different aspects. Mr Redfern remained with these various commissions until 1905, at which time he was transferred to New Orleans as purchasing agent for the Isthmian Canal Commission and the Panama R. R. He continued in this position until 1909, when the army took charge of building the canal and an army officer was appointed purchasing agent in his place. For some time there had been an appropriation to build an immigration station at New Orleans, and when Mr. Redfern was relieved of his duties in connection with the Panama Canal, it was thought by many that he was the proper person to carry the immigration station project through to completion. Accordingly, in 1909, he was appointed commissioner of immigration and has held that office to the present time (1913). Mr. Redfern is a member of the Roman Catholic church and of the Metropolitan club, Washington, D. C. In 1899 he married Miss Marie Holcombe Moore, daughter of Dr. Thomas J. and Cornelia (Landis) Moore, of Hollidaysburg, Pa.

Louisiana: Comprising Sketches of Parishes, Towns, Events, Institutions, and Persons, Arranged in Cyclopedic Form (volume 3), pp. 353-354. Edited by Alcée Fortier, Lit.D. Published in 1914, by Century Historical Association.