Anthony Comstock, who has been described as the most honest and the
best-hated man in New York city, was born in New Canaan, Connecticut,
March 7, 1844. He received his education in district schools and
academy and later at the High School at New Britain, Connecticut.
Early in life he began to earn his own livelihood, and in order to
do so followed several vocations in succession. His brother Samuel
was killed fighting for the Union cause at Gettysburg, and Anthony,
volunteering to fill his place in the regiment, enlisted in the
Seventeenth Volunteer Connecticut Infantry and saw much service during
the war. He was mustered out in July, 1865. On January 25, 1871,
he married Margaret Hamilton. In 1873 he was appointed postmaster
inspector in New York, later became prominent in Young Men’s Christian
Association affairs, and finally identified himself with the New
York society for the suppression of vice. Mr. Comstock’s services
in connection with what is his life work are too well known to be
recapitulated. Possessing courage, moral and physical, of the highest
order and a keen sense of his duties to the community in his official
capacity, Mr. Comstock has for years been a terror to evil-doers,
especially those who pander to vicious instincts. He has brought
nearly 3,000 criminals to justice and has destroyed over 80 tons of
obscene literature, pictures, etc. Altogether he is a notable figure
in the complex life of New York, and the making of bitter enemies has
necessarily followed on Mr. Comstock’s career. But these, many and
influential as they are, have never successfully attacked his motives
or his integrity.