Edmund Waring Wakelee (November 21, 1869 – April 26, 1945) was an American lawyer, politician, and utility executive from New Jersey.
He studied law in the office of Bernard & Fiero, who practiced in Kingston at the time but later moved to Albany.
[3] In 1898, Wakelee was elected to the New Jersey General Assembly as a Republican, serving as one of two representatives from Bergen County.
In 1900, he was elected to the New Jersey Senate as a Republican, representing Bergen County.
[17] While in the Senate, Wakelee drafted a number of important laws, was consulted on legislation matters, fought for the preservation of the Palisades, secured the enactment of legislation that resulted in the establishment of the Palisades Interstate Park, and supported the plan to build to bridge or tunnel the Hudson River.
Long interested in Bergen County, he secured its first State road, participated in the organization of the New Jersey and Hudson River Railway and Ferry Company (which operated street railway lines from Edgewater to Newark, Paterson, and Englewood) and the Riverside and Fort Lee Ferry Company (which operated a ferry from New York City to Edgewater), and was general counsel for the companies.
He was regularly retained by the Public Service Corporation of New Jersey since it was founded in 1903 and entered its legal department in 1911.
[21] He was also president of the Demarest Firemen's Association, a life member of the New Jersey State Firemen's Association, a member of the New York Athletic Club the Scottish Rite,[3] and the Bergen County Sinking Fund Commission, and a trustee of the Newark Safety Council and the Englewood Cemetery Association.