Franklin Edson (1832-1904) was a member of Saint James Church Fordham in the Bronx, Mayor of New York from 1883 to 1884, and was present at the opening of the New York and Brooklyn Bridge on May 24, 1883.

He appointed the commission responsible for the selection and location of public lands for parks in the Bronx, which came to includ Van Cortlandt, Bronx, Pelham Bay, Crotoan, Claremont and St. Mary's Parks, and the Mosholu, Bronx and Pelham, and Crotona Parkways.

As a congressman (1891) he served as secretary to the committee on the Erie Canal.