Post-war Life
After the war, Shaler served as commissioner of the New York City Fire Department from 1867 to 1873. He was active in veterans' affairs, including heading the New York Commandery of the Loyal Legion. He also became major general of the state militia in 1867, commanding the first division. His tenure was not always peaceful. One of his officers accused the general of incompetence. Later, in 1885, he was arrested and charged with corruption, especially connected with the choice of sites for armories. Shaler was not convicted in two trials, because in both cases the jury could not reach agreement. Nonetheless, he had to step down from his militia position; and the city removed him from the Board of Health. The general had become chair of the Board of Health in 1883. Shaler is credited with being a founder of the National Rifle Association, serving as a director and its president in 1876. Shaler served as president of the Automatic Signal Telegraph Company, where his tenure was also stormy. In an altercation with William B. Watkins, the inventor of the fire alarm telegraph system the company marketed, Shaler had Watkins arrested for trying to remove certain papers from the premises of the company. This dispute culminated in a trial. The court ruled on April 15, 1885 that Shaler's charge of fraud against Watkins was unfounded, but the general was able to retain the shares in the company he had received as compensation for his work as president even after the company sold itself to the Watkins Automatic Telegraph Company, run by many of the same people.
Shaler moved to Ridgefield, New Jersey, possibly to escape past disputes, though he also maintained a residence in New York, at 126 Riverside Drive. He served as Mayor of Ridgefield, New Jersey from 1899 to 1901. Shaler died at his New York home on December 28, 1911. He was buried in Ridgefield in the cemetery of the English Neighborhood Reformed Church. His only son, Ira Alexander Shaler, had died in 1902 in the collapse of a subway tunnel he was involved in building.
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