Edward Falles Spence

Edward Falles Spence (born December 22, 1832 in Enniskillen , County Fermanagh , United Kingdom , †  September 19, 1892 in Los Angeles , California ) was an American politician of British origin. Between 1884 and 1886 he was mayor of Los Angeles.

Career

Edward Spence was tutored by private tutors in his home country. He worked as a boy in the agriculture and livestock industry in what is now Northern Ireland . At the age of 20, around 1852, he emigrated to the United States, where he first worked for a few months on a farm near Philadelphia . Then he moved to California by ship and land via Nicaragua . He lived for another 20 years in the northern part of this state and temporarily also in the area of ​​the state of Nevada, which was established in 1864 . During this time he worked in mining. Then he moved to San José , where he got into the pharmacy business. Later he also worked in the banking industry. Eventually he moved to Los Angeles. There he became a cashier at the Commercial Bank of Los Angeles , which then became the First National Bank of Los Angeles , of which Spence became president in 1881. He was also involved in other banks and was one of the founders of the Commercial Bank of San Diego . He also bought land in several California cities.

Politically, Spence joined the Republican Party . He served in the California State Assembly in 1861 and 1862 . He was then a treasurer in Nevada County before moving to Los Angeles . From 1879 to 1881 he was a member of the Los Angeles City Council . In 1884 he was elected mayor of that city. He held this office between December 9, 1884 and December 14, 1886. During this time, both the police and the fire department of the city were reformed. The infrastructure has also been improved. The first full freight train of oranges from California was shipped east and the Santa Fe Railroad broke the monopoly of the Southern Pacific Railroad , lowering transportation prices and boosting trade, which also benefited Los Angeles. That led to a general economic boom in California.

Spence was also one of the founders of the University of Southern California , of which he was a board member for some time. A plan by Spence called for the erection of a telescope on the summit of Mount Wilson . But he died before the project could be realized. The corresponding plans were then dropped. Edward Spence died in Los Angeles on September 19, 1892.

Web links

• Edward Spence case in the database of Find a Grave (English)
• The Political Graveyard
• The Mayors of Los Angeles