Eugene Schmitz

Eugene Schmitz

Eugene E. Schmitz (born August 22, 1864 in San Francisco , California , † November 20, 1928 ibid) was an American politician and mayor of San Francisco between January 8, 1902 and July 8, 1907. Schmitz was from Found guilty of corruption in a court of law.

Life

"Handsome Gene", as his nickname was, was the son of an Irish mother and a German father. Initially, he was a professional violinist at the Columbia Theater on Powell Street and president of the Musicians' Union when Abe Ruef selected him to run for mayor of the Union Labor Party . Schmitz was elected to succeed James D. Phelan in 1902 and was acting mayor when San Francisco was devastated by the 1906 earthquake . On the day of the earthquake, April 18, 1906, Schmitz wanted to put together a selection of well-known politicians and business people to help him overcome the crisis, but he received no support.

On June 13, 1907, he was found guilty of corruption by a court of law and was removed from office. He was succeeded by Charles Boxton . Schmitz was sent to San Quentin Prison for five years . This was the maximum penalty the law allowed. He immediately appealed the verdict. He remained in jail while waiting for the appeal process to go through. On January 8, 1908, the district court overturned the sentence and he was paroled, but there was still one pending bribery trial. Schmitz was therefore brought to trial again in 1912. However, insufficient evidence could be presented and Schmitz was acquitted.

In 1915 and 1919 Schmitz ran again for the mayor's office, but due to his reputation he could not win the elections. He was married and the father of two children.

Web links

• Short biography (Engl.)