George Alexander (politician, 1839)

George Alexander

George Alexander (born September 21, 1839 in Glasgow , Scotland , †  August 2, 1923 in Los Angeles , California ) was an Irish- American politician . Between 1909 and 1913 he was mayor of Los Angeles.

Life

At the age of eleven, around 1850, George Alexander and his family came to the United States, where they first settled in Chicago . There the young Alexander worked as a newspaper deliverer. In 1856 the family moved to Iowa . There he married Annie Yeiser in 1862. Soon he was volunteering in an Iowa unit in the Civil War. After the war he worked in the grain trade, initially as an employee of a company. He later started his own company in this industry. Around 1887 he moved to Los Angeles, where he also worked in this field.

There he also embarked on a political career as a member of the Democratic Party . From 1892 he worked in various positions for the local authorities. Between 1901 and 1909 he was a member of the Los Angeles County District Council . In 1909, Alexander was elected mayor of Los Angeles in a special election. The election had become necessary because his predecessor Arthur Cyprian Harper was suspected of corruption and his re-election in 1908 had not come about legally. Alexander held his new office after being re-elected between March 26, 1909 and July 1, 1913. During this time, the city's infrastructure was further improved. After the end of his time as mayor, George Alexander no longer appeared politically. He died on August 2, 1923 in Los Angeles. Alexander was a member of several organizations and associations. These included the Freemasons and the veterans' organization Grand Army of the Republic .

Web links

• George Alexander in the database of Find a Grave (English)
• George Alexander at The Political Graveyard
• The Mayors of Los Angeles